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Month: July 2017

This Girl Is On Fire – Katie Campbell Reveals What It’s Like to be a Wildland Firefighter

This Girl Is On Fire – Katie Campbell Reveals What It’s Like to be a Wildland Firefighter

by Lauren Jonik Lauren Jonik: What inspired you to pursue firefighting as a profession? What kind of training is required? Katie Campbell: I was looking for a summer job to fulfill the co-op requirement of my college program. I studied Adventure Recreation and Parks Management. In order to even apply to be a forest firefighter in Ontario, one must complete a weeklong course which includes a lot of field applications, including a mock fire and sling training with a helicopter….

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My America

My America

by Gretchen Hanson It all started with a misplaced bottle of water. I left my idyllic little resort town of Rehoboth Beach in Delaware early Friday morning. A dear friend was being laid to rest in Cumberland, Maryland, and I was facing a long, difficult, five hour drive. I packed road food (because I am always hungry) and water bottles and put them on the back seat. The food, which was to last me all day, I finished in twenty…

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Purrs to healing: Should doctors be prescribing cats?

Purrs to healing: Should doctors be prescribing cats?

by Meg Crane My cats are wild snuggle monsters. David, an orange tabby cat, likes to be tucked under the covers and spooned all night. My calico Stella wanders the apartment, crying, when she doesn’t know where me and my lap are. And the tuxedo, Suki, wakes from her naps to run to the door when anyone buzzes, knowing she’s got someone else to nuzzle. Sometimes, being a freelance writer is hard just because of how madly they battle with…

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Traveling While Chronically Ill

Traveling While Chronically Ill

by Kristin Wagner I am packing for Alaska now, and each item I put into a suitcase reminds me that I have to plan for the inevitability that at some point on this trip, my body or my mind will fail me. This trip was supposed to happen last year. We wanted to go to Alaska last summer, but we didn’t. The reason sounds spoiled and selfish when I explain “Well, we didn’t have quite enough frequent flier points to fly…

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Fibroids: A Women’s Health Issue We Need To Talk About

Fibroids: A Women’s Health Issue We Need To Talk About

by: Fahrin Kermally In early 2005, I was in the middle of graduate school, planning my career, and thinking about the fabulous life I had ahead of me. What I wasn’t thinking about was my health. I ate well, was physically fit, and it didn’t occur to me that anything could possibly be wrong. Even the continuous spotting I had been living with for two years didn’t make me pause.  Not until I casually mentioned it to a friend. “You’ve…

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