The natural world, life, and dogs.
It started when Brian, someone I grew up next door to in the 1960s and 70s, texted to say he’d found some slides when going through his father’s things. The slides showed my father standing next to his beloved bi-plane, the 1924 Boeing P-12. Did I want them? Of course! I had no way of… Continue reading Connections
Decembers are always challenging in the northern US. Days are short. Darkness descends by 4:00 pm as the winter solstice approaches. And then there's the weather. Nature seems unsure just when to let autumn go and usher winter in. December, so far, has been a series of snow storms followed by melting, then more snow,… Continue reading The Movie Flight
My web browser's default page is BBC.com. Every day when I surf news sites, I start with the BBC. This morning the BBC's front page shared the news that Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and husband of Queen Elizabeth, had passed away. He was ninety-nine. I admit to a life-long fascination with the royal family.… Continue reading Prince Philip, Pilot
If you’re a news junkie, as I am, in the past 24 hours you’ve probably heard or read about the dangers of airplane debris falling from the sky. On February 20, 2021, NPR reported that a United Airlines Boeing 777 departing Denver for Hawaii suffered an engine explosion and fire shortly after takeoff. The captain radioed… Continue reading Debris Fields
It’s the evening of December 31st. New Year’s Eve. I’m so done with 2020 and eager for 2021 to begin and be better. It’s a low bar, 2021; you can do it. Over the past few days, reading news articles looking back over 2020 and focused mainly on its awfulness, I tried to be mindful… Continue reading An Author’s Rewards
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
Writing, it seems to me, is a lot like running. It comes naturally to almost everyone (assuming an education that includes reading and writing), although abilities - and desires - vary widely and wildly. We're each of us an experiment of one. What helps me as a runner may or may not help you, and… Continue reading Insights: The Writing Process
We all have our bad days. Sometimes those bad days stretch into several bad days, even weeks or months. The bad can be physical, emotional, social, relational, political, or some combination of some or all of those things. In this wonderful, supportive community of bloggers, writing and reading blog posts is a balm for much… Continue reading Unexpected Gifts: Why You Should Keep Writing
Wild Sensibility 