Birds of a Feather
Sense of belonging is a beautiful gift. You owe it to yourself to find that place where you fit at your true self.
Author: Catherine Matthews Images
Have you ever had one of those dreams that is so real you wake up…
Thursday night I got the game ball. It felt so great! In my dubious athletic…
I just turned 54. Normally I like to throw myself a big party. I like…
Suffering usually comes from wanting things to be different than the way they are. –…
Leaders become great, not because of their power, but because of their ability to empower…
I was awakened at 2:51 AM yesterday morning by the unmistakable rumble of an earthquake.…
She skated into town in 10th grade. I always worried about the new kids. I had…
My father tore the carpet out of our house a few weeks before my sister’s…
My career got off to a rocky start. The ink was still drying on my degree…
I remember when my daughter finally got too big for the sink. She was lean…
About 20 years ago, my sister called me and asked if her daughter could job…
It has been my experience that kids hit certain milestones at different times. It’s tempting…
Our daughter was a fighter from the first breath, maybe even before the first one. I…
Our book club recently read the Pulitzer Prize winning novel, Less by Andrew Sean Greer. It was a…
I started my day in kindergarten yesterday. Every day that I get to be in…
If you are reading this, there is a good possibility you are an adult. I…
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This morning I PR’ed (Personal Record) on the Erg, or as I like to call…
It’s 4:15 AM and my REM-induced travels are abruptly ended by my clock radio blaring…
I do not like endings. I do not like finales. It is probably why I…
I get a little nostalgic at Christmastime. I suppose I am not alone in that.…
I was staring out the dusty screen door of our canary-yellow, cookie-cutter rambler when I first realized…
Beliefs are an amazing thing. Though intangible, they have a weight and power all their…
I was listening to a series of lectures by Pema Chödrön the other day. She…
She was three and a half when I spied her heading for the front door…
Last weekend, my best friend and I recruited a few enthusiastic volunteers (our husbands and…
For the last couple of weekends, I have been shooting my daughter’s senior portraits. It…
I remember when we picked him up. After months of looking, we found him at…
The summer before 5th grade, my father took me on a week-long backpacking trip in…
I have a confession to make. I have a box in my garage that I…
One of the challenges of parenting is knowing how much information to give your child.…
In a couple of weeks, my daughter will begin her senior year. Stamped in my…
I’ve had so many friends over the years who describe gardening as a zen-like experience. …
When I was a little kid, I felt strangely like two different people. In retrospect,…
It was a spring, Saturday morning in Georgia. My father must have been away on…
I’m starting with the really big questions this week, which always seems to coincide with…
Next week, my husband and I will be celebrating 29 years of marriage. As our…
One of the great things about having a teenager is that I feel like I…
I thought this post would be easier to write. I realize that no matter how…
Being a mom is a humbling experience. I have learned more from my daughter in…
Despite sitting at one of those back-bending cafeteria tables, I found myself completed enthralled listening…
If you visit our house, you will get a warm welcome from the four-legged creatures…
On a hot day in July in 1984 in Fairbanks, Alaska, I met the man,…
I have been reminiscing a lot lately. I am not sure if it is the…
Sometimes things just happen, good and bad, that you just can’t predict. Despite my propensity…
I was having coffee with some friends recently when, inevitably, the subject of our dogs…
My dad had a second story apartment in the Casa Del Rey overlooking Broadway. I…
This morning I awoke before my alarm. I rolled onto my right shoulder and felt…
I was invited to a birthday party yesterday. I never pass up a birthday party. …
Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to hear Manny Scott, one of the original…
I found myself sifting through old Easter pictures this week. It’s not surprising really. I…
When I was a little girl, one of my favorite things was spending the night…
I was two months into my first year in a new school when I found…
In the fall of 1988, I started my teacher training at Seattle University. Armed with…
As I was driving home from work tonight, Corey Hart’s Never Surrender came on. You…
My daughter missed her dentist appointment this week. In general, she is a very responsible…
I am going to preface this post with “No children were harmed in the making…
I was sitting at Finaghty’s Irish Pub the night before we were to celebrate the…
Over the course of this week, as we prepare to celebrate my dad’s life, we…
I think at the end of a life, it is the little things you remember…
I have never been one for New Year’s Resolutions. I think it might be my…
A couple of years ago, all of my sisters descended upon the eldest’s home in…
Before the digital age of photography, we printed our pictures and mounted them in albums.…
I think people fall into one of two categories naturally. Oh sure, people can change.…
Last night I went to my favorite Christmas party. I have been attending this party…
I am a very competitive person. Now, I know what you are thinking. You’ve heard…
I have lived in the shadow of the Cascades for most of my life. Slogging…
I love school. I love it so much in fact I have spent 42 years…
Last weekend, I found myself once again standing in the middle of a bridge at…
When I was a little girl, my father gave me a copy of Marguerite Henry’s…
Twenty-nine years ago, I was a student teacher in my home town. As you can…
I think this is my very favorite picture and that is saying a lot given…
I think in just about every situation we can learn something. It has been my…
When I was a kid, my dad gave me Masterpiece for my birthday. It was…
Last Sunday morning at 0530, I found myself next to an empty field on the…
I like really old stuff. I have so much antique glassware my husband recently told…
Confession time. I was a science major. There, I said it. It’s out. What a…
When my daughter started rowing four years ago, I had a lot to learn. And of…
I’d like to tell you that I’m one of those photographers who gets a brilliant…
One Sunday morning – ok practically the middle of the night- I convinced my husband…
If you’re old as I am, you probably remember buying film. Film was a relationship.…
We are bombarded with images. Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook deliver cute, scary, heartwarming, devastating, lush,…
I suppose like all photographers I began very young. My first memory was of my…