The natural world, life, and dogs.
My house was listed for sale on Tuesday morning. By Friday afternoon I had accepted an offer. It's enough to make one's head spin. In a good way. The sale is pending. There are a couple of hurdles to be jumped before closing, typical to most home sales (inspection and appraisal). I don't anticipate any… Continue reading Stress and Money
I continue pursuing emerging wildflowers as spring progresses in Idaho's mountains. I'm obsessed. I dream of a quiet man who explains nothing and defends nothing, but only knows where the rarest wildflowers are blooming, and who goes, and finds that he is smiling not by his own will.Wendell Berry A friend, Karen S, recently recommended… Continue reading Point of View
If I had to choose just one, I would say spring is my favorite season in the forest. The emerging wildflowers boldly shout, Wake up! Time to party! Sunflowers (arrowleaf balsomroot) covered in raindrops. After months of running through a winter landscape limited to white snow, brown tree trunks and green pine needles, my eyes… Continue reading Transitions
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?
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
Not long ago I received a USPS package. Inside were two pieces of concrete from a demolished road. Upper piece shows the underside, lower piece shows the road surface. Let me explain. I was recently hired by a friend, Brian, to edit an article he wrote for a collection that will become a book. I… Continue reading Concrete Memories
It hardly looks like spring here in Idaho's mountains. The ground is still covered in well over a foot of snow. Many in more temperate climates are already greeting crocuses and daffodils, and cherry trees are blossoming. She turned to the sunlightAnd shook her yellow head,And whispered to her neighbor:“Winter is dead.”A. A. Milne Not… Continue reading Happy Spring Equinox!
When grappling with major life events, or facing life-altering decisions, some of us often seek - and see - signs. Signs from the universe that help us make sense of loss, or allow us to see a door opening, an obscure path beckoning. Signs which we can interpret to mean we're not alone, or that… Continue reading Sentimental Signs
Snow and icicles are winter's bonded pair. Icicles are beautiful. Ephemeral. Tough yet brittle. Marvels of nature's mixture of warm and cold, temporary sculptures tickling our senses while reminding us that nothing lasts forever. Winter giveth the fields, and the trees so old, their beards of icicles and snow.Henry Wadsworth Longfellow It's not only the… Continue reading Icicles
It has been a long while since Conall caught a vole in the yard, so his food bank for the local raven pair has been bare. I worried that the ravens had given up on us as I hadn't seen or heard them much recently. Now I realize that was mostly due to weather. We've… Continue reading Raven Check-in
Wild Sensibility 