Author Archives: janishaag

(In honor of Brother David Steindel-Rast’s 100th birthday) To swim, you must trust,said a wise man who hasnow achieved 100 yearson the planet. “You can learn as much asyou want about swimmingfrom books,” he said. “Youcan stand in the water … Continue reading →

Two summers ago she came to helpme sort through stuff in the garage,taking careful inventory of decades-old plastic bottles of bubbles, testing them, one bottle at a time,sitting on my deck, blowing bubbles.On hot days, I still see her there.Now … Continue reading →

(Ode to a Sacramento summer) We knew it’d show up eventually,after weeks of saying to each other,“Perfect weather, isn’t it?” and“Best summer I can remember.” Because we live in a land of too hot,a state of hot-hot, with the always-hottest … Continue reading →

The garden goddess next door,as part of her daily practice, standshose in hand, kindly watering the corner bed by my driveway—the creeping little daisies, the lastof the poppies, new cone flowers, the to-be Black-eyed Susans(still all leaves for the moment)—chatting … Continue reading →

Listen, an experienced gardener warned,you want to watch the wisteria. It gets away from you, its dime-sized seedsburrowing into the ground, it’ll growand grow and grow into a constrictor,a green strangler. I’m not kidding. But, I said, I like the … Continue reading →

One short, measly hour,not a special one, just any oldhour, look around and ask, “What would my life bewithout this thing? Withoutthat thing? Or that one?” Without the tree shadingthe window, without the window,without the kitchen sink you’re standing behind,without … Continue reading →

You know how you wake up some mornings, the bad dream running laps in your brain, telling yourself it’s not real, but you carry the hangover of free-floating anxiety in your satchel of woes, which, most days, you can set … Continue reading →

If you believe that you were not born to sing,then you must allow the birds to tutor you, sitting in places where they do, allowing themto feel comfortable enough to vocalize near you in your scary human suit. You will … Continue reading →

Let this be a sign unto you,amazing one: You are enough.You are magic. And yes, embrace your mistakes.And look for the signs because, it turns out, they’re everywhere,if we only have the eyes to see them, messages from the unseen … Continue reading →

Six-year-old Lane calls across the pool,“Mom, watch!”His 11-year-old sister Grace echoes,“Watch ME, Mom!” And at the shaded end of my niece’spool, their Mom watches—this womanwho styles my niece’s hair—alongwith her mother, as my sister and I, old enough to be … Continue reading →