AspenTimes • September 21st, 2026

Dancing in the moonlight

Walking through the grocery store aisle looking for something to pair with the evening’s taco dinner, the song playing over the loudspeaker comes to a crescendo. I’m ready. As I reach for a can of refried beans, I sing the chorus audibly, and my hips give a little shake. Apparently, I’m now a spectacle, because I earn a few looks from other shoppers. No one knows I’m listening to one of my all-time favorite songs, and I’m instantly reminded of a dear friend.

Vail Daily • August 1st, 2026

All unsupervised children will be given an espresso and a puppy

The hot, frothy cappuccino barely touched my lips before I placed it gently back into its saucer, looked across the café and gave one of those parental death stares to the two young terrors acting like the restaurant was their own personal playground. One child hit the other over the head and the other screeched in mock pain and squeezed out some theatrical tears.

The Aspen Times • July 6th, 2026

Thriving and surviving the family trip

Our two-week family vacation was still in its infancy when I almost ran over my younger brother.

Vail Daily • June 2nd, 2026

Opinion | Chacos: Why is a graduation tassel so important?

In a breath the room fell silent. Even the baby wailing throughout the entire ceremony seemed to know something important was about to happen and stifled another uncomfortable cry. It would be years before the fidgeting young adults in stiff caps and itchy gowns would appreciate the high-stakes emotions coming from the audience. Many in attendance worked hard at keeping their feelings in check and will exhale when the ceremony concludes. The soon-to-be graduates simply want to say good riddance...

AspenTimes • April 22nd, 2026

Gen Z is helping rewrite the dictionary

I’m confident my command of the English language is well-rounded for someone my age, yet when I hear Gen Z talk, I’m often lost in translation. These are the kids born between 1997-2012, and I house three of them.

AspenTimes • March 22nd, 2026

A flair for small rebellions

Back in high school, I shaved part of my long hair and permed the rest in an attempt to be edgy. “Edgy” was not what my family nor my teachers used to describe the gnarly mess atop my head. My decision skills being what they were at the time, I then went and dyed part of it purple. I believed my hair to be a puce masterpiece, both bold and dramatic at the same time. I was secretly pleased with how others would contort their faces upon seeing me, as if they were squaring off with Medusa in a dark...

The Aspen Times • March 2nd, 2026

A mountain town is more than a fairy-tale snow globe

A visitor from the city once put it bluntly: “You don’t live in reality — you live in a bubble.”

Vail Daily • January 24th, 2026

If I don’t get caught speeding am I breaking the law?

The cost of the rental car was a bargain, yet the driving ticket that casually came in the mail after I returned home was not. Weeks earlier, I was driving in another country on the wrong side of the road navigating a manual transmission with constant traffic. I was being brave and bold trying to model strength to my daughter sitting scared in the passenger seat. To make matters worse, there were funny-looking street signs posted all over the place.

AspenTimes • December 15th, 2025

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot — The item I forgot to pack

The airplane touched down on the tarmac without incident, and I still couldn’t shake the subtle and unsettling feeling that I was forgetting something. I went over my mental checklist again. The oven was turned off and the door to the house was locked. The rental car was confirmed. am a seasoned and savvy traveler, I reminded myself. Then panic set in. I forgot to bring my passport.

AspenTimes • November 17th, 2025

The art of gift giving

I cursed the package delivered to my doorstep and let the box sit on my kitchen counter for a couple of days, unmoved and unopened. I knew it was another present from the fabulous friend that raises the gift-giving stakes one dazzling offering at a time. She curates every gift as if raised by deep-sea pearl divers and then exquisitely wraps everything with the care you’d expect from someone who sadistically bombs gift boxes with glitter and colored tissue paper.

Vail Daily • October 20th, 2025

Is it really wrong to listen to a book?

A hard-core bibliophile can often be identified as the traditional hero; a glasses-wearing, tea-drinking avid reader who will defend soft light, quiet spaces, flipping pages, and underlining phrases until her last, dying breath. One hand holds a physical book while the other dog-ears corners of the pages that forever annotate a moment, a sentence, a feeling.

AspenTimes • September 19th, 2025

The Last Supper

Some families show their love with hugs or celebrating lifetime achievements with one another. My family does so by telling you how to eat a bagel or a slice of pizza. We’re devoutly vocal about food and demonstrate our affection for one another by arguing what should be on the menu for dinner while we’re still debating bacon’s ideal thickness over breakfast.

PostIndependent • August 18th, 2025

For the love of the game

Every Sunday, I sit in my living room watching grown men clobber each other senselessly and ask myself what would pair well with a plate of buffalo wings and beer. I invite only those who will bring more food and who would also be comfortable cramming together on my couch for a few hours.

AspenTimes • July 25th, 2025

I see deadpan people

The menu was highbrow for a midday potluck at work. The venue was not. We felt compelled to share our culinary knowledge and techniques in case anyone dared to compare us to the spartan, sink-less, and dirty fluorescent breakroom where we often congregated during pauses from our workday.

AspenTimes • July 6th, 2025

What’s so special about a holiday in July?

The Fourth of July is the only holiday I tolerate being hot and sweaty from sunrise to sunset because there’s the promise of fireworks at its conclusion.

Post Independent • June 30th, 2025

The summer slowdown

June is when the vibe in the air changes and my winter malaise magically melts. I wake from a hibernation that puts me out of social commission for many months of the year and I say good riddance to winter and its long, bipolar shoulder season. No more confusion when to put on a waterproof snowsuit or take my chances with shorts and flip-flops when heading out the door for the day. I tuck away my underutilized skis, my self-diagnosed Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), and my introverted moodines...

AspenTimes • June 3rd, 2025

Beware — a redhead ahead

Generations of gingers have burdened my family with fiery attitudes and overly assertive personalities. My redheaded grandmother was a strong-willed, intense Hungarian. My mother is the same. I was also born possessed by a deep desire for self-control, perfection, and require frequent reminders to take my surly, “know-it-all” attitude down a notch. Hating my red hair and the hot-headed temperament that comes with it has always been at the top of a list too long and sad to print here.

AspenTimes • May 5th, 2025

DEI — Dignity for everyone immediately

The magical trifecta of being white, male, and having socio-economic stability in America is so baked into my ethos that when diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives came crashing down recently, I became sensitive to the injustice of it all.

VailDaily.com • March 22nd, 2025

Rules to fly by

I recently returned from an intercontinental trip that totaled eight flight segments. Although this does not make me an experienced globetrotter like one of those million-milers, the many flights allowed me to see how society’s rules often deteriorate as our stress level increases. To make airplane travel a pleasant experience for everyone, I’ve jotted down a few unwritten rules to follow when we take to the friendly skies.

AspenTimes.com • February 4th, 2025

Middle child syndrome

My son has “middle child syndrome” despite my exhaustive effort to avoid such a diagnosis. Over the years, I’ve been careful to give my children equally-sized birthday presents and let all three get their favorite treats at the movie theater because they compare these types of things.

AspenTimes • December 24th, 2024

Searching for my spiritual holy grail

I always come up blank when I question the purpose of life and I’ve watched It’s a Wonderful Life plenty of times to understand that it’s supposed to be the culmination of the little things we do, what we say, and how we act that give us meaning.

AspenTimes.com • November 14th, 2024

When your car’s license plate stands out in the crowd

I drove through the four-way stop sign without slowing down or stopping because I didn’t even see it. Someone to my left pressed on their car horn so passionately that I thought I was the star in some sappy Hallmark movie. I slammed on the brakes before hitting a pedestrian in the crosswalk and then proceeded to roll through the intersection in indecisive fits, waving apologetically in all four cardinal directions.

PostIndependent.com • October 27th, 2024

Why we love and hate the family chores

I ignored the heated dispute by pretending to be an overworked human resources executive and prayed the team would utilize the problem-solving skills I’ve been coaching them on for years. Soon I heard a door slam, a few zesty words that would make a kindergarten teacher blush, and the whirr of a lawn mower. The other teenager dramatically dragged the vacuum out of the closet and then washed the sink’s dirty dishes as if teasing them to break.

VailDaily.com • September 19th, 2024

The devil is in the details

My son likes to quote, “Manners maketh man” whenever he sees humankind acting in ways that disrupt his sense of order. I get excited when he speaks like this, not because I raised a son whose command of etiquette would make Emily Post proud, but because I perversely enjoy seeing people behaving recklessly in the wild. It’s like going to the zoo to gawk at orangutans except human beings are more fun because we were taught to pick our noses and fornicate in private.