Ellen Snortland

1 week ago | ladowntownnews.com | Ellen Snortland

The day was clear, cloudless and hot beneath a powdery blue sky as my friends and I stood on the land where our Altadena home once stood. In response to an email invitation I had sent in late May, people came from the neighborhood and all over the city. We welcomed friends from our All Saints choir, my writing classes, Landmark, Ken’s Macintosh user group days, my theater career, our grief and loss recovery group, my 12-step friends and more. The email read:“Dear friends and family,The Rev.

2 weeks ago | pasadenaweekly.com | Ellen Snortland

“In a time of destruction, create something. A poem. A parade. A community. A school. A vow. A moral principle. One peaceful moment.” — Maxine Hong Kingston, novelist. “Honey, what did you do with your house keys?” I asked. Ken replied, “I threw them out.”“When did you do that?”So I pawed through the trash like a dog digging for a bone, and… voilá! One was rainbow-colored, another had a skull on top, and the third was a brass Plain Jane.

2 weeks ago | ladowntownnews.com | Ellen Snortland

“In a time of destruction, create something. A poem. A parade. A community. A school. A vow. A moral principle. One peaceful moment.” – Maxine Hong Kingston, novelist. “Honey, what did you do with your house keys?” I asked. Ken replied, “I threw them out.”“When did you do that?” “This morning.”So I pawed through the trash like a dog digging for a bone, and… voilá! One was rainbow-colored, another had a skull on top, and the third was a brass Plain Jane.

3 weeks ago | pasadenaweekly.com | Ellen Snortland

On a clear blue sky day, with room temperature and a slight breeze, an effusive and politically astute person I have known for years approached me after church at All Saints and said, “I bet you’re looking forward to your rebuild project. How exciting that must be for you! How far along are you? Have you broken ground?” I stared at them, feeling as if a firehose of water had hit me. And it’s me, not them. My ability to process words has significantly slowed down since January.

3 weeks ago | ladowntownnews.com | Ellen Snortland

On a clear blue sky day, with room temperature and a slight breeze, an effusive and politically astute person I have known for years approached me after church at All Saints and said, “I bet you’re looking forward to your rebuild project. How exciting that must be for you! How far along are you? Have you broken ground?” I stared at them, feeling as if a firehose of water had hit me. And it’s me, not them. My ability to process words has significantly slowed down since January.