I recall happily trudging through the snow-covered field with my dad and sister. My dad carried a saw to cut down the tree and a sled to transport it home. No, we weren’t looking for a Christmas tree. We were looking for an Easter tree.

Easter was always a particularly happy day in my memories. Maybe it seemed so much happier after the long winter and the dreary Lent season. Lent is the 40 day period Catholics were expected to spend in reflection, almsgiving, and fasting. This is done in preparation for Jesus’s crucifixion. It begins with Ash Wednesday when…

Woman was the first wolf.

Anger changed her. It made fur grow along her spine and claws erupt from her nail beds. Her teeth elongated and her nose became snout. She sought blood and gave herself the tools to do so. This was forgotten over time. Man, fearful of her power, constructed a world where she had no power and through pain of childbirth and bond of motherhood, convinced her. It was many years before a woman-wolf was seen again.

It would be me.

I was no mother. I was no lover. I was no caregiver. I was no soft…

Vogue recently declared eyeliner the make-up for a pandemic. What better make-up for an apocalyptic landscape than eyeliner? Lips are hidden behind masks, cheekbones are half-obscured. All we see is the eyes, the supposed portals to our souls.

I would argue that eyeliner never went away, but I’ve worn eyeliner since I first started wearing make-up. Black. Thick. Lining my upper and lower lids. Occasionally I deviate away but I always come back to that delightful, edgy, angry sweep of black across my lids. It always seemed appropriate no matter what I am dealing with in life whether that was…

This sweater says I’m empathetic, so I must be, right?

I looked at the stack of sweaters neatly folded on the table. There was black and mint green and pink and white, all in order by size, small to extra-large. Embroidered on the chest were words like Love, Kindness, Empathy. I picked up one liking the pretty script. I am empathetic, I thought. I draped it over my arm as I wandered through the store. Maybe I’ll buy it.

I was in a mall, for the first time in over a year. It was mostly the same. Loud techno music on repeat, the new clothes smell mixed with that store’s…

My husband asked me what I wanted to do for my upcoming birthday. I responded, facetiously, “to be left alone.” My husband stared at me for a second and responded with a “fine.” Sitting in awkward silence I realized maybe I wasn’t joking. Alone time sounded heavenly.

My kid is nearing two years old and before the pandemic, we spent one night away from him, and since the pandemic zero nights away. And outside of work hours, all three of us are together. All. The. Time.

I recently asked my husband what he missed about pre-COVID days Going places that…

I’m sure we’ve all seen the pictures from the insurrection at the Capitol on January 6th. Horrified, unable to look away, but not at all surprised, I was glued to the news. One photo stuck with me. It wasn’t the Confederate flag inside the Capitol, or the guys climbing the walls like spiders, or the man dressed like a bad extra from Braveheart. It was the photo of the guy with his feet up on Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s desk.

The guy was supposedly there to see Trump speak and was “pushed” into the Capitol by the rioters…

The time I worked from home with my toddler and questioned everything I’ve ever done.

There have been one million articles about the effect of the pandemic on working mothers. This is another one.

I have read every one of these articles, saddened and empathetic to the plight of women put in impossible situations, many choosing to drop out of the workforce to care for children or not choosing at all and losing their job to the pandemic.

I’ve been lucky in that I have a pretty strong support network with my mom who can help with childcare and a…

But it’s probably not what you think

An oddly ominous message is on my nearby Catholic Church’s roadside sign.

“Be watchful, be prepared for Christ’s second coming.”

As a lapsed Catholic, I know the “second coming” refers to Jesus returning to earth to judge everyone and those who are good believers will be rewarded, and those who aren’t, well, don’t get rewarded. Many believe this to be the apocalypse or the end of times. However, in the Church’s calendar, it is Advent which is typically a happy time in the church as parishioners prepare for the birth (the first) coming…