Wicked Rural

Tales of a Toddler

Most days during this pandemic, I start by calling my mom and telling her all the things her granddaughter did to me the day before. More often than not, she laughs at me without remorse. After she regains her composure, she tells me I should write about PJ’s antics. Toddler shenanigans have delayed those efforts but I have been piecing this post together bit by bit. Her and I have been…

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Snow covered fruit restWaiting for light to returnI will wait with them Rushing over RocksBranch and leaf hoping to beAdorned in heavens Falling from heavenTo kiss the earth with loveAnd rest till springtime

Right before COVID took over our lives, my Oma made a huge decision. At 94, she realized that it was no longer the best idea to live alone in her home without help. After carefully weighing all her options she made the very practical decision to move to a live-in community and sell her home of over 60 years. Her life has been extraordinary. A few years back she wrote a memoir called Changes,…

Howling Hearts Can’t Be Broken.

Thanks to the miracle of FaceTime, I could read the excitement on my mom’s dimly light face as she sat on her deck high in the redwoods, listening to the howling. “Can you hear them?!” She asks through her grin. 

I smiled too. “Yep, those are some howling mountain folk.” We both giggle. She lets out a howl of her own, joining the chorus. I was tempted to myself, but the silence of the Maine…

Valley of the Sempervirens

We grew up in backyards full of fire scarred trees. 

Playing in ancient flame hollowed trunks, making silent promises to the bit of earth that gently cradled our innocence. 

These monuments whispered reminders; that it is this land’s nature, to burn.

The redwoods taught us well; roots woven together can support strong, fog laden bows reaching for the heavens, while holding tight to the…

“The Situation is The Boss”

My husband and I are restaurant ‘lifers,’ we have both been in the industry since we joined the workforce as teens. We have almost always worked for small local businesses. Years ago, when he got a job working for a corporate steakhouse we started to joke that he had ‘sold his restaurant soul.’ It was even more ironic because we haven’t eaten beef in more than a decade, butthey have full…

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When I was in college, I would spend hours hiking the coast and mountains taking pictures of all the animals I found in my little haven.

I used an actual film camera, you know the kind- where you have to focus by hand and then wait to see if you succeeded when the film was developed hours or even DAYS later.

Remember that!?

I found that I shared this passion for wildlife photography with…

I have worked in restaurants my whole life. Till the little monster was born almost two years ago, my life revolved around executing meal services. Front and back, top to bottom. I have held every position possible in the industry from dishwasher to department manager. Service culture is a universe in and of itself; with its own language, practices, traditions and philosophies.

The term “in…

Last year, at the first herbal apprenticeship class, we each drew a card from a plant tarot deck. I drew Elder. A plant of wisdom, magic and powerful medicine. I was aware of its existence, but had very little experience with it. I vowed to change that, and dubbed last year my year of Elder.

Elder is the common name for several different varieties of the Sambucus tree. A member of the Ado…

Hope is the splint we use to bind and tie, all the things broken by the weight of the lie. 

It is feeling the relife that kindness brings, when we realize the giant is here to help fix our tattered wings. 

Hope is being cradled in the worst moments of our lives, with the assurance that action and time will make it right. 

It is acts of healing those you don’t know, not caring if we will…

Valentine’s Day is often associated with freshly cut long stem roses. The redder, softer and more fragrant the better- as if that is the only incarnation of a rose that could represent love. A soft, fresh, fragrant specimen picked before it has properly bloomed, separated from it’s roots and stripped of all it’s thorns.  

But for all this fleeting beauty, by definition it is a dead thing. 

This year, I found myself an unemployed mother. The basic tasks of child rearing are not a problem for me, though the sleep schedule and PTO suck. The most difficult things was adjusting to a feeling I couldn’t put my finger on. Something that grew as surely as she did.It was like a pulled muscle somewhere in my body. If moved a certain way it would send out an undeniable twinge of pain, but I…

I stated my Tuesday sure that the biggest challenge I was going to have; was going to be not eating the pie I made the day before. As usual, my assumptions were spectacularly wrong.

The babyrefused to go down for her morning nap till around 11am. As soon as her little peepers were closed, I set out to bring the chickens the bountiful kitchen scraps from last night’s meal. I was greeted at…

What was the step too far? Where have we gone so wrong?!  At what time did we lose sight of that essential thing that kept us in balance with everything else? Was it when we stopped roaming with the seasons and started cultivating fields?  When we settled into towns and then cities? Was it the arrogance of proclaiming ourselves better than all the other beings on this earth? What would living in…

She’s Got the Whole World in Her Hands

*I wrote this a while back.  It has taken this long to edit and post. All accounts of the gardens and sheep are not current 🙂

Summer 2018-

Adjusting to having a daughter has been surreal and overwhelming in every way possible.

There is anxiety that at any second I could make a mistake that might result in her being injured or worse.  Pair that, with the change of going from working a high stress…