No

I'm coming home from another successful bike ride. It's Monday night and I'm on the 9:30 pm Sound Transit going South. The muscles in my inner thighs are aching from the last hill ride we all took. Exhilerating to have the rush of something stiff and cold between your legs and commanding your legs to …

Second Chances

I need to remember that I got a second chance. The SCAD heart attack I had in January was a wake up call for me and I got a do over. This time, player number 2 may not get so lucky so I'm going to have to think this one through. Looking back, I can …

Reminders – For Sarah L.

I thought I saw you tonight, The impish turn of your smile, The twinkle of mischief in your eyes, Your punkish haircut, But it’s been over a year and you are gone, Friend, Sister, Fellow cyclist, Wasn’t it just yesterday that we laughed riding home? You drunk and insisting that alcohol makes you ride faster, …

Heart Attack

The thing is, When you have a death dream, You wake up, You are yanked from the exact moment when The car hits the water, The split second before Metal arms wrap themselves neatly In a tight cocoon Where you are grasping for air Then you are yanked before the jaws swallow you up whole, …

The silent killer – SCAD

Last week I was diagnosed with a condition called SCAD. Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection. I had all the classic symptoms of a heart attack. The shortness of breath, fatigue, dizziness, the swooshing in my head, rapid heartbeat, and the crushing pain in my chest. Except I wasn't your typical heart attack victim. I'm in my …

Valentines Day 2021

I am reminded of a kiss captured on film, Some obscure black and white film that your parents lived through, I am reminded of how fragile life is, Snow falling around us Is a sharp reminder that what we are experiencing, This exact moment will too, Also fall around us, Fade into memories, Scratchy old …

Dreaming About Houses

Let's break this down. The house you dream to buy is an old, familar house. The house that you and your ex built a life around. It was familar and comfortable. Two kids, a dog, a farm to grow things, to grow old together. I get it, she took off with all of the appliances. …

The Gods Must Be Crazy (to my friend Sarah Leyrer)

I remember our brief time together, Sharing yet another bike adventures, Whooping glorious to the sun, The sky, To Mother Earth, And to the magic of avocados. Your go-to-food, I forgot to ask you, Did you ever watch that movie? You know, that one with the obscure reference of the Coca Cola bottle dropping to …

No Longer Maintaining

I'm writing to you as a parent of a child who lives with mental illness. At age 7, my daughter was a cheerful,inquisitive and playful child. She ran around outside and was loud and boistorous. I encourage her joie de vivre. Like many parents of active children, I indulged her spontanity and creativity. I enrolled …

Saying I love you is a reminder that nothing is permanent

Did you love someone so deeply that you never saw an end to this line? Were you confident in your trust that forever meant for keeps? Childhood sayings and the knowledge that waking up means the dream ends and we all end up facing the day, the quiet of a morning dawn, the breathing of …

Valentine

To those out there exposing their hearts on this day, I give you some considerations to take, Valentine is but one day out of the year, Consider the courage to expose your heart to someone near and dear, 364 days out of the year, This brutal expression of love whether forlorn or not, is but …

The Art of Patience

The day before Christmas eve, I had a major bike accident.  My bike bag straps got wrapped up in my front wheel and it threw me over the handlebars and in a split second, everything changed. I remember that day vividly, the burning sensation to the left side of my face as I hit the …