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
When those incredible moments of humanity happen after a crazy Halloween Friday at school, the day before our girls’ soccer team takes on rival Pittsburg- Canaan, when snow is predicted this evening, and all the trees have shed their leaves, one takes a moment to thank a local woman named Karen. I’ve never met Karen… Continue reading Hope in Hatchland (and Humanity)
We don’t live on a farm, but our barn doors are open. Here in northern NH, we are on the cusp of the first frost. The zippy little hummingbirds have stocked up on the juice they need to fly to South America, with the faith that they will return here after winter’s end. Despite some… Continue reading This September 11
Our son is learning to drive, and we are learning to be in the passenger seat while he learns to drive. But like so many things we have to learn how to do in life, the driving manual and driving instructions are just part of the learning experience. He has to learn by actually driving,… Continue reading Driving Instructions
Hannah Herzog was our Lin-Wood student many years ago, and she recently passed away. She was a quiet young woman, whose story I tell every year when we kick off Poetry Out Loud. Her class participated early on in our school’s tradition of Poetry Out Loud, our first or second year perhaps roughly 15 years… Continue reading Here’s to Hannah Herzog
This time last year, my mom understood this would be her last Thanksgiving given her stage 4 pancreatic cancer diagnosis six months earlier. I accepted that she was a little crazy about distributing her possessions prior to having cancer. But around November, she would show up at my house with bags of stuff– stuff she… Continue reading Serving up Memories this Thanksgiving
Clearly the Playmobil (correct spelling) advent calendar has been bumped recently, but as I looked at it this morning, trying not to laugh, I realized how much it is indeed a true reflection of life leading up to the holidays. From the carriage knocked over on its side to the angel looking like she is… Continue reading Spinning into the Holidays
Once a sweeper on my soccer team, I am now the sweeper of the woods for our Girls of Summer crew, 16 summers deep. The sweeper position is the last woman back, the last line of defense before the goalkeeper, or in this case in the woods, the one who makes sure no one gets… Continue reading What We Learn from the Back of the Pack
Heather Ehrman Krill: The "Write" Kind of Coach 