By Elizabeth Enslin on March 8, 2010
Four months after I gave birth to my son in Nepal, I celebrated my very first International Women’s Day in 1988 in Gunjanagar, a village in western Chitwan District. It was also Gunjangar’s first time to organize an event for that day. I describe the scene in Sacred Threads, my ethnographic memoir-in-progress….
...read more
Posted in Cultural Diversity, Politics and History, Recent, Sustainability, World Travel, Writing | Tagged inspiration, Nepal, women
By Elizabeth Enslin on February 2, 2010
A contemporary song reminds me of all that inspired me to become an anthropologist eons ago….
...read more
Posted in Cultural Diversity, Recent | Tagged cultural anthropology, inspiration, maturity, music, stories
By Elizabeth Enslin on January 28, 2010
Within 24 hours, Howard Zinn and J.D. Salinger die, and Steve Jobs announces the iPad (which — menstrual jokes aside — may or may not revolutionize how we interact with the written word). I’m too busy trying to meet end-of-month writing deadlines to meditate on these odd conjunctions. And perhaps writing is the best way
...read more
Posted in Politics and History, Recent, Social media | Tagged current events, history, inspiration
By Elizabeth Enslin on December 24, 2009
I feel like a grumpy, old bear this holiday season. I don’t want to put my energy into decking halls. I avoid shopping as much as possible. I have no idea what to get anybody, and the muzak playing everywhere makes me want to poke holes in my ear drums….
...read more
Posted in Recent, Seasons and Rituals | Tagged holidays, inspiration, maturity
By Elizabeth Enslin on November 20, 2009
It was hard to leave our yurt in northeastern Oregon with Western larch (Larix occidentalis) in full copper-yellow glory. But when the flanks of the mountains there blaze with what looks like a procession of candles, it’s time to get ready for a harsh winter or move to lower elevations….
...read more
Posted in Around the Northwest, Recent, Species of the Week, Wild Plants | Tagged inland northwest, inspiration, seasons
By Elizabeth Enslin on November 17, 2009
Yeah, I know. This is a Carolina anole, not a chameleon. When I was a kid, I lusted after chameleons. But anoles change color too, and they were cheaper and easier to find in local pet stores, so that’s what I got….
...read more
Posted in Humor, On Blogging, Species of the Week | Tagged blogging, childhood, inspiration, species
By Elizabeth Enslin on November 10, 2009
Growing food this summer in northeast Oregon, I relied on all that I’ve learned over the years from books, conversations, observations, and personal experience. But I probably heard Ama’s voice more than any other….
...read more
Posted in Cultural Diversity, Publication, Recent, Sustainable Food, World Travel | Tagged creative nonfiction, inspiration, stories, Sustainable Gardening
By Elizabeth Enslin on October 14, 2009
Photograph of mist in a remote canyon in Northeast Oregon.
...read more
Posted in Around the Northwest, Images | Tagged inspiration, photography, wild
By Elizabeth Enslin on August 18, 2009
I finally finished the website for Ajamvari Farm, a family run permaculture project in Nepal that hosts volunteers. I helped develop the farm fifteen-some years ago while living in Nepal and discovered a passion for growing food that still runs strong today.
The website provides information on opportunities for homestays and volunteering at the farm as
...read more
Posted in Cultural Diversity, Sustainable Food, Sustainable Gardening, Travel, wordpress, World Travel | Tagged blogging, cultural anthropology, inspiration, Sustainable Gardening, web design
By Elizabeth Enslin on July 30, 2009
In other gardens, I haven’t had much luck with bulbing onions. Rationing bed space in small spaces, I lavished most of my attention on more flashy vegetables: tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, corn.
Walla Walla Sweet and friends: destined for the grill.
But this year with plenty of space, I tried several different varieties of bulbing onions.
...read more
Posted in Sustainable Gardening | Tagged food, inspiration, photography, Poetry
Fringe Magazine
High Desert Journal
In the Mist
Opium Magazine
Oregon Literary Review
The Smoking Poet
Recent Comments