I needed this today

By Alexandria, on January 5th, 2021

“We have no reason to mistrust our world, for it is not against us. Has it terrors, they are our terrors; has it abysses, those abysses belong to us; are dangers at hand, we must try to love them. And if we could only arrange our life according to that principle which counsels us that […]

9/11

By Alexandria, on September 11th, 2020

On a day that, once again, feels rather apocalyptic, I remember well the other September 11th that felt like it would change everything. John and I were in our house in Portland, John on the computer browsing the news. I was in the kitchen with the refrigerator open. He said something about a plane hitting […]

My Girls

By Alexandria, on March 25th, 2020

Sofie and Dakota at rest and play.

 

Girl Waiting

By Alexandria, on February 7th, 2019

This child who looks so much like my dead mother. Standing hesitantly at the foot of a giant. Perhaps she’ll enter into that dark wooden cave, or at least look into it. That’s what so many of us aren’t willing to do. Look into our own dark cave, at what drives us, at what pushes […]

Nocturnal Spirits

By Alexandria, on September 18th, 2017

My brother, Christopher Kaufman, is a brilliant composer and he often writes about the beauty and power of the natural world. This piece is quite powerful and it’s one of my favorites. Performed by the American Quartet at the National Opera Center.

The Truth about Horses

By Alexandria, on September 7th, 2017

My sweet Dakota at two years old.

I read a comment on Facebook (not always a good idea) from a woman condemning those of us who ride horses instead of letting them run “free” in a pasture. I’ve been working with horses for almost fifty years, and I have questioned the relationship between […]

“In this country we have no other people. We are American people.”

By Alexandria, on August 23rd, 2017

This film on anti-fascism was made during WWII. It’s all still right here. Nothing has changed. We keep coming to this same place, over and over again. Are we doomed to keep repeating this endless loop, or will our culture, our species, be able to evolve into a deeper understanding of each other and who […]

A Community of Crows

By Alexandria, on February 15th, 2016

I once had a writing teacher complain when I used the word ‘family’ to describe the band my mustang once led when he was living as a wild horse. Her objection revolved around a body of literature that sentimentalizes the horse, makes it a kind of human on four legs, or describes the sad […]