PUBLISHED WORKS, A SAMPLING...

“On Finding Home in the Southfork Valley”

The next morning I awoke and immediately went outside. I walked around the property, drinking in the beauty of nearby hills and mountains outlined in the clear blue sky in every direction. By noon the air had warmed to something resembling summertime and I breathed in the earthy smells. Something felt very right about this place.

Six years have now passed since that August morning and something continues to feel very right about the valley in which I live. I must admit that we did move again, to our first ever purchased house outside of Acme. Somehow I feel like I have always lived in the South Fork valley. Though initially a stranger to this place, it was never a stranger to me for it was alive, somewhere in my heart and soul, long before I ever set foot here. The pieces of my history finally found a home.

I’ve often pondered the idea of geographic location. What makes a place speak meaningfully to an individual person? Is it a similarity to somewhere else? A community? A specific house? Memories? Perhaps the reasons are as varied as the undividual.

As I look around this holiday season I am thankful not just for my house but for my home; thankful for community, for place, and for peace for a wandering spirit.

From, “On Finding Home in the Southfork Valley,” Foothills Gazette, December ‘06

“Lunch Box Notes”

“Finally it was quiet. The kids were in bed, the dishwasher was running, a second load of wash was in the dryer. At last, a moment to myself. Thank you Lord, I get so few of these.

Sinking down at the kitchen table, I noticed some sketches lying there. Sketches that my daughter, seven-year-old Haley, was always doing. I picked them up for a closer look. Hmm.

There was a drawing of Mark, my husband, with Haley, crooked smiles on their squiggly faces. “Daddy loves me,” it read. And there was one of Haley and her brother, 12-year-old Nicholas, running through lime green grass, a lemon-yellow sun beneath cotton-candy clouds. “Nicholas plays with me,” she wrote. Then there was a sketch of a woman with short blonde hair and sharp blue eyes, staring at a box with her hands next to it. “Mommy loves to work on her computer,” it read. I stared for a long time at that one.”

From, “Lunch Box Notes,” Guideposts magazine, September 2006.

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“Knapp Friesians”

“Just as Clay’s demonstration was no ordinary horse show, Knapp Friesians is not your ordinary horse farm. For starters there is the location; the stunningly beautiful central Oregon town of Sisters.

I arrive at Knapp Friesians on a sunny September morning. The first thing I notice is the view. The 150 acre farm is nearly surrounded by a ring of mountains. Mt. Jefferson, the Three Sisters, Broken Top, and Black Butte rise impressively into a cloudless blue sky. Even the air is lovely, a sweet perfume of juniper, sunshine, and Ponderosa pine. It is a fitting home for such majestic animals.

I am greeted almost immediately by Judi Knapp who guides me down a neatly manicured path. Although there is an impeccably clean barn, most of the horses live year-round in spacious paddocks with ample shelter. I am impressed by the serene quiet of the farm where everything appears to have a natural order and nothing is out of place.”

From, “Knapp Friesians,” farm profile. Published by Horse of Kings magazine, spring 2006 issue.

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“Surprise Sister”

“You need to meet Karin.” My friend Sandra was emphatic, as if I had no choice in the matter. “She could be your sister.”

“Sure.” I was only vaguely interested. Sandra, though a dear, was nearly opposite of me in every way. It was hard to believe she’d know what sort of people I’d be attracted to. Besides, I already had several good girlfriends, longtime friends I had grown up with. Then there were my mother and younger sister. I was close to them too. Friends took time and energy, both of which were in short supply. What could a new friend give me that I didn’t already have? But Sandra persisted.

“I’m telling you, Cathy, you two are just alike. Why don’t you come to my Christmas party? Karin will be there.”

“All right, all right.” Sandra was a fun person. It was bound to be a good time whether this Karin was interesting or not.

From, “Surprise Sister,” Chicken Soup for the Sister’s Soul II, October 2006.

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