Life And Other Distractions

         The phone would ring, and off would go my mother, around the corner, leaving a trail of flour dust as she waltzed towards the future conversation. Knowing fair well that my mother was a talker, I had it down to a science of how many drive-by’s I could fit in before I’d get caught, as I swept the kitchen for potential hazards on my way to the cookie dough. One, massive, partially melted, white plastic bowl contained the goods, and as a child, it was my duty to get a taste. My mother, being the retired Seattle Police detective that she was, must have had eyes in the back of her head, and probably the sides too, for how quickly she sensed a disturbance. So, between my young, light feet, and her eagle eyes, we had a friendly competition of family cops and robbers anytime cookies were in the making.             The counter laid strewn with various sizes of bowls, measuring cups, teaspoons, tablespoons...

“It’s about to get sporty!” I yell as my Whites boots sink another two inches deeper into the gooey mud and I slide another couple feet down the hill. Sam, my brother and hunting guide for the weekend, lets out a few chuckles as he skates past me down a separate muddy trail. We’ve been out skulking around the sage hills for hours in search of the infamous Idaho Mule Deer. The rain hasn’t been able to make up its’ mind all day, constantly on and off like a middle school relationship.   By now, its almost dark, and the rain is in full- force. With flash flood warnings and wind gusts that will take you right off the ridge top, it’s time to head out. Saturday was quite the comical scene. Sam is an avid hunter, fully equipped with anything and everything that he could possibly need. Along with Sam is his friend, Casey, who is starting up his own hunting guide business. They’ve both spent lots of time hunting in various locations, states and types of terrain, and for some reason, they...

Last night my dad ran into the house saying to turn on NPR because they were doing a piece on women firefighters. He said this because I am a firefighter, and I am also a woman. However, this was not really a piece on women in fire, this piece was on why it’s hard to be a woman in our field, and I just don’t agree. The NPR piece went into sexual harassment, sexual assault and the difficulties that we as women face in the world of fire. I don’t look at my job as a difficulty. I look at my job as a just what it is: a job. Yes, there are sexist people in our line of work, but to be honest there are sexist people in every line of work. Ours is no different. The fact that I am a woman gets acknowledged at least once a day every day. But, it’s simply fact. Right? I am a woman. And, I am also very tired of everything having a negative light cast onto it. We get out of life what we put into it. If you let a couple of sexists run you out of a job, then honey, you didn’t belong there in the f...