Outcomes
By Judith Barker Kvinsland The summer that I turned six-years-old, my parents bought our family home, afifty-year-old shingled craftsman perched on a hillside in tiny Harper, Washington onthe Kitsap peninsula mainland, about seven miles from the town of Port Orchard. It hada sweeping view of Puget Sound, Blake Island, and West Seattle. Our town had…
On Our Way
By Judith Barker Kvinsland Our fiftieth anniversary trip to Scandinavia, the Baltic countries, and Russia began with a frenzy of unexpected drama. Actually, it began with a sandwich; turkey with cheddar, two dill pickles, mustard and mayo, carefully layered between two slices of whole wheat bread. Five minutes after we boarded the crowded, but air-conditioned…
Serendipity: “Poem for my Father’s Ghost” by Mary Oliver
By Judith Barker Kvinsland I have not told many, if any, about my recent discovery of a poem by Mary Oliver, one that came to me at a time when comfort was sorely needed. I was in Mendocino, California, nestled above the Pacific Ocean in 2020, four days before Thanksgiving, enjoying morning coffee with my…
Dear Dr. Klopsch
by Judith Barker Kvinsland Dear Dr. Klopsch, Although you will never receive this letter, and even if you could, I doubt that you would remember me. But I remember you. Now, more than five decades later, I can still recall your succinct words, “Please see me in my office,” scrawled upon my descriptive essay, the…
Recent Reads
Blue Nights by Joan Didion Reread in January 2022, following her death in December, 2021 When I learned that Joan Didion had died on December 23, 2021, at the age of 87, I halted my last minute holiday preparations. I wandered over to one of my bookcases and pulled “Everything Didion,” off a wide shelf…
Recent Reads
Whale Day and Other Poems by Billy CollinsRead June, 2021 Ordinarily, any new collection of poems by Billy Collins would have appeared earlier on my Must-Have list, rather than almost a year after it was released. Perhaps, the pandemic got in my way. Perhaps, the shuttering of all bookstores, and me, quarantined at home, took…
Recent Reads
A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines Read in 2000. Reread, several times, most recently in 2020 In the late 1940’s, Grant Wiggins, a Black man and teacher from a small Cajun community in Louisiana, is called upon by his aunt, Tante Lou, and her friend Miss Emma, both in their 70’s, to befriend…
Recent Reads
World Travel: An Irreverent Guide by Anthony Bourdain and Laurie Woolever Read in April, 2020 Anthony Bourdain and Laurie Woolever, who had assisted Bourdain with his writing projects since 2002, sat down together in early 2018 and asked themselves if the world needed another travel guide, thinking of basing one on his popular television series,…
Recent Reads
Let Me Tell You What I Mean by Joan Didion Read in March 2021 Whenever one moves to a new community, expect a steep learning curve. The flurry of paperwork required to become a citizen of a new state can be overwhelming; changes in voter’s registration, changes in addresses (after thirty-one-years in the same place),…
Recent Reads
Giants in the Earth: A Saga of the Prairie by O. E. Rolvaag, translated from the Norwegian by Lincoln Colcord and the author This is a book published in 1927. This is a book I should have read sooner. Was I asleep in literature class? Was this book ever assigned? Am I the only graduate…
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Judith Barker Kvinsland 