BIRDLY WORD

I receive requests for this recipe nearly every holiday season, so I'm taking that as a kick in the pants to start posting on this blog...

These carrots are not boring! The flavor is intense and delicious. Two pounds of carrots sounds like a lot, but they cook down to a much...

By Olivia Hawker This book was a pleasant surprise. In reading it I felt the satisfaction of seeing familiar historical characters...

This is a very satisfying salad! Soaking the chopped onions in cold water removes some of the sharpness and makes for a more mellow...

My cousins and I have fond memories of going to visit Grandma Jennie at her little house in Sanford. We happily headed straight to the...

By Daniel Pink The information in this book is not new. It was published in 2011, and even then it was old news. It just isn't understood...

While Others Slept: Utah's second woman doctor tells her poignant and powerful story, by Ellis R. Shipp, M.D. I first ran across the name...

By Ted Conover I met author Ted Conover in July of 2019 when he came to visit the Conejos Writers Circle and generously talk with us...

(Reflections about the complexities of my family history upon visiting the site of the Mountain Meadows Massacre in April of 2022.) This...

Ashen footprints mark rocky paths on mountaintops where pilgrims shout into the past, a past where certainty stands. Questions unasked...

Perfection, like a pearl, is overrated. String together enough and you can strangle yourself into eternity. No, pearls are nice, like...

This love is clear as a meadowlark’s song It will nourish you like fertile swamp waters Filled with cattails and insects A symphony of...

I began writing this essay in the first week of May 2022 when the impending Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade had been...

It is not the first time this stretch of road has inspired me to take a pen in hand. Here the sky is big and blue and I am small. Along...

What was an illiterate widow in the early 1800s to do for financial support over 100 years before Social Security?

Before I delve into the lives of A.O. Smoot and his historically significant nephew Reed Smoot, I’m going to go back in time and follow...

I loved Grandma Louise dearly. I married into her family and she was a grandmother to me when my own grandparents lived far away. While...

A poem about the San Luis Valley where my family has lived for over 130 years. Picture set near Lobatos Bridge.

The story of my ancestors Joseph and Mary Polly Reed reminds me of the courage and commitment needed when making a leap of faith. You may...