ABOUT ME

I am an archaeologist by training and long practice—a mom, an author, lover of soil and history—but it is people that I study and write about. People who capture my imagination. And people who, for long years as an archaeologist, spurred me to take on insects, swamps, forests, weather, 120-mile treks through uncleared land in Maine, or the impressive williwaws of the Aleutian Islands.

Inspired by the countless unguarded, elegant, and human moments we each experience every day, I eventually put down my shovel for 11 years to pick up my camera, but I was doing the same thing either way—watching people and telling stories.

Now the arc of my life continues. I have put down my camera to pick up my pen, and am ready to release my latest book, In the Garden Behind the Moon: A Memoir of Loss, Myth, and Magic into the world. What ties it all together? Why, story, of course. I am always and forever doing what I have always done: watching people, searching for beauty and meaning in unusual places, and telling stories.

I live with my husband, two sons, and our menagerie of animals. I continue to be an avid traveler and collector of “lucky nuts” (you’ll have to read my new book to find out what those are), and to walk, garden, paint, write, stitch, build, and dream myself into ever gentler and more creative ways of being alive and human.

Welcome! I am glad you are here. Join the conversation at The Glimmering, my seasonal community and newsletter. I will never clog your inbox.