The natural world, life, and dogs.
Starting with his earliest forays into the forest near home as a puppy, Conall has had the ability to follow his nose to animal bones left on the ground. Some bones appear in the normal course of life, after animals die from natural causes or as a predator's meal. Other bones appear after hunters kill… Continue reading Who Stole My Treasure?
I'm fortunate. I get to see lots of wildlife where I live, adjacent to a national forest in Idaho's mountains. While I rank the wolf - including the one I was privileged to see in its natural environment back in 2006 - as my favorite animal among the local wildlife, red foxes are a close… Continue reading Outfoxed
Autumn in these Idaho mountains arrives in late August and continues until the snow comes, usually in late November. A few late-blooming flowers offer splashes of color while the grasses, leaves and larch needles transition from green to various shades of yellows, oranges, reds and browns. It's pretty, in an understated way. This has been… Continue reading Dog Photobombs VIII – Autumn
Nature, and more particularly the forest nearby, always envelope me in an embrace that soothes and heals. This time of year, my attention turns toward a particularly wondrous tree: the larch. The forest around me is primarily evergreens – firs and pines. Nice trees, all, but rather mundane in their...greenness. I don't see a lot… Continue reading Larch Trees: Autumn’s Last Hurrah
Peak wildflower season in the mountains. I could use a little brightness right now so I'm setting the dog photobomb wayback machine to springtime in the mountains. Enjoy! Look at the cute tree swallow! Not technically a dog bomb.... Incoming on the left... ...moving through. My favorite, a Lewis's monkeyflower on my little monkey, Finn.… Continue reading Dog Photobombs VII: Late May through July, 2020.
There's a trail in the Payette National Forest not far from my home that has always been a favorite. A few days ago, I got lucky: the morning I decided to run/hike there with the dogs - October 5th - the wildfire smoke that had been blanketing this area cleared out the night before. The… Continue reading Getting High (in Elevation)
A forest trail run in the Payette National Forest this morning. A loop on trails maintained for mountain biking with lots of variety in terrain. Remote, at elevations between 6,000 - 7,000 feet. So peaceful. So pretty. My therapy. Maybe yours, too. Enjoy! Near a big aspen grove (the same one with the Basque tree… Continue reading Autumn in the Payette
Autumn is a second spring where every leaf is a flower.Albert Camus Change. Adapting. Each day, week, month, season, year, brings something new and evolving, something challenging, a change anticipated or maybe not, but necessary to absorb in order to move forward. My life-long mantra: Change is good. Change may not always feel good at… Continue reading Everything Changes
I love aspen trees. Growing up in Seattle, in western Washington state, I was always surrounded by trees. There were the abundant evergreens – tall pines, cedars and firs. And the larches at higher elevations, that unusual pine whose needles turn yellow before dropping each autumn, adding flashes of bright color among its evergreen neighbors.… Continue reading Basque Tree Carvings
The bird has flown its nest and it is free to fly the skies of the world. The birds are gone. Well, most of the songbirds, anyway. I’m surprised how sad this makes me. This is the first summer I’ve taken an interest in any migratory birds other than the tree swallows who nest in… Continue reading Naturalism: The Birds Have Left
