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Dreams Delayed | Backwoods Mom

People always remember, with clarity, the moment their lives changed. I remember the moment mine didn’t. In the spring of ’03 I had just finished …

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This Blog Is Not Real »

Last night a young lady with a history much like my children’s wrote me a message and asked for advice.  But before she asked, she …

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A Room With No View

Destini and Robin…ready for anything… I hate those arrogant ‘update’ blogs. As if the world is waiting, on the edge of their seat, to learn …

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What They Did To Me Bum…

If you’ve not been following the sage of the bear/boys/bum injury, here’s a couple of links: Bear In The Back Woods Cruisin’ For A Bruisin’ …

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Bear In The Backwoods

The scene… My two boys gathered blueberries from their secret patch near the road. Jars filled, they headed back towards the cabin, Anthony leading the …

Fishing For Elders –

Yesterday the kids and I found ourselves on the Ninilchik beach helping pull king salmon from the water to feed some of the village elders. …

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Where We Are

It’s February 20, 2014. I’m sitting on a barstool on an island, sipping a non-fat vanilla latte, casually, as if I’ve done this before.  And …

On The Road From Concan

This morning the kids and I planned to wake early and leave our little cabin up the Frio River here in Texas. Yesterday we packed …

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Bison Of British Columbia

I’ve actually got nothing funny to say about today…which is good news since that means nothing bad happened. Good for us, bad for entertainment value. …

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Fragments Of Sanity

It was just before noon on a Monday morning, sometime in the fall of 1988, in Phoenix, Arizona.  I stood in my pale blue polo …

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Lost In Translation

(If you’ve seen the animated movie, “UP”, you’ll enjoy this. If not, it might be really pointless to read!) Today we sat in our attorney’s …

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Meanwhile, Back At The Ranch…

Today on Johnson Lake I think often of this site…ideas for improvement flitting through my head, one-liners jotted down in yellow notebooks, good intentions paving …

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Life…and Death…on a Farm

We were lounging in the cabin Saturday evening, arguing over whether MASH dvds were worth generator fuel, when my husband stood to stretch, glanced out …

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FISH! FISH! FISH!

For many Alaskans, “summer” means three things for sure…fish, fish and fish!  We dip, catch, and net fish…we clean, cut, can, freeze and smoke fish…we …

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Life On A Boat

Last night some random stranger invited my niece Amy and I on an evening boat ride around the Ventura, California Harbor. Sure, complete stranger on …

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The Sinkhole of Depression

I don’t know when it started, for sure. The feeling of not feeling.  A few months, maybe more. But without warning, without any clear signs …

Remembering The Backwoods

Ever since we left Alaska to winter in California a couple weeks ago I’ve been getting message after message…                 “What about the cabin? Are …

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Near Death By Bacon –

Yesterday I stabbed myself in the hand. Not just stabbed, but sawed, really, while cutting bacon. I knew bacon would be the death of me, …

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New Babies! »

  About an hour ago our dogs began to bark like crazy. I yelled to Mya to go find out what they were barking at …

Six Seconds »

I stood in line at a Carl’s Junior restaurant in Palm Desert, California, eager to order my Chicken Fried Steak sandwich and strawberry shake. Sixteen …

You Aint Dead! »

Once on an episode of COPS, a woman, upon being arrested, was throwing a Made-For-TV tantrum when her mother, giant breasts sagging out the sides …

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Into The Woods »

Winter has finally succumbed to spring here in south central Alaska, though that is debatable since we are forecasted to get snow on Friday.  But …

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Frozen Assets »

This afternoon I drove down to HOOKED ESPRESSO here in Ninilchik, Alaska.  Hooked is the coffee shop owned by my teen daughter, Destini. (Read about …

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September 22, 2012 »

My lantern oil just dimmed to nothing and left me in complete darkness but for the glow of my laptop and the internet box blinking …

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Pre-Cabin Fever »

This is not going to be well written, of that I am sure. It’s late at night, I’m tired, and I have computer access for …

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South From Alaska –

I was born a nomad.  In my forty-two years I have lived in 18 different homes in four different states and yet I feel like …

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Child of a Child »

I was just two weeks into motherhood when I took a job at the Dairy Queen on 28th drive and Cactus in Phoenix, Arizona and …

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Adoption Pending »

He came to us in the summer, four years ago with a chip on his shoulder, a mouth with no filter, and a yearning for …

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This Is My Land »

It was more than forty years ago that my in-laws, just after giving birth to their seventh child (my husband) purchased an acre of land. …

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Boys In The Backwoods… »

I don’t remember being covered in bruises, blood and broken skin on a daily basis as a child…perhaps that is the key difference between little …

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Against All Odds »

Found in Cooper Landing, Alaska…fighting it’s way thru the asphalt “Did you hear about the rose that grew from a crack in the concrete? Proving …

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Battle Scars | Backwoods Mom

Robin the week she came to us…what’s not to love, right?! Tonight while making dinner, the boys were swapping scar stories, as boys do. Steven …

Father’s Day »

 With Father’s Day upon us, I’ve spent some time trying to put together a piece about what makes a “father” become a “dad”.  I’ve scribbled …

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Another Mother

I’m sitting here at 11 p.m. the night before Mother’s Day.  Anthony, age 11, is here with me. He’s sleeping on the couch tonight so …

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Backwoods Bees »

When I was a kid in Kasilof, Alaska, there was a honey store about a mile down the road. We’d pedal down there, present our …

Sixteen and Profitable »

Someday I hope to live child-free. And in order see that fantasy happen, I have to get them out of my house…independent…living on their own.  …

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Without A Paddle »

Sandi and I had escaped, kid free…which says a lot considering between us we have twelve children…and were laughing our way across Tustumena lake headed …

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My Overcoming One »

The tiny boy with the bright blue eyes Looked up and said to me Can I live here a long, long time? Three months, if …

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Robin Wonders »

I rarely talk with my long term kids about their early childhood in front of the other kids.  For some reason I’ve always hesitated…I didn’t …

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I Am Mom…Do I Work? »

Last year my daughter was assigned to interview a person about their job for school.  She asked, “Can I interview my mom?” “Does she work?” …