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
Such a pretty word, serendipity. Tickles the lips and tongue to say it. Yet it's the word's meaning and its occurrence in life that's truly delightful. The fact of finding interesting or valuable things by chance.Cambridge Dictionary A happy coinage by Horace Walpole to denote the faculty of making lucky and unexpected 'finds' by accident.… Continue reading Serendipity
I love aspen trees. Growing up in Seattle, in western Washington state, I was always surrounded by trees. There were the abundant evergreens – tall pines, cedars and firs. And the larches at higher elevations, that unusual pine whose needles turn yellow before dropping each autumn, adding flashes of bright color among its evergreen neighbors.… Continue reading Basque Tree Carvings
A book review. Sort of. First published in Britain in 1870, this curious dictionary is now in its 20th edition. Reading a reference to it recently, somewhere, I was intrigued and found a used copy via Amazon. It arrived from London a few days ago. At 2.5 inches thick, for this confessed etymologist it contains… Continue reading Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable
Wild Sensibility 