Writings
A bear visited us one morning last summer. She—I assume it was a she as this bear certainly knew her way around a kitchen—pushed open the front door and padded through the dining room right into the kitchen. I know this because when I walked ...
Published in Tidal Echoes 2008 and laJoie Journal , Spring 2009
“You will find something more in woods than in books. Trees and stones will teach you that which you can never learn from masters.”Saint BernardI wonder how many of us, when asked where we live, would answer: “in the forest.” For we live in ...
Published in laJoie Journal, Fall 2008
Most people would consider climbing Denali the quintessential Alaskan experience, but here’s a well kept secret: the true Alaskan experience is inhabiting the present and nowhere is it easier to do than in riding the ferry. So few places exist ...
Published in Our Alaska: Personal Stories about Life in the North, edited by Mike Doogan, Epicenter Press, 2001
Every summer, our family sails north on the ferry to spend time in our little cabin on a stretch of beach in Haines near our home in Juneau. We haul water and use propane lights. Our cellphones don’t work very well. We while away the hours with ...
First published in Skirt, June 2012
One spring afternoon, I was gathering stinging nettles with my mother on a beach a few miles from my house. We chose to pick the topmost leaves only, the ones that are the most tender. Because a slight tug on the leaf will pull up the whole ...
First published in la Joie Journal, Spring 2010
Few children recognize irony. Christmas Eve. Madonna Home. Unwed Mothers. It’s all there. But I didn’t see it until this very moment at the age of 70.The most enduring Christmas tradition my family celebrated was Christmas Eve at the ...
Published in the Boston Globe, December 20, 2020
When I saw the faces of young people in Hong Kong demonstrating for more democracy, I wondered if any of my former students were there.
My former students would be in their 20s now. In 2003, I taught in an English-immersion summer camp in ...
First published in Christian Science Monitor January 12, 2015
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Bridget Smith: Writer
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