Reading JMac's and Matt Paust's "final endings" in JMac's recent post and comments got me thinking of my final meal.  Our local, weekly artsy newspaper recently did a series where they asked some of the best chefs in town what they would have for their final meal.  So, here's mine, and… Read full post »

Just stop, and ask yourself, could someone come into this public restroom and truly need the handicap* stall while I'm inside? Do I really need this roomy stall or do I just want it? 

I spent the weekend traveling to see my new grand-niece.  I can't drive because of my broken… Read full post »

I always went to vote with my mom when I was a kid.  I loved it. Where I grew up in Indiana we had the curtained booths.  We would step in, and Mom would reach up and grasp the big handle, sliding it over to close the curtain.  Inside was/… Read full post »

I commented on JMac's post about three teachers who postiively influenced him in high school and said it would be a nice OC.  He agreed, but he also suggested that I start off.  So here goes.  

John Manusczak.  We called him Mr. Man.  He taught biology, and his first year… Read full post »

Fire season, 2012, claimed its first US Forest Service firefighter yesterday.  Anne Veseth was only 20 years old and in her second season as a wildland firefighter.  She was killed by a falling snag, a standing dead tree, while fighting a fire in Idaho.   

I d… Read full post »

Some great posts here on OS regarding caregiving.  I've thought a lot about this, and so am finally going to articulate how I feel. 

I'm childfree by choice.  Have always hated the term "childless."  I guess if one wants children and can't have them for some reason, then "childles… Read full post »

Yep, that's my damn foot.  And here's how it happened.

Those of us who are wildland firefighters have to take a fitness test every year.  It's called the Work Capacity Test, or WCT.  Depending on what qualifications one holds, the test consists of three levels: arduous… Read full post »

One of my first posts; I got a whopping 10 comments but also my first EP (Jake, please don't re-EP this).  Timely now with the wildfire activity out West.  Dedicated to all my brothers and sisters who answer the call and who leave their loved ones to do so.  I'm off… Read full post »

It was the summer of 1998. Wildfires raged across the state of Florida.  The Daytona 500 was postponed for the first time in race history.  Ash rained down on Disneyworld.  Interstate 75 was closed.  Hundreds of homes burned to the ground, countless  communities were evacuate… Read full post »

Toni Morrison, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature for her novel “Beloved,” was awarded the Medal of Freedom today.  President Obama said of her, “Toni Morrison's prose brings us that kind of moral and emotional intensity that few writers ever attempt. Fro… Read full post »

I happen to be fortunate to live in a small city whose residents values and encourage expression in many forms -- tattoos, art, street performance, protests, music.  But the bumper stickers are just the best.  I started traipsing around with my camera taking photos of some that really caugh… Read full post »

Here is a sampling of photos I have taken with my work cell phone.

I took this photo before I left work this morning.   Kiley, my 14 year old chow mix, was starting to slip on the wood floors.  Got her a sporty little pair of socks (she prefers the… Read full post »

I have the best mother-in-law in the world.  Truly.  All my married girlfriends are jealous.  They want A as their mother-in-law, but they can't have her, she is mine.  

She is funny, strong, independent, out-spoken, fierce, kind, generous and raised two wonderful sons, one of who… Read full post »

Well, that's not exactly true.  I care, as a human being.  I don't want people to lose their mementos, heirlooms, clothes, furniture, pets, or family in a fire.  But I also don't want one of my firefighters hurt or killed trying to protect your house from a wildfire because you haven't… Read full post »

This is a continuation of my post "Down off the Mountain."  Again, names are changed.   

We’d only gotten the news the day before that Paul’s wife was flying down with the department’s deputy chief.  Their expectation was to fly back on the DC-3 with Paul&… Read full post »

 My first shot at fiction.  Gentle feedback welcome.  Thanks. -Firechick

A small group of us sat on what was left of the reservation school's front lawn watching the lightning dance across the desert sky.  We'd been fighting this big fire for weeks, and now the summer monsoons wer… Read full post »

It has taken me over three years to be able to write about this. A firefighter died while fighting a fire on my national forest; on my watch.  It took two days to be able to safely remove his body from the mountain.  This is about when one of my engine… Read full post »

I love to travel.  Here are some of the views from my recent travels.  I would've posted more photos, but they exceeded the size limit.  

From our terrace in Siem Reap, Cambodia, August 2010 

From our tuk-tuk (moto powered "rickshaw"") at Angkor, Cambodia. 

 %IMA… Read full post »

 For those of you who have pets, you know what they provide.  For those of you who don't, you should think about getting yourself a furry buddy.  Without fail, always happy to see you when you come home.  Don't care what you look like or how you dress or even what… Read full post »

This was published on A Prairie Home Companion website (prairiehome.org) in October of 2007.  Mom passed away last July.  My update is after this main essay.   

2007 

Mom bought herself a spot in a mausoleum instead of a plot outside in the cemetery. She calls it her "shelf."… Read full post »

We never had candy in house growing up.  It didn't have anything to do with nutrition or healthy eating.  It was simply a luxury that we couldn't afford.  No sweets, really -- no cookies, no hostess Twinkies, not even a crappy little butterscotch hard candy.  The only thing sugar-… Read full post »

In 2011 I went to Ethiopia as part of a US Forest Service/USAID trip to work with pastorlists to help restore native grasslands.  I fell in love with the country and its people.  Addis Ababa is the capital, where we spent two days before traveling for a day and a half… Read full post »