Welcome to the Life at 9318 blog, where I share reflections on parenting, mountain living, community, and the questions that matter most. Here you’ll find long-form essays, stories from small-town life, and thoughtful insights on family, camp, and growing up in the high country.
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Recent Reflections
Letting Go
Yesterday, we took Phen to Steamboat Mountain School. We moved him in, joined the family orientation activities, and navigated pushing our very reluctant and fearful 14-year-old into a new world. He was scared, overwhelmed, and homesick before he even unpacked. Which meant that none of us—myself, Steve, or Hawkins—could fall apart. We had to be steady, even while our own hearts were breaking.
On Coping with Phen Going to Boarding School
We’re all coping in our own ways this week as we prep Phen for boarding school. None of us is saying it outright, but it shows up everywhere in how we’re acting.
Nine Months of Winter: What It Really Takes to Live Here
When people ask what it’s like to live in Silverton, I usually start with the obvious: winter lasts about nine months. Snow comes early and lingers long. Our kids ride bikes on the only paved road in town, but for most of the year those bikes lean in the shed, waiting for a stretch of bare ground.
At 9,318 feet, life is both beautiful and brutal. On a clear morning, the peaks glow pink, and it feels like we’re living inside a postcard. On a stormy one, we’re shoveling for the third time before breakfast, and I wonder if we’ve lost our minds.