Recently, I was invited to visit a small family farm in rural Hidalgo, Mexico, where the the stone-cold mornings of the countryside made me feel as if I’d been transported to another time. Dawn was announced by pig grunts, the shuffling of horses hooves, and shepherds’ horns bugling across a… Still-Life of Environmental Paradox, Hidalgo, MexicoRead more
Musings
Rooting Dreams: Can Access to Computers Create Alternatives to Youth Migration from Mexico?
Recently I was invited to Chiapas, Mexico to assist the Chiapas Education Project in creating a computer lab in the impoverished town of Azteca. The founder, Chris Esponda, has previously been restricted from traveling by his DACA status, so journey marked the culmination of two lifelong dreams—to return to his… Rooting Dreams: Can Access to Computers Create Alternatives to Youth Migration from Mexico?Read more
The Music of Fireflies
Enveloped by moonless darkness on an Appalachian summer’s eve, I find myself at last surrounded by fireflies dancing in synchronicity. Mouth hanging open, I barely remember to breathe as the night opens and I step into a web of stars and starbugs, to the music of coyotes and the sound… The Music of FirefliesRead more
Plastic Ocean: A Call for Kuleana
Back on-island and doing beach cleanups with Surfrider Kauai, I’m even more shocked at the amount of plastic we find washed up in places where only a decade ago I could bury my body in clean unadulterated sand. The plastic is smaller now that the currents have finally pushed the… Plastic Ocean: A Call for KuleanaRead more
The Housing Crisis is a Plea for Culture Shift
Recently, I was introduced to someone who—upon learning that I work as a Housing Advocate—responded with a question that I’d not expected. Do I receive enough support? It turned out this person worked as an IT Support Specialist, so perhaps it was just their nature to ask this question, but… The Housing Crisis is a Plea for Culture ShiftRead more
Dear Climate Activist Apologetically Taking a Break
You’re not the first to admit guiltily to me that you’re taking some time off for a personal journey. I hear the shame in your voice and I imagine you’ve lain awake for many nights wondering if it’s really happening, or how long it will continue, or if some part… Dear Climate Activist Apologetically Taking a BreakRead more
Wild Grace: Saving Species Is Possible, Here’s Proof
I’m drinking hot coffee on a heat wave morning but a chill still runs through my body when I read the news—the United Nations has officially declared access to a sustainable environment to be a universal human right. Even more astonishingly, the three main existential threats addressed by the recent… Wild Grace: Saving Species Is Possible, Here’s ProofRead more
Revenge-Travel Blues
My anxiety is rushing along with the river as I walk the trail through ancient cedars still dripping with rain. The wind shifts and the rhythmic coursing of water around stones is overtaken by the louder sound of traffic pouring down the interstate in the distance— a panicked staccato of… Revenge-Travel BluesRead more
The Terror Within: Can We Please Really Talk About the Whys Behind School Shootings?
I can’t stop thinking about Salvador’s one pair of jeans. Yes, I know that most kids who grow up poor, bullied and neglected don’t become murderers. But I still can’t stop wondering— were they stained from burger grease from work? Or from marker lines doodled on his knees during class?… The Terror Within: Can We Please Really Talk About the Whys Behind School Shootings?Read more
Hungry for This (a forest story)
The tree stands defiantly on the hill next to the river, reminding Eloi of the ones from Mixtec legend. He’s heard the story often—how two great cypress wove their roots together across a river and gave birth to humankind. He’s even more often seen one of these beauties fall and… Hungry for This (a forest story)Read more
What Remains: Reflections on Line 3, Climate Activism, Home, and Hope
At a campground on the border of Illinois, the rush of passing trains shakes me awake. In the pauses in between, I listen to the waves lapping the banks of the Great Mississippi that curls around this peninsula of trees— along with the clamor of traffic crossing the bridge and… What Remains: Reflections on Line 3, Climate Activism, Home, and HopeRead more
The Vanishing (an eco-poem)
“We just need to wake people up!” No, I’m sad to say we’ve been awake for a long time. We’ve been watching for a long time as she slipped away between row houses and street signs announcing Sagebrush, Poplar, Clearwater, Skyline— postage stamp reminders like pins on a map or… The Vanishing (an eco-poem)Read more
Sojourner (a story)
Memory’s a tricky thing. You’ve plucked at yours trying to bring forth the melody of your sisters giggling in the morning light, the sound of roosters crowing, and then footsteps at your door to wake you for breakfast. But it tends to be all or nothing so most days it’s… Sojourner (a story)Read more
License to Vote: It’s More of a Privilege Than You Think
Once upon a time in Mexico, all my documents were destroyed by a cat and a bottle of peroxide. My birth certificate and social security card disintegrated and my passport separated. Furthermore, my driver’s licence was invalid because it was issued to a previous address (and the cat’s passport was… License to Vote: It’s More of a Privilege Than You ThinkRead more
On Forest Fires and Eco-Grief
Reflecting on the grief that we’ve felt this week as we huddle around filter-fans and watch the smoke paint the sky orange, a bittersweet yet comforting memory came to me. When I left my rural upbringing to attend college, I felt completely unprepared for the outside world that I also… On Forest Fires and Eco-GriefRead more
What Does Restorative Justice Look Like?
What does restorative justice look like? Years ago I was living in a rural village in Oaxaca, Mexico, population 400, when it was discovered…
Outside (a poem)
Eye contact becomes language as lips disappear, leaving only eyebrows over pools of so-much-to-say welling up on the inside. Outside, the Earth breathes. Outside, the hen still clucks in the garden and today, the way the sunlight bounced off the green watering can, her tiny fingers and gaptoothed smile as… Outside (a poem)Read more
Naked and Unashamed: Embracing Vulnerability Amid Chaos
I’d just returned to the mainland from a visit back to Kauai when Lockdown began, and the opportunity to remember the lessons from my time living there has helped me through this year-long month. I’ve often joked that on the island everyone might as well be “naked” because it doesn’t… Naked and Unashamed: Embracing Vulnerability Amid ChaosRead more
Unraveling: What Grandma Taught Me About Tough Times
Grandma used to snack on sweet-onions that she kept in her purse alongside society’s disposables — napkins, bread-bag ties, safety pins she turned into jewelry, or magazine pictures she framed with bits of lace that I’d hang on my wall next to the rock-band posters back in the days when… Unraveling: What Grandma Taught Me About Tough TimesRead more