The natural world, life, and dogs.
I’m exhausted. You, too? Since January 20th, chaos, uncertainty, and disinformation have created disbelief and despair in doses I haven’t experienced in my nearly seven decades. I thought I had prepared. But… no. Lately it feels like we’re all riding the wild elephant, unable to get off safely, as much as we wish we… Continue reading Kindness as a Path for Change
My last post mentioned feeling lost for blogging words of late. Soon after, wanting to post something but not sure what I write, I came to understand part of my writing block was that so much had happened over the past year. Too much, it sometimes seemed. I needed to relay the bigger events and… Continue reading Life’s Wild Ride
Finding Chann, my most recent Alaskan Malamute, was relatively easy. Late last year, I reached out to Conall’s breeder. I wanted another Conall, a Malamute with his temperament, athleticism, and smarts. The breeder was expecting a litter in December, but after agreeing with her that trying to transfer a puppy from Colorado to Vermont in… Continue reading Introducing: Chann
I heard the town snowplow go by at 5:00 am this morning, so I wasn’t too surprised to wake up to more snow than was forecast. Fresh snow on the deck this morning (November 18, 2022). Around 9:00 am, when the sun brought the air temperature up to about 20F, Conall and I headed out… Continue reading Meeting a Neighbor
My long-time friend Miki visited for a few days this past week. In the days before the start of her visit, I had a writing breakthrough, an insight about how to enter the world of my new book – what I refer to as the “wolf book” – or, more precisely, the (likely) opening scene… Continue reading Respect
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
It’s the evening of December 31st. New Year’s Eve. I’m so done with 2020 and eager for 2021 to begin and be better. It’s a low bar, 2021; you can do it. Over the past few days, reading news articles looking back over 2020 and focused mainly on its awfulness, I tried to be mindful… Continue reading An Author’s Rewards
I’ve begun speaking aloud my thoughts about moving away from Idaho, maybe to Vermont. This shift from internal musings to sharing the idea with friends is one of the ways I process big changes I’m contemplating, putting it out there – verbalizing my reasons, hopes and concerns – and listening to the feedback. This lets… Continue reading Searching for My Tribe
Such a pretty word, serendipity. Tickles the lips and tongue to say it. Yet it's the word's meaning and its occurrence in life that's truly delightful. The fact of finding interesting or valuable things by chance.Cambridge Dictionary A happy coinage by Horace Walpole to denote the faculty of making lucky and unexpected 'finds' by accident.… Continue reading Serendipity
This weekend would normally have seen me traveling with my dogs from my home in central Idaho to the central part of Washington state. It’s a long drive, eight or nine hours each way, a trip I would only undertake for a special reason. Dog camp. My dog camp is why I make that taxing… Continue reading Dog Camp: Creating Family
Wild Sensibility 