I'm just trying to walk myself home.
2020 Favorites Happy New Year from Castle Bluff! We are staying at a cabin in the woods where the mood outside is matching all my feels about the year we just finished. I am happy to join in the collective sigh of relief that 2020 is officially over. For the final month of 2020, I …
It’s 5am and I’ve been awake a couple of hours already, which might have something to do with the fact that I’ve been holed up in my sleeping bag since yesterday afternoon. I woke up yesterday morning to rain on the tin roof of the Holdon Valley Vista Shelter. We had stopped at the shelter …
Well friends, the end of 2020 is within sight. I daresay it’s been a year we will never forget, even if we want to. But before this year is over, I am hoping to squeeze in a little (socially-distanced) adventure AND bring some light and love to the world in the process. So I am …
Longer Walks For Seeking The Sacred Over the last few weeks, I have been going for longer and longer walks. Four times a week, I’m crossing the five mile mark, which is long for me friends. It’s partly because I am training for a long walk (Yes, I have bravely put something on the calendar …
Maybe you were “supposed” to be somewhere else right now, but instead you are at working from home or doing school from home, or you are doing a job where you have to wear a mask all the time. Probably, in some way, your life has changed drastically over the last several months. Something is …
Come dream with me about what is possible. Near the beginning of the summer, I wrote this post about imagining something new. I wrote it publicly, but actually I think that it was for me. Those words have been the oars that have moved me slowly and quietly over the waves of the …
The Same Walk Every Day We’re moving today, so it seems like a good time to say thank you to the walk I’ve taken almost every day in the year that we’ve lived here. Since we move around quite a bit, I have come to really value the ability to take the same walk every …
This strange summer has unfolded much differently than I imagined it six months ago, both in the world and in my life. The numbers of those who are sick continue to grow. As do the number of protestors. Some days all I can see is that the sick are forgotten and the protestors are gassed. …
Walking While Sheltering: Changing Plans and Shifting Perspective I was meant to be flying home from Italy today after a week of walking in Umbria and a week of retreating in Tuscany. It’s strange how far away that feels as a possibility now. I do believe I will return to Italy one day, but …
Spring has officially arrived at Augustana. And I am super grateful. All of our other local trails have now closed, so we are walking at Augustana every day. I notice new flowers opening up every day. Even if a lot of the trees are still bare, the grass is green. On our street, this tulip …
Walking at Home in the Arkansas Ozarks Simon got out of school for a two-week spring break on March 6th. Our plan was to head to Arkansas, soak up time with friends and family for a couple of weeks before Taido would fly down and join us. Then Taido was going to drive home with …
A Meditation from Richard Rohr’s The Universal Christ Hello sweet friends. I’m locked down in quarantine just like most everyone else. But last week I was in Arkansas and I spent a couple of days hiking with my dad, and while I was in one of my favorite places, I sat down and recorded this …
A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about the self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. -Wikipedia I’ve been reading and thinking lately about the idea of pilgrimage. I love to go for a walk, but …
A Love Letter to Longpool, A Beloved Arkansas Campground Dear Longpool, Just the other day I was going through a box of old photos (a winter project suitable for a string of days of sub-zero temperatures). I came across this sweet photo of our three oldest kiddos on our first camping trip to your perfectly …
A Recipe for Moon Milk Y’all recently I have started making Moon Milk, also sometimes called Golden Milk. I have been loving the addition of turmeric to All The Things lately. I enjoy a turmeric tea and a turmeric latte, but I am even more delighted with the discovery of Moon Milk because of its …
Snapshots of Walking in Winter in Illinois + Musings From My Wanderings Several years ago I wrote the following Richard Rohr quote on an index card and hung it up in the kitchen of the apartment we were renting. In order to live your soul into the world, you must continually loosen your beliefs about …
Snapshots of Burgos, Spain. or The End of the Journey. This post is from the end of our walk from Logrono to Burgos, Spain. You can read more posts from this walk, or from other Camino trips. In my longtime obsession with the Camino, I have read quite a bit about the different cities that you …
Do you know what happens in February? First and foremost, it’s Black History Month, so it’s a good month to read a book by a Black American. (Need a suggestion? I got you.) But also, February is sometimes all dressed up in PINK, Because of St. Valentine’s Day. Which I know has been co-opted into …
Atapuerca to Burgos 19 kilometers. Day 7 on The Camino. Or We Made It! Let’s Have A PARTY and Eat All The Things. This post is our trip log from Atapuerca to Burgos. You can read more posts from this walk, or from other Camino trips. We got up and packed fast, walking out …