This morning, when I dropped my daughter off at school, I heard two mothers chatting.
They were both talking about how difficult it is to send children off to first grade. ( Full post )

Years ago I wrote an essay about sending my children back to school. The piece took on a life of its own and each year around this time I get requests for copies. ( Full post )

( Full post )

This has been the summer of the move. We've been getting the house ready to sell, dealing with prospective buyers and agents and, now, packing to move. ( Full post )

( Full post )

It's not as wild and crazy as Richard Scarry's Busy Town, but Spokane is a lot of fun these days. ( Full post )

CAM: In today's Home Planet column I wrote about a painting of the Oregon coast by Gordon Wilson. The painting hangs on the wall in my bedroom and it's the first thing I see most mornings. ( Full post )

( Full post )

Got a letter from my 10-year-old who is away at camp. She says she's having a great time and has only one mosquito bite. So far. ( Full post )

I've got the house hunting blues. You can listen to the podcast of today's Home Planet column Audio here ( Full post )

We delivered my daughter to camp yesterday. She packed up a duffle bag full of necessities and never looked back. ( Full post )

When I was a kid, summer vacation meant one thing: All the time in the world to read.
I spent hours perusing the stacks at the library, searching for something new and wonderful.
I read in the porch swing, in the hammock and curled up in a chair in the living room.
At night I read under the covers in my bed. ( Full post )

As I sat in the audience, watching my son walk across the stage and pick up his diploma, I began to feel sick. I mean really awful. ( Full post )

Congratulate me.
I've delivered a 6' 2" high school graduate. My son is picking up his diploma tonight. ( Full post )

If I can have your attention for a minute, I'd like to get something off my chest: ( Full post )

Sunday afternoon I retreated to the shoe department at Nordstrom Rack. ( Full post )

There are several antique sales going on this weekend, but I've got something else on my plate.
I have to start packing. ( Full post )

I especially enjoy it when something I write leads readers to share their own stories. That's what happened with my March 20 Home Planet column about my penchant for picking up heart-shaped stones. ( Full post )

It's hard to know what shapes us, exactly. In the course of a lifetime we encounter so many people and places.
But over the years that have passed since I was a shy 18-year-old - in way over my head - sitting across the table from Art Buchwald, listening to him and watching him interact with others, I've thought about than night often. ( Full post )

In today's Home Planet, I wrote a letter to my daughter who just turned 21.
I gave her a list of twenty-one things to think about now that she's an adult. ( Full post )