Selected essays

Medium.com

Lessons from the Most Trusted Man in America

Lanky oranges and reds stretched out across the tree-fringed horizon of Casco Bay, Maine. The boat swayed with occasional swell as lobster boats returned from the deep gray beyond the islands. Walter Cronkite navigated the evening with his large hands, the glowing tip of his cigar a dim searchlight between two gnarly knuckles. A ghostly plume slipped from loosely pursed lips as he exhaled, head tilted back against the varnished teak of the cockpit. A glass of Maker’s Mark waited patiently on the table until Cronkite’s map-lined palm closed around his sundowner of choice, ice cubes barely melted on such a chilly evening. Buddy sat across from him, smiling widely as he lifted his glass of bourbon to Cronkite’s.

Cruising World Magazine

Racing Like a Cruiser

Green mountains tucked us into the quilted mattress of gray water spreading to the stone-lined shore. Seals popped their heads through the glassy surface that mirrored tall trees, wispy clouds and a boat of three women rowing toward a nook in the green. We were simply looking for a shallow spot to anchor to wait for the tide to turn so we could continue on into Johnstone Strait on the east side of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Instead, we found ourselves tied up to an empty dock in an idyllic cove with an army of playful seals entertaining us into the evening.

Whidbey Life magazine

Sailing Into Parenthood

My legs were wobbly as I stepped onto the dock in Ketchikan at 2 a.m. After 13 days of rowing, paddling, sailing, and drifting about 750 nautical miles from Port Townsend to Ketchikan during the second annual Race to Alaska (R2AK), our crew of three was nearly delirious and totally ecstatic to have made it to the finish line.

Whidbey Life magazine

Farmers in the Off Season

On a chilly morning in early April, business partners Beth Wheat and Arwen Norman burned holes into rows of long black cloth covering a newly tilled bed at Sky Root Farm in Clinton. They’ll add fertilizer and hand-smashed oyster shells to each exposed circle of soil to increase nutrients and minerals, then tuck baby strawberry plants in every foot or so. The surrounding cloth will keep weeds to a minimum.