The natural world, life, and dogs.
I’m watching my valley go from the white of winter’s snow to the vibrant green of spring. It's amazing how quickly the transition happens. I'm grateful – this year, every year – to be a witness. A Little Madness in the Spring, by Emily Dickinson A little Madness in the Spring Is wholesome even for… Continue reading Nature’s Spring Greening – Quotes and Photos
I was born and raised in a suburb of Seattle, where the climate is "temperate." That's a kind way of saying it rains (or drizzles) a lot and the temperature variation throughout the seasons is small. It rarely falls below freezing or rises above 90F. It's cloudy most of the time, even when it isn't… Continue reading Signs of Spring in the Mountains
Recently I've been privileged to hear owls hooting in the night. I have no data, but it seems there were far more owls here ten or fifteen years ago than in the past few years. Once, I enjoyed listening their hooting regularly. Lately, it's rare. I've missed it. Maybe they're back. Great horned owl. Photo:… Continue reading Nature’s Calls and Responses
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
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
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
It's 7:47 am and the weather app on my phone says it's minus 2F outside. I suspect it's actually a few degrees warmer, but certainly in the single digits. There are no clouds in the sky, portending a gorgeous morning once the sun rises high enough to spill her bright and warming light through the… Continue reading Diamonds on the Snow
Yesterday I enjoyed one of those times in nature that leave me awestruck, enthralled, fully engaged, and grateful. Everything was perfect: the weather, the snow, and the company (my dogs). We started early in the morning, running up, up, up the mountain on freshly-groomed trail, the rising sun breaking over and through the tops of… Continue reading Into the Woods in Winter
Wild Sensibility 