Sticks and Stones

Nov 22, 2024 | abigailwise.substack.com | Martin Fritz Huber |Jia Tolentino |Ryleigh Nucilli |Abigail Wise

A mom in Georgia was recently arrested and charged with reckless conduct after her ten-year-old son was found walking less than a mile from her home. I can’t stop thinking about it. Many of us grew up riding our bikes around the neighborhood and walking with friends to the lake down the bike path. Even now, with a two-year-old, I wonder how much freedom is good for him: Is it OK if he wanders around the upper area of our farm, where I can mostly see him and hear him when the window’s cracked?

Nov 7, 2024 | abigailwise.substack.com | Abigail Wise

I woke up yesterday morning devastated. I was still in shock from Election Day. I couldn’t stop thinking about my stepdaughter, my son, and my future daughter, who’s half-baked in my uterus right now. I cried. And when my two-year-old son asked me, “Mama, what’s wrong with your face?” I explained to him that a very bad man became the leader of our country and that the fact that a very bad man was chosen over a very smart, capable Black and South Asian woman made Mama very sad.

May 13, 2024 | abigailwise.substack.com | Megan Maurice |Daniel Wood |Connie Hanzhang Jin |Brent Jones

I had writing this newsletter on my to-do list for today, but my toddler was up with a fever all night (Happy Mother’s Day to me), so please forgive the lack of a top story. Here’s what I’m reading around the web.

Apr 19, 2024 | abigailwise.substack.com | Allison Keeley |Rebecca Simon |Dan Kois |Abigail Wise

^2020 vs. 2024When my husband and I moved into our main house in the height of the early pandemic, the yard attached to our kitchen and sunroom quickly became “my yard.” It was a small, weirdly shaped triangle of true desert terrain: dust, dirt, tumbleweeds, and goat heads. My mom has always been an avid gardener, so I grew up with flowers and fresh veggies, and I was eager to transform my own little patch of property into a lush, green paradise.

Apr 9, 2024 | abigailwise.substack.com | Adam Rogers |Sophie Elmhirst |Abigail Wise

Hey friends! It’s been a while. As I’ve done far too many times over the last seven years (!!!) of this newsletter, I apologize for my hiatus. Life got busy, and something had to give. BUT I do have exciting news: The reason I’ve been so busy is that my husband, Will, and I purchased a historic adobe house down the road from us that’s in need of a lot of TLC. We’ve been working hard to restore it to its former northern New Mexico glory, one mud wall at a time.