This is a later blooming sunflower along my fence, just peeking up and over right around the time everyone else has blazed in her full sun glory. But she is equally fabulous, and likely a wild little seed that was buried deeper than the rest, having to work harder to reach the surface. Earlier this… Continue reading They Bloom When They Should…Just Like College Essays
These are my dad’s feet, where I’ve nestled my head in between for a nice afternoon nap. This was a Wednesday, I believe, for some of my parents’ friends gathered at a place called Sunhenge, also our friend JJ’s front yard. So my mom and a few of her friends planted a circle of sunflowers… Continue reading The Emerson Chronicles: Dog Days of Summer
The summer I was 10, my sister turned 15, and my brother had already been 16 for a few months. My formal name is Emerson Snowy Gronk Krill, and they gave me my middle names as I arrived with my own first. Raising teenagers is nutty, and I much prefer to watch the world go… Continue reading The Emerson Chronicles: The Summer I was 10
Courtesy, FIFA World Cup 2026™. Poster artist: Rich Tu My brother in law, Brian, sent the family group chat a reminder last week about not discussing any scores given the fact that he lives in Germany with my sister in law, Allison, and watch the games on delay the following mornings. My own brother, Greg,… Continue reading What We Love about this “Beautiful Game”
Just last weekend, I was soaking my tired feet in my brother’s swimming pool during my niece’s high school graduation party, when a younger sister party goer swam right up to me. “I just love parties at Greg and Holly’s,” she quipped to me, a true stranger to her in every sense. I guessed her… Continue reading That’s a Wrap on Year 29
Forgive the blurry image. I tried to screenshot the video taken 11 years ago, when our 3 year old daughter, turning 4 in June, decided today was the day to take off her training wheels. She has, essentially, never looked back. She is a thinker, a processor, very different from her more impulsive brother; however,… Continue reading When the Training Wheels Come Off
Not a day has passed since our son first qualified for U16 Nationals, and then a couple days later, our daughter also qualified, where I have not been brought to tears by the generosity of our Loon Mountain community. I’ve started to write our individual thank yous, and then I get a note in the… Continue reading Love Letter to Our Loon Mountain Community
This is Crawford’s Notch, NH at 7AM, hovering at 28 degrees on our way to Attitash Mountain for yet another ski race. The roads look wet, but this is an illusion of safety, also called black ice. They are, in fact, what we like to call sporty but doable, a whole lot like parenting. There… Continue reading Droppin’ In…
Recently, I shared a photo of my peanut butter and jelly sandwich safely ensconced in this giant Swiss cowbell, which takes up an inordinate amount of space in my backpack. I joked that it would never be squished surrounded by the hard metal and love of a race parent. When our kids were younger racers,… Continue reading The Things We Carry: Race Parent Edition
Happy New Year! We are in the throes of a busy and snowy winter, ski racing, and adolescence. Our son turned 16. Holy Hannah. How did that happen? He has been driving with us legally for six months now, and he finished Drivers Education. His instructor told me at the last session that he was… Continue reading Holding onto the Steering Wheel
