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6 days ago | 
shangrilogs.substack.com | Kelton Wright
We’re now over a year of raising a child with no childcare while both working multiple jobs. I am proud of us, but I’d rather not be. One of the daycare facilities here reached out this week to say they might have a spot opening up later this year or early next — would we like it? I laughed. We would love it. Until then, I am learning to sometimes let the essays be short so the days can be long. I hope everyone had a wonderful solstice.
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2 weeks ago | 
shangrilogs.substack.com | Kelton Wright
The last of the aspens started to pop yesterday, their buds emerging and unfolding like pastries in the oven. June 10. I note the date in my head. June tenth, june tenth, june tenth, the last of the leaves. I also take a picture. That’s how I practice phenology here, the rhythms of plants and animals in relate to the seasons. When we first moved here, Ben had a moleskin for this purpose. He wanted to track rain and temperature, wind and snow, but we found it difficult to capture accurate measurements.
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2 weeks ago | 
shangrilogs.substack.com | Kelton Wright
When I was a living in LA, riding my bike for hundreds of miles a week, I met a cool girl with a cool accent and a cool life while on a (you guessed it) cool ride on the coast, and I have been quietly ogling her life from the sidelines for nearly a decade. Hanneke Lourens and her partner Robin are our friends from afar, and we are constantly wondering when we can make the 20-odd hour drive to see them again on the northern California coastline. Lucky us, Hanneke agreed to show us around virtually.
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3 weeks ago | 
shangrilogs.substack.com | Kelton Wright
It is the season of lookyloos, and my tits are out in the kitchen window. The child now, instead of using the ESL sign for “milk” that he very much knows, has started to take the more direct route of simply yanking my shirt up when he wants milk. I am filling the kettle with one hand, holding the child in the other while he slinks down my body to drink …Keep reading with a 7-day free trialSubscribe to Shangrilogs to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.
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3 weeks ago | 
shangrilogs.substack.com | Kelton Wright
High altitude relocation, recreation, and renovation in a town of 180 people (and 51 dogs.)High altitude relocation, recreation, and renovation in a town of 180 people (and 51 dogs.)
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3 weeks ago | 
shangrilogs.substack.com | Kelton Wright
An audio version, in case you’d like to faff about in the kitchen or garden instead of screening. Audio playback is not supported on your browser. Please upgrade. The migration is underway as countless birds grace us with their presence for a day at a time before heading further south. One of the purest treasures of this season is hearing the ever-changing chorus outside. And so, we keep the door to the screened-in patio cracked open.
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1 month ago | 
shangrilogs.substack.com | Kelton Wright
This Friday, my podcast co-host (and friend) Krisserin and I will record the final episode of our first season of Pen Pals. We’re taking the summer off because, well, it’s summer and we deserve nice things. As we approach our wrap up episode, we’re thinking about what we want to accomplish over the break, and how we might do it. Krisserin brought up some…Keep reading with a 7-day free trialSubscribe to Shangrilogs to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.
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1 month ago | 
shangrilogs.substack.com | Kelton Wright
Lately, I’ve been working to unlock some secret within me that will lead me to a billboard that says, “GO THIS WAY.” You’d think with its freeway-friendly size and its enormous font that I would have found it by now, but the hunt continues. To shake loose the cobwebs, I walk. Maybe the billboard is in the woods. Maybe I just need to take that one trail that’s a little overgrown. Or maybe I should bushwack the old trail that is very overgrown.
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1 month ago | 
shangrilogs.substack.com | Kelton Wright
We went hiking on Sunday, a very steep climb and descent where my hands were firmly planted on my knees on the way up and my butt was occasionally planted on the ground on the way down. We were traversing a low ridgeline with the baby strapped into his carrier while he babbled and occasionally demanded milk. Steam rose from the silty cliffsides as the s…Keep reading with a 7-day free trialSubscribe to Shangrilogs to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.
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1 month ago | 
shangrilogs.substack.com | Kelton Wright
Credit to for this idea, that she got from the podcast What Did You Do Yesterday?, executed so well here. Technically this is Friday, and not Saturday, because I had to do the actual writing of this on Saturday and the actual child rearing of this on Friday. Also, if you do nothing else, please scroll the video of W3 laughing hysterically. 6:14am: I stir, stretching my legs right into the dog’s mouth. He’s buried under the covers and immediately takes this stretch as an invitation to lick my feet.
