Tara Katy E

A Little Sideways

It was all unknown to me then ... Everything except the fact that I didn't have to know.

Feel●2026-03-02

Remembering ReRe

'You probably don't know this reference, but we're like Thelma and Louise right now,' she said, as she slapped her driving hat on her head and we cruised off down Knoll Road, top down in her black BMW convertible, probably off for a big day on the town (ie going to Monkees, some charity shops and lunch at Sweet Basil). I was in college, down in North Carolina for a few days in between summer jobs and school starting back up, enjoying some quality time with my mom's parents without any of the other 40-some members of our family around. I was with her years before when she bought that BMW, up in New Jersey for another little solo mini-break, and I'll never forget her picking up the phone to listen in on my grandfather talking to the car salesmen and negotiating the price and coordinating the pick up, and her excited, sly smile as she looked at me and mouthed 'I got the car!!!'.

Do●2025-04-15

On Running

I've run since I was a teenager; it started as a way to get in shape for upcoming field hockey preseason before freshman year (and it was a struggle), but over the years it morphed into a full-blown hobby and then an indispensable part of my daily routine. I love the physical aspect of it - there is no greater high for me than cruising down a trail at sunrise or sunset, feeling the inertia of downward motion against a rainbow sky. While most runs are ordinary and blur together, the ones that truly stand out are the ones where other people are involved, either pounding ground as competitors, sliding alongside as companions, or yelling on the sidelines as bystanders. I love my introvert time, and there are certainly days that call for quiet solitude and space to let my brain wander and process, but there are also times where I need to make an introvert sport extroverted… and those are the ones I remember.

Feel●2025-04-01

North Carolina Catch-Up

We moved to North Carolina a little over a year ago, on what could almost be considered a whim. We'd left Tahoe four years before at the start of Covid when Charlie was about six months old to head to Phoenix, with the hope of being closer to family and more in 'civilization' after a rough few years of back and forth between doctor appointments and hospitals and kid drop-offs, unprepared for the raging heat of the desert. Despite having family there and a 'safe' little Covid bubble, it was isolating – two under two was a challenge, we were sick with a revolving door of illness after illness, and we were truly not ready for 60-some consecutive days of 110+ temperatures and what that meant with small children. Alas, we found a routine, we made some good friends, we spent a lot of time with Chip and Gigi and Steve and Chris, and we survived… but it never felt 'right'.

Feel●2019-02-16

Goodbye, Beags

I knew, inevitably, that at some point in the short years following when I got Otis, there would be an end. It's part of what happens with dogs, or all pets, or all living things. With parents, you see only a portion of their lives, in a complex view where they start as heroes or figureheads in almost a mystical way, before turning into real live humans living their own lives; with children, you raise them and launch them into independence, and you hope you never have to see both their birth and death. With dogs though, they live this concise cycle of puppy to adult to senior, and you're there as they go through every stage at warped speed, with their health and happiness and quality of life totally dependent on you.