The natural world, life, and dogs.
When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time. — Maya Angelou Sadly, I recently had occasion to follow Ms. Angelou’s excellent advice. “I’m Done.” Someone I know shared with me how she and her husband were going to back date a document and have the husband’s elderly father—who had already been… Continue reading Character, Integrity, and Reputation
This is a hard post to write. It brings up so many uncomfortable emotions. I’ve wanted to write it for the past year, to help me gain understanding and peace following the death of a dear friend, but I just… couldn’t. Guilt, shame, remorse, disbelief, even flashes of anger boiled up, leaving me contrite whenever… Continue reading Grieving the Unexpected Passing of a Friend
The post discusses the challenges of dealing with unsolicited advice during a personal health journey characterized by chronic pain and subsequent hip replacement surgery. It highlights how advice, often well-intentioned, can feel patronizing and undermine an individual's autonomy, emphasizing the importance of understanding personal experiences without immediate judgment or input from others.
I have a friend named Jane. She’s 94 years young and living independently. She reports rain, snow, and temperature measurements for the Cabot area. She volunteers with the Cabot Historical Society. She drives and regularly dines out with family and friends. I met Jane while living in Vermont. She has spent most of her life… Continue reading Girls Just Want to Have Flashy Cars
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
