The natural world, life, and dogs.
Today I'm celebrating: Conall's biopsy results cleared him of cancer. Eleven days I waited for the results, living with fear. Did he have cancer? Or something else? I dreaded the wait. I tried to remain positive and distract myself - and usually succeeded briefly by taking both dogs into the forest - but always, at… Continue reading Fear, and the Forest
One of the few positives to come from these troubling times is that everything is quieter. Things were already pretty quiet here in the Salmon River Mountains of rural Idaho, compared to the suburbs and cities I've lived in. Now, though, with little traffic on the two-lane highway that runs north/south just three miles west… Continue reading Nature’s Sounds
More randomness as I learn to navigate this new pandemic world we're all experiencing. If you're reading this, I hope you and yours are healthy and safe, and that you, too, are learning new ways to shelter at home without insanity-inducing boredom. Sometimes it's all about finding and focusing on the small bright spots, the… Continue reading Random New-Reality Thoughts: March 28, 2020
My last post was a little dark, reflecting my stress and mood after a challenging week. Writing (venting?) about it helped me but I doubt it helped you, the reader. For that, I’m truly sorry. I’d like to try to make it up to you. Today’s post is a collection of randomness. Maybe you’ll find… Continue reading Random New-Reality Thoughts – March 19, 2020
As children we’re taught that our planet spins on an axis as it orbits the sun. That’s why we have seasons; winter when the place you live tilts more away from the sun, summer when it tilts more toward the sun. But the earth also wobbles. I didn’t know that. Mostly the wobbles are caused… Continue reading As the World Wobbles and Spins on its Axis
I honestly didn’t anticipate writing about dreams again, so soon after my recent Dreamscape post. But like many of you, recent events – COVID-19, stock market plunge, politics – have amped my stress levels up significantly. My subconscious is struggling to handle the input. My usual antidote for stress – time in the forest with… Continue reading When Life’s Stresses Haunt Your Dreams
Confession: I’m lousy at flirting and flirtation. Always have been. Probably because I take flirting seriously, as the initial step toward a hoped-for actual relationship and so something to be used sparingly. I hate the idea of leading someone on, of sending mixed or wrong messages. verb, flirt: Behave as though attracted to or trying… Continue reading Flirting, or More Precisely, Failing to Flirt: A Lifetime of Missed Cues
Winter is slowly easing toward spring in my valley. The red-winged blackbirds have returned, early harbingers of changing seasons. I heard Canada geese honking as they flew above the forest yesterday. Soon the sandhill cranes will arrive. The snow, while still thick on the ground, is ever-so-slowly melting, reducing, disappearing. I always miss the snow… Continue reading Fences VI
Just before waking up this morning I was embroiled in a fast-moving dream, with many characters and locations. Toward the end, a friend and I are running away from something – a bar fight? an assault? – and I have a mark under my right eye, not quite a black eye but noticeable, enough that… Continue reading Dreamscapes
The following is sampling of the sorts of thoughts that flit through my mind while I’m out running in the forest with my dogs. Since they can’t talk to me (except through their body language), for much of the time we’re out there I’m carrying on an internal dialog with myself. While the specific threads… Continue reading Random Thoughts During a Winter Run in the Forest
Wild Sensibility 