The natural world, life, and dogs.
Nature's Bounty: Wild Berries Growing up in a suburb of Seattle, picking wild berries in summertime was a normal childhood activity. Mostly we picked blackberries, which grow everywhere in western Washington, so we only had walk to the edges of the neighborhood or a nearby vacant lot to find them. If the family went camping… Continue reading Huckleberries: Yum!
Let me take you along on one of my favorite summertime trail runs through the Payette National Forest. It's early morning, nice and cool, the sun just rising above peaks and ridges to the east, filtering through the tree tops. With Conall leading the way, we'll start at 5,900 feet, climbing upward for some four… Continue reading Nature’s Therapy: Wildflowers
A Tribute to Two Special Dogs I’m perfectly comfortable roaming about the forest without other people. Of course, I almost always have one or both of my dogs with me. Finn and Conall are quiet yet steadfast companions, letting me play inside my head while we’re running, no interruptions, no need to carry on polite… Continue reading The Gift of Confidence
The forest is always teaching me something. I’m provided endless opportunities to see or hear something new, to watch life (and sometimes death) unfold in new ways. By visiting the forest almost daily, year-round, I’m privileged to observe not only the typical, but also the anomaly, the unusual, the transitional and seasonal. I'm intrigued, inspired… Continue reading Grouse Drumming
A Forest Run, July 14, 2019 Lots of wildlife sightings on this morning's run in the forest near home. Quite the morning, sparking some fond - and exhilarating - memories. Hoping to avoid free-roaming cattle and skunks, I drive to a forest access a couple miles north of home. Right out of the car, Conall… Continue reading Wildlife Alerts
Cairns are piles or stacks of stones constructed by humans. We’ve done this over millennia and across continents for a variety of purposes: burial monuments; spiritual ceremonies; marking the location of buried food or objects; way finders; astronomy aids; solstice celebration markers; land boundaries; battle memorials. The word cairn is Gaelic, meaning “heap of stones.”… Continue reading A Heap of Stones
This morning, we saw one. A wolf. In the wild. Running a trail in a remote part of central Idaho’s Payette National Forest in August 2006, my two Malamutes and I were allowed to commune with nature in a way most can only dream of. First, the wolf and Maia exchanged direct looks. Then Meadow… Continue reading The Wolf Visit
(Warning: Long post - book chapter length - because I’ve dealt with several dog-skunk incidents over the years, and because the stories are too funny – after the fact – to keep to myself.) September 2006 – Maia and Meadow at the Flying U Ranch, British Columbia The Flying U Ranch is a dude ranch… Continue reading Skunk!
Last night around 1:00 am, a plaintive howl woke me from a deep sleep. Many years ago, I awoke to a wolf howling from the nearby forest. I haven't heard that since it became legal to kill wolves in Idaho. But this wasn't a wolf. It was my Malamute, Conall. I was instantly reminded of… Continue reading Call of the Wild
Traveling through the forest with my dogs allows me to observe and learn so much more about the natural world than I could alone. In addition to my own senses, as rudimentary as they are, I benefit from the boys' highly specialized senses of smell, sight and hearing. They alert me to other creatures nearby,… Continue reading Dogs: My Wildlife Alert System
Wild Sensibility 