The natural world, life, and dogs.
Back in May I wrote about a book I had just purchased, Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. It’s a tome of interesting and curious words and definitions, and, as the title implies, phrases and fables that have been retained in or incorporated into the English language over millennia. It’s a really fun reference. Recently… Continue reading The Bottom and Breaking Wind
Whenever I stop to photograph wildflowers, trees, streams, cairns or vistas in the forest, my dogs patiently wait nearby, following their noses, until I'm ready to continue our run or hike. They often end up unexpectedly in the frame of my photo in classic photobombing style. This fourth installment of dog photobombs carries the sub-theme:… Continue reading Dog Photobombs IV
I tend to flow with the technology tide, embracing what I find useful and helpful while ignoring what seems negative or destructive. On the positive side, I love the camera in my smart phone (a Pixel 3a). It takes amazing photos, and I’ve taken thousands of them in the two years I’ve had this phone.… Continue reading Photographic Memories
The raven story I share here actually happened two years ago, on July 17, 2018, but it describes a fairly common experience for me when I’m out in the forest with my dogs. Every time we’re shadowed by ravens, I vow to research the relationship between ravens and wolves when I get home. And then… Continue reading Symbiosis: Ravens and Wolves
Friday, July 10, 2020. I awoke at 6:30 am to the sound of birds singing, ushering in the day along with the rising sun. I looked outside. Clear skies. A thunderstorm had moved through overnight, waking me up, dropping a bit of rain, but by daybreak the weather was perfect. On Monday, Tuesday and Thursday,… Continue reading The Day I Lost – and Found – Conall
Great horned owls are making a comeback in my neighborhood. At least, I hope they are. I wrote last summer about my dog Conall briefly catching an owlet in his mouth in July of 2016 (it survived). I also described two encounters, several years ago, with great horned owls in the forest. I used to… Continue reading Spring 2020 Critter Encounters: Great Horned Owl
White-tailed deer are a regular feature in my world. Living very close to a national forest boundary, they often cross my lot in small groups as they move from one section of forest to another. Spring and autumn are their busy times, but they're around all summer. If my dogs notice them, they'll woof at… Continue reading Spring 2020 Critter Encounters: Deer
My previous posts featuring rural fences were all winter scenes. I hadn't thought about a spring or summer rendition because I rarely see fences on the forest trails my dogs and I spend our time on, but this morning, as we finished a high-elevation mountain hike I was struck by the beauty of stacked log… Continue reading Fences VII – Spring at High Elevation
I had no idea what a house wren was until Conall caught a baby wren in the yard two years ago, spitting it out unharmed. That's when I noticed an upset adult wren on the other side of the fence, in the wildflower garden. Wrens were using a small hole in the siding of my… Continue reading Spring 2020 Critter Encounters: House Wrens
This morning, a Sunday that is also Father’s Day, my dogs and I did what we do most Sunday mornings: we went for a walk in the valley. Our walk was followed by another typical weekend activity, taking household garbage to the nearby transfer station. Much about the morning sparked memories of my father, who… Continue reading Memory Cues on a Father’s Day Walk
Wild Sensibility 