The natural world, life, and dogs.
The scent of new rain on dry earth or pavement. It's distinctive. You know it when you smell it, yet it's...indescribable. Try to. I dare you. I find the scent pleasing and elemental: natural, environmental, atmospheric, essential. When I catch the scent, no matter how briefly, no matter where I am, I'm instantly transported to… Continue reading Petrichor
I didn't have a plan for this morning. Usually I go to bed with an idea of whether the dogs and I will go for a run the next morning, and where. We run three or four days each week, and go for a walk the other mornings. Walks require much less planning. Rarely, if… Continue reading Thinking of John Muir
The vast majority of my nature photos are taken in the nearby national forest during runs and hikes with my dogs. I simply stop and photograph whatever catches my eye on a given day. Wildflowers are favorites, as are streams, foliage, frost, cairns, and sunlight through trees. I love taking photos of my dogs on… Continue reading Dog Photobombs
Nature is in a dramatic mood lately! Can't say that I blame her. Sometimes you just have to let those feelings out. Here's one of several minute-long videos I took of a lightning and thunder storm that hovered overhead for quite a while last night. It started just before sunset and featured both sheet and… Continue reading More Wildflowers and Wild Weather
In a 24-hour period over April 27-28 the weather gods overseeing Idaho's central mountains served up a smorgasbord of offerings for our enjoyment. Rain, sun, wind, thunder and lightning, and after the storm passed and the clouds parted, a stunning sunset ushering in clear skies and night stars followed by a new day of birdsong… Continue reading Wildflowers and Weather
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
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
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
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
