I am writing a book. Or rather, I’m about to start writing a book. I actually have a deadline for it, because it’s under contract. My first ever, for a writing project. So I’m excited and nervous and… procrastinating. It’s on my mind a lot, but that’s as far as I’ve got. So I thought I would write a blog post about the book, to formally announce it; the more people know about it, the more pressure I’ll feel. And then maybe I could update you every now and then on lessons lear

If you could learn to play a musical instrument, which would you choose? Or, if you could choose one talent, which would it be? These are questions that sometimes come up in our family conversations over dinner. When it comes to musical instruments, I’ve long wished I could play the violin. When I listen to classical music, like Albinoni, or soundtracks like that of the movie Schindler’s List, it seems to me the violin is the most eloquent, the most potent at extracting the l

While running with my husband, Frank, a few days ago (plodding might be a more accurate word but I’m a writer, and writers eschew passive verbs ;-), we passed a tall, thick hedge. Frank, being the avid forager he is, immediately spotted the large and luscious blackberries lurking in leafy shadows (I know, I’m overdoing the alliteration). He backtracked (I didn’t have to), and we helped ourselves to a couple of fruits before continuing our slog… I mean, jog. Yesterday afternoo

Yesterday, for the first time in a year, our family nature club set forth on a mission... and triumphed. But our success was bittersweet. Let me explain. NATURAmigos originally came into being in 2012 as Club NaturaNiños. Our inspiration was Richard Louv’s influential book “Last Child in the Woods”; our place of operations was the countryside of Cusco, Peru; and our members, though never numerous, were enthusiastic and adventurous. We were all about re-connecting children wit