The natural world, life, and dogs.
I’m reading Once There Were Wolves, by Charlotte McConaghy. I’m terrible at book reviews, so I won’t attempt one here. Besides, I’m only two-thirds through, although I'll finish it this weekend. Let’s just say that as literary fiction – with a murder mystery, family dysfunction and possible romance – it ticks a lot of boxes.… Continue reading Fear
Sometimes you don’t realize just how stressed you’ve been until the cause of that stress is lifted. Case in point: a yard fence for my dogs. What I thought would be a simple thing to acquire turned out to be anything but, and the stress just kept building. In the span of the past week,… Continue reading From Low to High In a Week
Yesterday evening, while walking Conall and Finn along our road, a car approached, slowed, and the passenger side window went down. A woman of about 80 leaned her head out, smiled and looking at Conall, said, "What a beautiful dog!" as her husband slowly drove by. They were driving a Subaru, the Vermont state car.… Continue reading Compliments and Perceptions
Dizziness. Loss of balance. An inability to walk; falling to the floor, or crashing into walls or objects. A sensation of spinning despite being still, or that the world is spinning around you. In inability to maintain a sense of up or down, no matter how hard you concentrate. Changes in hearing, including tinnitus, even… Continue reading Out of Kilter
A month ago I read an article about a man named Al Nixon. Al spends nearly every morning on a park bench in St. Petersburg, Florida, watching the sun rise and the people go by. His simple, consistent presence - and his open body language as he sits, legs outstretched, arms resting on the back… Continue reading Green Lake George
The past month has brought lots of bird activity to my little patch of earth. Most of the through-migrating birds (geese, cranes, many songbirds) have flown by on their way north. Those birds calling this area home - some year round, some just during their breeding season - are engaging in the annual spring rites… Continue reading Birds of a Feather…
I've read that ravens and crows often show appreciation to people who feed them by gifting bright or shiny objects, leaving them where the human(s) will find them. Pretty rocks, buttons, beads, earrings, sticks. My evolving fascination with the raven pair that consider my house, yard and field their territory has led me to do… Continue reading A Gift from the Ravens?
As I type this post, I’m listening to music, streaming through my computer. One song – by Paul Winters – opens with the sound of several Canada geese honking. Normally, such wildlife sounds would be enough to excite Finn, waking him from his nap on a dog bed three feet behind me to jump up… Continue reading Fading into Silence
Baby steps. I'm learning that's what it takes to get ravens to trust me. I'm good with that. I’m growing inordinately fond of the raven pair that have been enjoying the voles Conall catches, along with the occasional marrow bone I toss over the fence after the boys are done with them. I find these… Continue reading Building Trust with Ravens
Among the far-too-many-to-list joys of running through the forest with my dogs off leash is watching them follow their natural curiosity, navigate obstacles, and solve problems. The joke among those of us who choose to live with Alaskan Malamutes is that when we ask them to do something, they look at us, thinking, Maybe. What's… Continue reading Dogged Determination
Wild Sensibility 