On Wildlife Refuges I’m reflecting on the value of wildlife refuges, now that a wildlife refuge is prominent in the news. It seems like an odd place to be at the center of political controversy...
https://mattiespillow.com/2016/01/08/the-view-from-matties-pillow-28/
Tonight, a quiet evening playing Scrabble with Mike–no TV, no internet, no cell phones, just us, the board, and the old fashioned wooden tiles. I’ve played Scrabble since my grandparents intr...
https://mattiespillow.com/2016/01/05/poetry-challenge-for-the-new-year/
Hello, friends of Mattie’s Pillow! I’ve been on a couple-year hiatus from this blog, but, with some encouragement from friends who have been readers of Mattie’s Pillow, and with the enthusi...
https://mattiespillow.com/2016/01/02/return-to-matties-pillow/
I’ve taken a long break from writing here, and now we’re toward the end of summer with the Fair going full swing. I’ve given myself a break from writing in general, a strange thing to do wh...
https://mattiespillow.com/2013/08/06/the-view-from-matties-pillow-27/
Redpolls and Chickadees Thanks to football (words I never thought I’d write), I’m having a pleasant day home alone, listening to From the Top on NPR, a classical music show featuring young mu...
https://mattiespillow.com/2013/01/20/the-view-from-matties-pillow-26/
Being Mrs. Patmore Over the holidays, I’ve found myself in the kitchen most days, cooking or cleaning up after a previous feast. It’s been good to feel the rhythms of cooking and cleaning, of...
Being Resolute After a break of many months, I’ve decided to return to this blog. This isn’t a New Year’s resolution, exactly, but it something I’ve been holding in my mind for some time ...
https://mattiespillow.com/2013/01/01/the-view-from-matties-pillow-25/
Reading Aloud On Friday night, I’ll be reading with poet Derick Burleson and fiction writer Geri Brightwell in the UAF Wood Center Ballroom (7pm). That’s the shameless plug. Now the challenge...
The Ides of February Just past Valentine’s Day, and we’re still relishing mild temperatures, sometimes in the thirties. We now have eight hours and some odd minutes of daylight and it’s beg...
https://mattiespillow.com/2012/02/15/the-view-from-matties-pillow-24/
The long cold drags on. We were warned. I read in the paper last summer that we were in a La Nina cycle, which would mean long cold spells and little snow. Here in the Interior, we’ve mis...