A good win

Last Wednesday afternoon, I received some once-in-a-lifetime news via text. “Carolyn did it! She won the Nobel!!” The text, which came at 4:31 pm Irish Time, was from my friend and former colleague, Asia, and indeed, it was true. My former boss, Prof. Carolyn Bertozzi, had just been awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry. It …

Pieces: the Truth in the Treasure

It’s been just over a year since I first ventured into the world of amateur mudlarking.  (While this is not a profession anymore, a few clicks down the Instagram rabbit hole of mudlarks around the world might convince you otherwise. There are some out there who have truly mastered the craft and, in my mind, …

Easter thoughts

Like a lot of people my age, my faith is not straightforward. I struggle to put it in words, particularly acceptable, recognizable words most people identify with faith.  I grew up in a variety of Christian churches. Most were friendly on the outside and controlling once you were in – no instrumental music, communion every …

Where will we go in 2021… through literature?

If you’re anything like me, it’s the time of year when you start pining for a vacation. Christmas is over, and the rest of the winter is spread out before you like a long, worn, gray army blanket. “Where will we go this year?” I ask myself. Will we return to France? Go back to …

The Year We’ll Never Forget

Well, folks, it's New Year's Eve again! I'm sure I don't need to go through the reminders of what all has happened across the world in 2020. And I'm sure each and every one of you have had unique challenges and heartaches this year, and hopefully a few blessings and joys as well. As you …

Aches and Pains

Warning: the following is an acutely personal post. I usually try to keep things on the lighter side but tonight I'm going for honesty. Things have not been going the best for us this last while. I've been trying to hold it together, but the cracks are starting to show. This week I left work …

Where do you come from?

Have you ever felt like you belonged in a certain place, as though your blood and breath ran through the ground beneath your feet? I used to feel that way about Bozeman, my hometown. I loved every blade of grass, every sidewalk crack, every crooked tree, every gentle mountain breeze, every snowflake. I felt like …

Belle Bretagne

A couple of weeks ago, we took a family vacation to France. A work friend mentioned last year how her young family travels to Brittany every summer and it sounded so wonderful, I looked into it myself. I found an unbeatable Black Friday deal on Eurocamp.ie and booked us a week at a campsite in …

Podcasts

Since last September, I've been doggy-paddling through the bottomless pool of podcasts on my daily commute (which can sometimes take over 2 hrs each way). I've subscribed and un-subscribed to quite a few over the last few months - some are just too heavy, or not very interesting, or simply just hard to listen to …

365

We've hit the first milestone - it's been one year since we moved back to Ireland, after five up-and-down years in the USA. It's not been an easy year, but I have to say it's been a good one, all things considered, and overall we're happy with our "final answer." Perhaps it's just a thing …