Posted on by Jessica Dofflemyer · 3 Comments

Love and Woo Woo with INXS

Cover of "Kick"
Cover of Kick

It was a year ago that I got up the gumption, followed the instinct and booked that writing workshop at Esalen. Became a Friend and got the discount.  Bought the flight.  Arranged for child care for my 5 year old.

Winter on the central California coast.  I made the drive alone in the rental car.  Stopped in Cambria along the way and bought a “Big Sur bar” in the old fashioned gas station. On the radio INXS played “Never Tear Us Apart” as Hearst Castle loomed in the distance, the ever-winding road leading to the big tree forest.

“…I was standing, you were there, two worlds collided and they could never tear us apart…” Read more

Posted on by Jessica Dofflemyer

The Taco Bell Meal Deal

I’m swallowing the beans of a Taco Bell enchilada when the nausea sets in.  Pausing, I glance at the table where yellow processed cheese congeals on 99 cent nachos.  I sit back and take a break from eating.

Across from me, dwarfed in the mustard-colored booth sits my six year old son, Jeb.  He eagerly devours his bean and cheese burrito, the refried sludge smearing on his chin.  Seated beside him is his father, Rex, dressed in an orange sweater and distressed jeans.  He, too, readily eats his assortment of pseudo-mexican food spread on the brown plastic tray before him. Read more

Posted on by Jessica Dofflemyer

Machete Enlightenment

I’m walking down a steep incline beside my teetering toddler with a machete in my hand.  It feels just like it sounds- dangerous and vulnerable.  We’re heading into the jungle. Read more