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Signing “Sandy”

March 29, 2026 books, Nature, Uncategorized, writing No comments

Today I had the honor of signing a copy of my book, “Sandy: The Story of a Young Dune,” for a woman who called me out of the blue and told me she would be honored if I would consent to sign the copy that she bought for her new grandson, whose name happens to be Sandy.


I assured her that the honor would be all mine.


For one thing, I was so impressed that Sharon Meyers tracked me down. With a bit of internet sleuthing she found my phone number. She called me one day last week when I was entertaining my grandchildren at Chicago’s Museum of Science & Industry during their spring break. But we arranged a meeting at my home in Chesterton when she and her husband would be en route from their Evanston, IL, home to their vacation home in nearby Michigan City, IN.


My son, Cory Falk, agreed to come next door from his home to photograph me and Sharon so I could memorialize the event on my website blog.


What a fun and fascinating lady! I am new to this book signing business, but if every interaction with a purchaser is as interesting as today’s, I could happily sign books all day.


Sharon and I have a lot in common. She said she just completed a writing residency in Japan and she is well versed in Japanese culture. I studied Japanese tea ceremony and spoken and written Japanese some years ago, though I have only been to the Narita Airport near Tokyo, on my way to Nepal.


She also does food writing and cooking classes. I’ve done my share of food writing and when she gifted me a container of artisan Japanese salt I had to mention articles I’ve written about salt and Portland, Oregon’s own selmelier, Mark Bitterman.


As for my book, “Sandy: The Story of a Young Dune,” I published it through Amazon last year, but interest in it seems to be growing as 2026 is the 100th anniversary of the opening of Indiana Dunes State Park. I wrote and illustrated the story of the Dunes, as told by a young sand dune. I included the science of dune succession and the history of both the state park and the national park at the Indiana Dunes. It’s currently for sale at the Indiana Dunes Visitors Center, the Nature Center gift shop in the Indiana Dunes State Park, and at the nearby Schoolhouse Shop.

SANDY. Written and illustrated by me!


Sandy is also available at Amazon.com for $12.99. I am thrilled each time someone tells me they love my book and asks me to sign it.

Bumped off the treadmill of life

April 22, 2024 life lessons, profession No comments

“Sometimes we assume that normal is the treadmill in the direction that we’re going. When you have this bump that takes you off your track, sometimes you realize, that wasn’t the path I was supposed to be on anyway.”

That’s what a woman lawyer told me when I interviewed her recently for an article for the Oregon State Bar Bulletin. It was a follow-up article of one I wrote for the same publication just before my move east, during the pandemic.

For the original June 2021 article, “Demands Drive Women to the Brink,” I interviewed a dozen Oregon lawyers (including just one man), about how they were coping with Covid. As might have been expected, all reported that their lives were in chaos, thanks to the unprecedented demands of remote work, home schooling, caretaking of youngsters and elders and at-home confinement of entire families during lockdown.

The update

For the update, I interviewed eight women. Nearly all reported major life changes since the pandemic. One got a divorce, one took early retirement, several switched to part-time work, and two stopped practicing the law altogether.

The woman who described her metaphorical bump off the treadmill had realized she was shortchanging her personal and family life by continuing to pursue her legal career. So she gave it all up and retired.

When I told the editor what I was hearing from the eight women, he was truly surprised. He had certainly expected resilience from these polished professionals, but the news that many of them had radically redesigned their personal and work lives came as a shock.

The take-away

The main point of the story was that most of these women reported that since readjusting their lives, they had never been happier. But until the pandemic turned their lives upside down, they hadn’t seen the folly of trying to maintain the status quo of a life that wasn’t satisfying to them.

I thought back to how I handled the pandemic and the lifestyle changes I made. Of course, it was no small thing that I left my birthplace to make a new home in the Midwest. Now I live next door to my son and his family, so in some ways it’s like I never left home. But the lesson of these Oregon women lawyers (and some ex-lawyers, now) is a good reminder to occasionally check if you’re steering your treadmill onto the right path in life — or if you’re due for a wake-up bump.

Hello Chesterton, Bu-bye Portland

January 3, 2022 Uncategorized No comments

Today marks six months since I arrived at my new home of Chesterton, Indiana. Along with my daughter, Meriwether, and my dog, Matilda, I drove the 2,000 or so miles from Portland, Oregon to a small town about 40 miles east of Chicago. Portland was the city of my birth and my lifetime home, except for a few sojourns in places like Chicago and Istanbul.

Road Trip! Meriwether, Matilda and me.

My main reason for leaving home was that my son, Cory, had settled in Chesterton with his wife and daughter, moving there during the pandemic to be closer to Katie’s family. But soon a son was on the way and Cory wanted his side of the family to be better represented.

My other reason for leaving home was that I was sick at heart over what had become of Portland. As a writer, the subject of Portland had long been my bread and butter. I had written so many glowing accounts of my hometown and its denizens for the likes of People Magazine, The Wall Street Journal and the New York Times that I was given an award from what was then the Portland Oregon Visitors Association (now Travel Portland) for bringing our town to the attention of a national audience.

But by the time I left, I barely recognized Portland as the place I had loved to brag about in my articles. Every time I drove downtown past boarded-up businesses and destroyed city landmarks, I was filled with anger at the feckless city officials who had looked the other way during our downtown’s ruin, and grave disappointment that a place with such promise and beauty had been allowed to collapse.

With no regrets, I left Portland behind and set my sights for Indiana.

Grandma with Octavia and Quintus

Now that six months have passed, I can report that I have never been happier. I’m delighted to be grandma to Octavia and Quintus, and although my surroundings are much different from the tall trees and snowy mountains I loved seeing in Portland, I’m impressed by the beauty of Northwest Indiana, especially the Indiana Dunes along Lake Michigan.

Also, it hasn’t been difficult to find new subjects for my writing. There are interesting stories everywhere and already I’ve profiled a local hiking enthusiast for AARP the Magazine and have been a contributing writer for the local newspaper, The Chesterton Tribune.  

I never imagined I would move away from Portland. But now, even while in the throes of my first Indiana winter, I’m sure glad I did.

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