The natural world, life, and dogs.
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
Ladybug, ladybug, fly away home... As I was thinking about this post about ladybugs, a nursery rhyme I learned as a child kept popping into my head: Ladybug, ladybug, fly away home… I couldn’t remember if there was more. So, I googled it. There is more, and as is often the case with old nursery… Continue reading Ladybugs: A Metaphor for Life
While living in Idaho, for years I wanted to add solar panels to my roof but didn’t have the financial resources to do so. Selling that house and moving to Vermont improved my financial situation. Living through my first Vermont winter with less-than-ideal heating options in my new house lit a fire under my butt… Continue reading Solar Power: Feels So Good
A month ago I wrote about how an injury prevented me from running and forced me to slow way down throughout the spring and early summer. Even walking was painful for a long time. Today, I'd say I'm almost back to normal, resuming running regularly, mostly pain-free. Yay! The irony, though, is even though I… Continue reading Slowing Way Down = Seeing Even More
The photo memories dished up by Amazon – via my Kindle Fire – and Facebook in my newsfeed are often bittersweet. Every June I’m reminded of the passing of my Alaskan Malamute Maia at age 14 in 2013, and then six weeks later in July, my Alaskan Malamute Meadow, age twelve. Oh, the girls. So… Continue reading A New Cairn for the Girls
It has been over a year since I last shared some of the photos my dogs bombed. Since then, we moved to Vermont. The landscape is so different than Idaho's, as are many of the wildflowers and plants I try to photograph. The one constant is my dogs' faces, feet, or entire bodies moving through… Continue reading Dog Photobombs X – August through December 2021
I've always feared the dreaded slowing down. Whether from injury, illness, or aging. I know. Aging is inevitable. With aging comes aching muscles, stiffening joints, reduced muscle mass and loss of endurance. And, if we're unlucky, injury or illness are added to the challenge. Knowing all that doesn't mean I have to welcome any of… Continue reading Slowing Down = Seeing More
Twice this month, while walking with my dogs through the woods on the neighbors' acreage, we heard wildlife warning calls: Stay away! In both instances, the calls came from a few yards off the path, well into the trees. I couldn't see the animal issuing the call, but the first one I recognized, a call… Continue reading Wildlife Warning Calls
There is a beautiful iris that grows wild here, in marshes and wet meadows. It's called Larger Blue Flag Iris (iris versicolor). I found some blooming recently, in a marsh and along the edge of a pond where my dogs and I spend many mornings exploring. Irises growing alongside a pond, June 17, 2022. "Versicolor"… Continue reading Blue Flags and Green Frogs
The phrase "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet’" usually means things are what they are, no matter what name they’re given. The phrase is from William Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet, one of several lines spoken by Juliet Capulet (Act 2, Scene 2) to herself on her balcony but overheard by… Continue reading A Rose by Any Other Name
Wild Sensibility 