Blog
Ocean Wandering
By Karen Sullivan|2024-02-21T22:04:35-08:00September 18th, 2022|
When I was ten years old, I decided that sailing a small boat across a big ocean was a superb idea. It’s not something you tend to confess later on to, say, your high school guidance counselor when discussing future career choices like brain surgeon, diplomat or industrial tycoon (or, in that wretched counselor's case, "You'll make a good-looking secretary.") Nor is crossing an ocean [...]
Addendum to Yesterday’s Essay
By Karen Sullivan|2022-09-18T10:21:05-07:00May 26th, 2022|
In thinking about my post from yesterday, I did not mention the nation's grief or my own, at the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas. The fact that I did not reflects the first stage of grief: denial. I did not want to have to write this, but feel compelled. Each shockwave in this endless loop is another reminder that in the U.S., people [...]
How to Cope With Large Chunks of Falling Sky
By Karen Sullivan|2022-05-25T15:17:11-07:00May 25th, 2022|
Upon reading the leaked Supreme Court decision on Roe v. Wade, I got a little upset that it relied on the opinions of a 17th century judge who liked to burn women as witches, so, if you're like me, we tend to get busy when stuff hits the fan. I started cleaning out spam from my email because it felt like a sensible follow up. [...]
A September 11 story–excerpt from my memoir
By Karen Sullivan|2022-05-17T18:13:21-07:00September 10th, 2021|
On the morning of Sunday, September 9, 2001, precisely 48 hours before American Airlines Flight 77 would fly this same airspace, I was on an Alaska Airlines flight making its final approach to Washington D.C.’s National Airport. There I would catch a shuttle bus to attend a week’s training at a federal facility 50 miles west of the city. It had been an uneventful [...]
A Winter’s Diary
By Karen Sullivan|2022-05-17T18:23:04-07:00February 18th, 2021|
To my wonderful subscribers, thank you. This braided essay was recently published in Rainshadow Journal, but I also wanted to share it with you. Dec 31, 2020: It was foggy this morning, and temps have not dipped below freezing in a long time. There was a thick frost a couple weeks ago, but the days blur and it’s impossible to recall when. I remember that [...]
Making Sense of All the Abuse.
By Karen Sullivan|2021-01-20T12:37:46-08:00January 20th, 2021|
As I write this, a new president and vice-president have just been inaugurated, and like many, I’m emotional about it. There’s relief, of course, but also much more. Four years ago on election night in 2016, I was sitting with a group of friends, at first encouraged by the polls and then, in utter shock. My shock went beyond the political to the personal—the man [...]