The natural world, life, and dogs.
It seems I have landed in a particularly windy place here in Vermont. November and December have, so far, brought some magnificent wind storms. Gusts in the 30-40 mph range. Regularly. Will this continue through the rest of the winter months? Time will tell. I’m new here. One such wind storm came through last night.… Continue reading Wind
I've been writing. A lot. I'm working on The Wolf Book, but also... ...a Kindle Vella project. A series of stories. More on that in a future post. For now, I'll let my local landscape - and my dogs - provide the content for this post, illustrating how quickly the scenery changes in this "shoulder… Continue reading Cold Landscapes
It’s a rainy, dark and cold Saturday evening in Vermont. I’ve built a fire in the wood stove and poured myself a glass of wine. I’m in a nostalgic mood. I’ve been thinking about how, in two ways, I manage to bring a little bit of Kansas with me wherever I go: a desk, and… Continue reading Kansas to Vermont
Sometimes you don’t realize just how stressed you’ve been until the cause of that stress is lifted. Case in point: a yard fence for my dogs. What I thought would be a simple thing to acquire turned out to be anything but, and the stress just kept building. In the span of the past week,… Continue reading From Low to High In a Week
My entire adult life, I've read about and seen photos of the fall colors in New England, Vermont in particular. "Some day," I would sigh. That day has arrived. And I'm here to tell you, Vermont lives up to its autumn leaves reputation. Growing up in western Washington, just outside Seattle, I was familiar with… Continue reading So. Many. Leaves!
Conall and I recently explored a bit of nearby Groton State Forest. At more than 26,000 acres, this forest is the second largest contiguous land holding of the State of Vermont. Conall strikes a pose as we head up the trail. The terrain is rolling, forested, and contains several bodies of water: Lake Groton (422… Continue reading Peacham Bog
No, I'm not angry. Rather, I'm gobsmacked by the beautiful array of reds nature puts on display in Vermont this time of year. And to think the autumn colors show is just getting started! Let me show you what I mean. I started noticing red started in the leaves carpeting a rail trail where Conall… Continue reading Seeing Red
For months now, my life has been in a state of upheaval. Leaving Idaho. Moving to Vermont. Settling in and adjusting. It has been a bumpy, scary, exciting and ultimately life-altering-in-a-good-way twelve months. This morning, walking through rain-soaked field grass with Finn and Conall, a light mist thickening the air and hushing the world around… Continue reading It’s Time to Write About Wolves
One recent morning, as the boys and I were finishing our two-mile perambulation through the fields and woods across the road, I noticed a Monarch butterfly leave the maple trees alongside our path and begin its effortless dance through the air, in search of nectar. Then another Monarch departed from the maples just ahead of… Continue reading Poetic Fliers: Monarch Butterflies
Anyone reading my blog knows I enjoy seeing, photographing, and learning about wildflowers. Moving to Vermont in July, I was eager to see and learn about the “new” wildflowers I would find here. Almost immediately my eye was caught by Queen Anne’s Lace. Big, showy, white flowers – actually clusters of tiny individual flowers –… Continue reading Queen Anne’s Lace
Wild Sensibility 