Welcome to the home of my writing–a place for reading, resting (or, alternatively, ranting), and chatting. You might find anything here–the best recipe for chiles relleños, food and traditions handed down through families, art projects that ruin your dining room table, or thoughts about rescue mutts, theology, or Chicago politics. In a world abounding in swirling words, I hope you see something interesting here, stick around and read awhile, and join the conversation here on my blog or on my Substack newsletter on public education. Thanks for stopping by.
My country, ’tis of thee
February 19, 2025
Maybe it’s the convergence of Valentine’s Day and President’s Day. I’ve been thinking about why I love this country. Having written about the ways it irritates me for the past 15 years, I felt like stepping out of my comfort zone, just this once, and writing about what I love. Here are a few things […]
Time to pay less attention?
February 10, 2025
Dogs are among the wholesome distractions in our lives. Other natural, rational objects of our attention include our children, jobs, and homes, and for a lucky few with well developed executive function, actual beautiful hobbies like weaving or playing an instrument. Cars with knocking engines and muddy paw prints on back seats, trying to take […]
Of dogs and duty
February 4, 2025
Had I known that getting two dogs was going to prove so diverting that I would fail to write anything at all for ten months I might have had second thoughts. It didn’t happen all at once, as situations with dogs usually don’t. It takes time and several slow missteps to reach peak nonsense. After […]
Stumbling along with lentils
April 15, 2024
I came to Orthodoxy as an adult, and I will always feel a little like someone peering into windows; maybe I’m on the patio, but not quite inside the building. On the plus side for me, Orthodoxy will always be endlessly fascinating–something not everyone born into this tradition can say. To me it is a […]
Beneath Surfaces
August 16, 2023
Summer is somehow almost over and I have a story to tell you from the spring. In early May our daughter, home from college, was digging out our old raised herb box, which in a former life was her old sandbox, in order to flatten out the space and turn it into a new area […]
To be, or not to be in the kitchen with kids
April 29, 2023
First things first. You need to see the wild growth of the formerly dead decorative sticks. I’ve got 5 or 6 curly willows growing with the will of weeds in my backyard pots. A friend of mine who has had this happen to her before has told me I should leave them in place for […]
Spring in Chicago and the mysterious beginning of the next round
April 18, 2023
Ever retro, I am starting a new blog. I plan to post here weekly.
So welcome to this space–a place to read and share stories, recipes, whatnot. I’ve long written about public education but there is just so much more to think about…
Like, for instance, how terribly difficult the transition is from winter to spring. We just went through this in Chicago, and we’re not all the way there yet…
About
I am a writer in Chicago who wears many hats. A mom whose interest in her kids’ public schools led to years of public school advocacy, and whose deaf daughter led to years advocating for hearing aid users. A one-time PhD student who threw aside Milton’s theology for glitter, glue, and preschool teaching. A Sunday school teacher and summertime art educator who has worked with all ages of kids for decades. A fundraiser for food insecurity by means of pie. A blogger, essayist, newsletter writer, grant writer, and eulogist with a reach into many communities. At home I’m someone who is hopeless at laundry and happiest in the kitchen. I have two kids who are mostly grown, a husband who is techy yet philosophical, and a little rescue mutt of indeterminate origins. Chicago’s south side is home to me; I love its neighborhoods, lakefront, activists, parks, coffee roasters, and bakeries, and I love sharing what’s wonderful about my city with anyone who’ll listen.
In my essays I’ve chronicled travels overseas and inward, culinary traditions and failures, neighborhood needs and hopes, public schools under attack, and the precarious territory of memory.
I also write about public education and policy on Substack at CPF Insider.