Posts in Life
Climate Change and a Hail Mary
Climate Change and a Hail Mary

No one should be up this early. Even the rooster is still in bed and hasn't made a peep. I pull on a shirt, not realizing it's inside-out, throw on yesterday's shorts, tie my shoes and stumble down the path leading to the driveway. If I don't walk now, I won't walk at all. The forecasted high today is 111 in this valley and 115+ in Grants Pass, Oregon. The 10-day forecast then "cools" down and hovers at 100 degrees for the foreseeable future. They tell us this will be the hottest day ever recorded in June on the West Coast.

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Life, Climate ChangeMichelle McAfeeClimate ChangeComment
My Life Is a Circus
My Life Is a Circus

Elvis has a big mouth. This guy wakes up the sun. If I were dead in the ground, that shrill incessant tin can voice would roust and send me reaching for daisies to shove in my ears to drown him out. When he was a little squirt, I adored that sound. He was so cute and unusual. A brand new exotic thing to focus my attention on. A shiny new chicken to love.

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Homestead, LifeMichelle McAfeeHomesteading, ChickensComment
Shamanism Works In Strange Ways
Shamanism Works In Strange Ways

Elevator jazz assaulted my ear as the phone pressed against it. An occasional disembodied syrupy voice interrupted, "Your expected wait time is two minutes." I was borrowing my neighbor's landline since the cell service in this valley is non-existent. A man with a thick Indian accent piped through from somewhere far away, "Hello and thanks for calling Frontier; how can I help you?"

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Life, SpiritualMichelle McAfeeLifeComment
About Me - Michelle McAfee Long-Bio
About Me - Michelle McAfee Long-Bio

My first rejection as a writer came from a Reader’s Digest editor. I was eleven years old, living in the Rocky Mountains west of Denver. My English teacher, Mr. Upzack, sent a note home asking my parents if he could submit my homework assignment to the publication. It didn’t go well. The following year we moved to a homestead in northwest Montana, and I learned to play guitar on my mother’s 12-string Epiphone.

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Life, Short Story, MusicMichelle McAfeeLife, BioComment
Bloom Where You Are
Bloom Where You Are

Late afternoon sun angles across the meadow, creating a facade of warmth on this chilly early March day. My black rubber chore boots squish in the mud left by the last rain as I make my way down the garden trail. Moments before it is crushed beneath the weight of me, a soft purple glow poking up on the edge of the path catches my eye.



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Life, NonfictionMichelle McAfeeShort Story, LifeComment
Are You Coming With Me?
Are You Coming With Me?

I am alone, standing on the side of a two-lane blacktop road feeling lost. The white line painted on the asphalt at my feet stretches for miles to the north. I hear a distant hum behind me to the south. A black car approaches and slows down, stopping on the road in front of me. The passenger window is down. A gentle-spirited man with long black hair peppered with gray strands falling well past his shoulders has one hand on the wheel. His eyes are dark and shining bright with life and deep calm wisdom, “Are you coming with me or are you going to just stand there?”

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Life, Dreams, Nonfiction, SpiritualMichelle McAfeeLife, DreamsComment
My Other Hometown Wrecked My Life
My Other Hometown Wrecked My Life

McCarthy, Alaska wrecked my life. I had a map and a compass heading, that felt sure and steady. I put roots down in a sweet mountain valley in Southern Oregon with lush, organic farms and down-to-earth people choosing to live close to the land. Williams, Oregon is the good guy. The one you know you should date because he’s good for you - kind, gentle, wise, responsible. Safe. McCarthy, Alaska is the bad boy. The one you burn for in the middle of the night - risky, spontaneous, erratic, beautiful. Dangerous.

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Life, Short Story, PhotographyMichelle McAfeeAlaska, LifeComment
The Blue Atlas Project Brings Aid to Devastated Abaco Island
The Blue Atlas Project Brings Aid to Devastated Abaco Island

Kali Kirkendall walks to the stove in her underwear, spins the knob on, and brings a blue flame to life beneath the kettle. The sailboat sways with the rhythm of the ocean as she hangs onto the counter and props the Aero Coffee Press between various heavy items stacked together in the sink so it doesn’t tip over. Steaming hot mug of coffee in hand, she makes her way up the starboard side stern rail and sits down. It’s been one of the most important years of her life. And the most undocumented.

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Life, Travel, Non-profit, NonfictionMichelle McAfeeTravel, LifestyleComment
Remembering the Night I Met Sheryl Crow and Beck
Remembering the Night I Met Sheryl Crow and Beck

The memory of a live concert experience is especially poignant now, having just survived the worst year of everyone’s life. So many of us long to be in a crowd of people, hear live music, or go to a concert with our friends again. The pandemic decimated business-as-usual and collapsed live music. The moment we break free I will meet you at the amphitheater and we will lay our hearts down at the Altar of Mojo and dance our asses off.

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Music, Life, ConcertsMichelle McAfeeMusic, Concerts Comment
Blacksmithing
Blacksmithing

Strange clanking sounds were pinging from inside the walls. Dave opened the heavy, red-painted wood door hung with big iron hinges stretched halfway across its breadth, and we stepped into a dimly lit time machine that smelled of soot and men. When my eyes adjusted, I was riveted by what I saw. This must be what it felt like to enter the wardrobe into Narnia.

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Photography, LifeMichelle McAfeePhotographyComment