National Parks, Travels, USA, Wyoming

Yellowstone, Part II: Pillow Fights, Horde Evasion & Camping Cats

In the immediate aftermath of a loss, you may find that you wake without remembering. Maybe it hits you within seconds, maybe it takes whole minutes. Either way, grief will strike. It might hit you like a wayward wave, bowling you over, ripping the air from your lungs. Maybe it’s a quick strike, less cinematic, more like a gut punch, a face slap, a snake bite.…

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Life, Pets

The short

I had to say goodbye to Sadie, Wolf of my Heart, on June 5th. 

It has been weeks and weeks, and almost months, and I am still heartsick and aching. 

I want to tell you the story about her life. I want to tell you how she came to me, what she was like in those early days and weeks.…

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Itineraries, Maine, Travels, USA

How I Spent 3.5 Days Scampering in Acadia National Park

Upon receiving my cousin’s wedding invitation, I turned into a cartoon villain. Fingers and brows tented, I smirked. “Excellent,” I said. With that invitation, I had reason to go to Maine, the only state east of the Mississippi River I’d never set foot in and home to Acadia National Park, an almost 50,000-acre wonderland of rugged and rocky Atlantic coastline, woodlands, lakes and ponds.…

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Travels, USA, Washington, D.C.

A Serendipitous visit to Frederick Douglass National Historic Site

I didn’t have a plan for the day, not really. I needed to get myself from Richmond to Maryland for a work conference that would start the next day, a friend in Washington, D.C. was celebrating her birthday and it was pissing rain.

I sent my friend a text, asking if she had plans for the afternoon, explaining that yes, I definitely did have time for a birthday beverage or adventure and that I would love to see her if we could make the timing work.…

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National Parks, Travels, USA, Washington, D.C.

The National Woman’s Party & the Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument

In my 11th grade history class, we didn’t have a lot of time. The state’s standardized tests dictated the priorities of learning for the year and they missed a lot. Our teacher, in a valiant attempt to educate us on the things the tests wouldn’t, handed out topics for us to independently research and then present to the class.…

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Arizona, Itineraries, National Parks, Travels, USA

How to Spend 6 Days Exploring Arizona’s National Parks

After the success of last year’s solo trip to New Mexico, I wanted more. I debated a few options, consulting this map and looking for clusters of national parks that would allow me to spend 5-7 days in one or two places while hitting a handful of parks. Mostly, I wanted to go west again and Arizona’s national parks kept popping up in the books I was reading, the shows I was watching and it all started to seem like a sign.…

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