The natural world, life, and dogs.
I remember going on a snipe hunt as a kid. I was maybe seven years old. My father had fun with that, convincing me a snipe was a cute furry creature like a hamster that I could take home as a pet if I caught one in the burlap bag he handed me. He showed… Continue reading Snipe Hunt
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
When times are trying, when things are tough all around and hope for a return to “normal” is elusive, focusing on the positives – no matter how small – brings enormous benefits. Channel your inner Pollyanna. Be optimistic. Be positive. It's a leap of faith, yes, but a leap worth taking. This post was prompted… Continue reading Be Positively Positive
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
More randomness as I learn to navigate this new pandemic world we're all experiencing. If you're reading this, I hope you and yours are healthy and safe, and that you, too, are learning new ways to shelter at home without insanity-inducing boredom. Sometimes it's all about finding and focusing on the small bright spots, the… Continue reading Random New-Reality Thoughts: March 28, 2020
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
Winter is slowly easing toward spring in my valley. The red-winged blackbirds have returned, early harbingers of changing seasons. I heard Canada geese honking as they flew above the forest yesterday. Soon the sandhill cranes will arrive. The snow, while still thick on the ground, is ever-so-slowly melting, reducing, disappearing. I always miss the snow… Continue reading Fences VI
Wild Sensibility 