The Road Less Traveled…
…and that was the problem. Not maintained, rutted, overgrown on either side, the mile long drive is the only way by vehicle in and out of this abandoned homestead we now spend half the year on….
Sweet Spot Up the Hill
After several years, we’re still exploring our acreage in northeastern Oregon. We’ve vaguely named some places through habitual reference: The Rocky Knoll, The Frog Pond. But there are other special places we just call “sweet spots.” Somehow, from the context and with a gesture and description of the general location — “that sweet spot up [...]
Arizona Trees
Funny to arrive in Arizona in early April for a much-anticipated break from tree-rich Oregon and take pictures of trees. But how could I resist these?
Gritty Cottonwoods
My love for cottonwoods has grown steadily over the last few years, especially in the spring when they smell so pungent and the fall when they splash yellow along the canyon bottoms. And now, I must confess, a movie — and a Western, at that — has inspired me to explore the beauty and poetry in winter cottonwoods….
Winter Gold
It’s so refreshing to find a bit of color in all the grays and browns of winter. I loved the gold moss on this old cottonwood (at least I’m assuming it’s a cottonwood) in the Sandy River Delta.
Mossy Forest
A post-Thanksgiving walk through fog, rain, and slushy snow on the edge of the Opal Creek Recreation Area in the Cascade Foothills:
Surprised by Light
After a busy day of dealing with car repairs and shopping for Thanksgiving food, I didn’t want to walk the dog in our nearby park. I really didn’t. (…)
Touches of Color
Out West, in the land of conifers, we don’t have the color spectacle that blesses New England this time of year. But our few wild deciduous shrubs and trees do add some lovely accents to our evergreen forests and browning grasslands (…)
Shower Under the Apple Tree
People often ask me what it’s like to live in a yurt. As I wrote in an essay published in The Smoking Poet last Fall, much of the living goes on around the yurt rather than in it. And that’s as it should be with a shelter traditionally used by nomads. Take the shower. There’s [...]
Domestic Challenges, Wild Beauty
I’m ecstatic to be back on our property in Northeastern Oregon. There’s lots to do: organizing inside the yurt to make cooking and storage more convenient, building a spring box and laying pipe to get potable water into the yurt, putting in the garden. And there are many challenges: a muddy road, cars that get [...]
Autumn Color in Northeast Oregon
Series of photographs of trees turning color in mountains of Northeastern Oregon.
Quaking Aspen: Species of the Week
This time of year, I’m one of many throughout the West enthralled by – and worried about – one of our most striking fall color trees: Quaking Aspen (Populus tremuloides ). Utah and Colorado have acres and acres of aspens. In northeast Oregon, we have smaller groves dotting the more prevalent bunchgrass slopes and ponderosa [...]
Species, Satellites, and Old Houses
Living off-grid in a yurt is mostly wonderful, at least this time of year. I know that spending time in such a beautiful place is a luxury not everyone can afford. So please understand, I’m not complaining….
