Tales from the Nexus
Welcome! Tucked happily into the gorgeous hills and woods of Wisconsin, I write about life, faith, and the humor that both require. I spend most of my time homeschooling my kiddos, reading and writing in the space between. Pull up a cup of cocoa and stay a while!
I spent an undisclosed amount of time in front of the mirror the other morning, blowing on my finger. Like a fool. You see, in the days prior, I was pushed to the edge in a minor candle fiasco, and--I have to believe--the involuntary training session in the mirror that morning was a direct result... Continue Reading →
I’ve been crashing through Gerald Durrell’s My Family and Other Animals. Crashing because it is good, and I'm loving it, and because I’m thrilled to have finally discovered Durrell’s voice as an adult, but also--possibly--because it is nine days overdue and I'm feeling like a felon. I wonder if I’m the only president of a... Continue Reading →
I am here to tell you that WD-40 does not clean your toilet of mineral deposits or lime scale, or really anything. No matter what you read on the internet. My toilet? Is not clean. I am, however, inordinately concerned with the health of our septic system now that I have flushed 50cc of water-displacing... Continue Reading →
I woke up this morning with the drive to write a blog post. And with the time to do it. When does that ever happen? Answer? It happens only in conjunction with the sudden realization that I have nothing to say. It’s all blather. I don't want to recount the early departure of the youngest,... Continue Reading →
There it is. October 8th, 2016. A gem. Believe it or not, this post was the beginning of what would become a full feature-length memoir. What is still to become a full feature-length memoir. She's only a few pages away from a completed first draft, and only a few months away from a fully completed... Continue Reading →
OK, OK... I've given in to the word of 2020. It’s not like it’s been honking horns and gonging gongs all around me and I’ve been resistant. It’s not like there aren’t other good candidates. I’m not even sure this is the best one. But it is the one that has been quietly persistent through... Continue Reading →
Up next in the thrilling adventures of the Random Post Generator (Henceforth known as the RPG*), we find ourselves in the puling infancy of kjottinger.com. This time-trip takes us back to October 9, 2014, two weeks into the illustrious blogging career of M'self. Post Numero 5. Of. All. Time. Woah. You can visit young KJ... Continue Reading →
This is it for the cutout cookies. I have brought them with me to the keyboard in order to end the madness. I have eaten so many Christmas cookies in the past week that I, as is customary for late December, feel like I, too, may be made of nothing but dough and heat. What's... Continue Reading →
Get this... I've been at this blogging gig for over 5 years. According to my statistical underlings, I've posted 323 unique posts in that time. Many of which I don't even remember writing. 185,438 words. I gotta say... I'm shocked and slightly embarrassed at the sight of all those words. That's a couple of books... Continue Reading →
Last week--or so... let's not get carried away with accuracy--I ventured to equip m'blog with a random post generator. Don't ask me why. Likely I was supposed to be doing something like cleaning out the couch, when the shiny prospect of Having a Fancy New Button caught my eye and entranced me with it's wiles.... Continue Reading →
The snowblower blew and axle the other day. It is nothing short of amazing that a 1” rod of super-manly steel can just cleave itself in two like a twig, but apparently it happens. The man of the house had just begun the blowing festivities when the left rear wheel fell akilter and lost all... Continue Reading →
Has anyone noticed? It’s December. December 2nd, if we want to get all technical. This fact is revelatory because I have somehow managed to skip completely over December 1st. In my spanky new journal—The Gratitude Sidekick Journal, if you must know—I have been putting the wrong dates on each entry for days. This morning I... Continue Reading →
I vacuumed under my couch cushions this morning. Da clean couch You see, last weekend one of the adult kiddos was here with a visiting friend. Said friend spent most of the weekend on my couch, relaxing from her hellish semester at college, staring blankly at her phone, and digging her stockinged feet in between... Continue Reading →
The birds have been frequenting our back deck, promenading back and forth along the railings and peering at me from the handles of the grill nearest the patio doors. They’ve been hanging out around the spent stalks of the hostas in front, parading up and down, stopping with each ascent to gaze in through the... Continue Reading →
I just broke out the yoga mat for the first time in… ahem… let’s just say a long time and leave it at that. No use getting caught up in trivialities. Why, you ask, would I resurrect such a torture device from the dusty corners of the bedroom? Because a few days ago I decided... Continue Reading →
What is it about time with certain authors that makes me want to write? Anne Lamott. Geneen Roth (kinda). Mike Perry. Looking at the list du jour, it seems that those who make me want to write are those who write like me, or those whom I want to write like, and on my better... Continue Reading →
Warning: Shamelessly personal picture post... We were blessed to welcome a son-in-law into the fold this weekend: With the exception of Baby Rar being completely out of his mind through most of the festivities, the wedding went off without a hitch, and that is a gift. Alex, like Courtney, has 9 siblings. You should have... Continue Reading →
The other night, Wednesday I believe, we were out at Picnic Flow enjoying the waves on the basalt and the dancing moon in the ‘tide’pools. The Flow is this amazing tilt of lavarock, just shoving out into Lake Superior, and a favorite place of ours at Gooseberry Falls. We're especially drawn out there at night,... Continue Reading →
A gorgeous jaunt on the North Shore, if a bit short. First, a photo essay: That pretty well sums it up. Except I didn't manage to take any pictures whilst vehemently scrubbing my face Thursday night, when the wind and the cold conspired against my headlight and it exploded to drip battery acid on my... Continue Reading →
We’re headed to the North Shore tomorrow. To our beloved Gooseberry. Life’s thrown some sucker punches our way this year, and the enthusiasm is tempered, but still, deep down, it is there: the primordial pull towards the mighty Gitchi Gummi. I’ve got a plethora of reasons that this trip will inevitably be bittersweet, but also... Continue Reading →
Some Assembly Required by Anne Lamott Just as she chronicled the first year with her son, Sam, Anne Lamott this time lays bare her first year with Sam's son, Jax. And of course she does it beautifully. Lamott is Lamott, and the artistry with which she washes her familial story will keep me coming back... Continue Reading →
This post has been kind of falling together for a few days. How fitting that it's ready to hit the interwebs on Mother's Day... Anne Lamott wrote this letter to her Grandson Jax at 4 months old: "Dear Jax: Yesterday was your first Thanksgiving, and it is time for me to impart to you the secret... Continue Reading →
I was working through one of those loud and chaotic inner conversations with myself yesterday about how I want things to go. You know, in life. Do you have these? Well, this one got a bit heated, and me, myself, and I all had to take separate corners for a while there. In the end--when... Continue Reading →
All these years--there have been so many--I've been writing book reviews in Goodreads, and then copying and pasting things over here to m'blog, and maybe adding in a little bit more flavor as a sort of prelude. Apparently I think the followers of the blog are in it for something different than the Good People... Continue Reading →
I haven’t been writing much lately. Not enough time. Not enough brain space. Sometimes one has to withdraw from the writing to engage in the life. Let’s call it a Lenten switchup. I’ll be back after Pascha, I’m sure. But I have had great occasion recently to wonder with fear and trembling at the tremendous... Continue Reading →
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