inspiration

Trying something outside your professional comfort zone is a little bit like running down the street wearing a new pair of running shorts, suspecting the whole time that the shorts may not be covering your bum well enough. But since you can’t see…

Yesterday was my birthday, which marked 41 years the particular collection of atoms called Judi Ketteler has been on the Earth! It’s crazy because I look 29, right? Anyway, I woke up reflecting on how I tend to classify “best” birthdays in terms…

Six summers ago, I had an assignment from Midwest Living to scout some state parks in Ohio. The last morning of my trip, it was storming. Torrential quality stuff. I wanted to be done already (I had a one-year-old at home waiting for me), but I had one…

Last week, during a storm, lightning struck the power sub-station just a few blocks away. At the time, I didn’t know that had happened. I just knew that our power flickered strongly. When it came back on, I noticed that the fan in my office was running…

It’s the season for baby birds to fall out of nests. On Saturday afternoon, one fell out of the big maple tree in our front yard, right into a patch of creeping jenny. I was outside with my kids when we discovered it, its tiny mouth growing bigger than…