"Darking Bogs": Quacktastrophes and Christmas Miracles

“Medli fell over!” My child’s voice rang through the minivan with shock and horror. I jumped out of the minivan and ran to the back. I pulled open the trunk and peeked into the bin. Three ducklings happily waddled around while a fourth, Medli, lay stiff on the floor.

An image flashed into my mind: Just a week or two earlier, I had looked out the back door to see one duckling splayed out across the patio step. When I picked her up, she waddled away and had seemed perfectly normal since. But clearly, something was not normal.

I scooped up the duckling and she slipped out of my hands and waddled off to join the others. I returned to my seat in the minivan and we began driving off. My mind raced. Was she sick? Was she deficient in essential nutrients? Would the other ducklings succumb to whatever condition this one had? It was somewhere around mid-morning or early afternoon on Christmas Day, and we were in another state. I felt completely helpless. Maybe this incident was a weird fluke, I thought hopefully.

Hours later, the four ducklings happily ran around in the fenced backyard at my parents’ house. We put their bin in the garage, but figured that in a fenced backyard, in broad daylight, they would be perfectly safe playing outside—plus, although they were only two months old, they were quite large.

I eyed Medli skeptically, but I didn’t see any concerning behaviors. Later, as I chatted with relatives on the phone, I ran outside, into the early evening light, and pointed the phone’s camera at our ducklings. They happily quacked and dashed around my feet. Everything was back to normal.

The baby on my hip began to fuss, so I ran back inside, into the basement where everyone was gathered. About ten or fifteen minutes passed.

Hmm…I wonder if the turkey is done cooking. I better go check on that, I mused.

Still clutching the baby, I bounded up the stairs and walked into the kitchen. The smell of turkey pervaded the air, but something else caught my attention: Through the kitchen windows, I could see that it was completely dark outside. Although it was only around 6 p.m., it could have been midnight.

“I need to put the ducks up!” I cried. I dashed back downstairs and thrust the baby in my husband’s arms. I bounded back up the stairs and out the back door, expecting to see four happy ducks sitting by the garage, patiently waiting to be put inside.  

The backyard was empty.

An Open Book: January 2026 Reads

I don't know how we're already into February, but here we are! I am belatedly linking up with An Open Book to share about the books that I started off the year with. I thoroughly enjoyed the books I read, and I'm excited to see what I pick up in the coming months!

2025 Reading and Writing in Review

I always enjoy taking time to reflect back on the previous year and think about the books that I read and the writing projects that I worked on. Not only do I love looking back at what I read during the various events of the year, but when I look back at my writing life, I often see that I accomplished quite a bit throughout the year. 

(When life is overwhelming and I'm tempted to think that "I'll never get this project done or have time to write again," I remind myself that when I do my annual writing review, I'll be able to see that somehow, the writing happens.)

Without further ado, let's dive in! 

An Open Book: December 2025 Reads

 Happy New Year! I'm linking up with An Open Book to share about the books that I read at the end of 2025. Last month, I read three books, all very different and fascinating. Let's dive in!

An Open Book: November 2025 Reads

Happy Feast of St. Francis Xavier! With a new month beginning, it's time to link up with An Open Book to chat about what I read last month. November was a bit of a handful in many aspects of my life, so I only read three books-but they were all quite different from each other and very enjoyable. Let's dive in! 

Four Delightful Ducklings: A Tale of Mastitis

I stood at the kitchen sink and gently washed altar linens for my parish as I listened to the quacks of four ducklings who played in their brooder nearby. A jar of sourdough starter bubbled on the counter, and a two-layered sari wrap skirt swished around my knees as I hung purificators and finger towels on a drying rack. 

I grinned and shook my head in disbelief. This moment was yet another occasion of "things I never had imagined would be part of my life." My sourdough starter, which I began last winter, is miraculously still alive (for now!). After a years-long process, I was eventually able to get on the schedule for church altar linens a few years ago. And now, we have four rapidly growing ducklings. 

I have mastitis to (partially) thank for the quacking and wood shavings that fill the garage. 

An Open Book: October 2025 Reads

Another month is here (how is it already November???) and I am so excited to share about the books I read last month. I wound up reading way more than I anticipated and it was a fabulous mix of fiction and nonfiction, books geared towards adults and those geared towards children. As always, I'm linking up with An Open Book-make sure to check that out for even more book recommendations! 

A Literary Feast: The Story of a Reading Life

I grinned as an elderly woman spread an array of food across the round table: a platter of gochujang-spiced tteokbokki, a plate of crispy egg rolls, and little plates with kimchi, sweetened potatoes, crispy Korean coleslaw, and little pieces of fish cake. Steaming silver bowls of rice stood tall and proud in the sea of little white plates, and large platters of thinly sliced beef, pork, and chicken soon joined them. I passed my plastic mug around the table, sharing sips of a simple soup, crafted from wakame seaweed, fresh mushrooms, and hot water. 

This meal, this spontaneous Saturday evening feast at a hole-in-the-wall restaurant, offered a visual representation of how I approach literature.  

People often comment about the number of books I read, and I struggle to express my reading habits in a succinct manner. I often mention that well, I read lots of genres, or I really just love to read, and let the conversation rest with those points. However, as I mull over my approach to reading, I realize that the answer goes beyond these statements. 

Over the years, my literary diet has become similar to the Korean dinner I recently enjoyed with my husband and children: a feast of flavors and textures, both nourishing and adventurous. 

An Open Book: September 2025 Reads

I am finally coming up for air after a whirlwind of a September, and I'm excited to link up with An Open Book to share about the books that I read over the month! I read way more than I anticipated, so I'm going to do a rapid-fire recap. Onto the books! 

And Jesus Wept: A tale of two statues (and how they challenge us)

There's a statue in downtown Oklahoma City that countless people walk by each year.

Aptly titled And Jesus Wept, this statue depicts the grief of Jesus that we read about in Scripture (see Jn 11:35). Placed across the street from the Oklahoma City National Memorial, this statue reminds us that Jesus knows what it means to grieve. He is with us in our pain, and he mourns as we mourn. We remember the 168 people who were killed in the April 1995 bombing and the countless other people whose lives were upended by this act of violence. When we look at this statue, we remember that in our grief and pain, Christ is present and full of love and compassion; he suffers with us. 

An Open Book: August 2025 Reads

August flew by, and it was a really fun reading month. I'm linking up with An Open Book to share what I read. There were some children's books, a historical fiction novel for adults, and I also finished a couple of nonfiction books that I had been working on for a while. Let's dive in!