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?
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. (…)
Autumn Frog
don’t usually see Pacific Tree Frogs this time of year, so was surprised — and delighted — to see this one hop across my path on the last day of summer (…)
Race for the Pears
It’s that time of year again, when my taste buds give up on peaches and berries and begin longing for crunchy pears and apples (…)
Temptation in the Apple Trees
Last week, I spent an afternoon in the old apple orchard to check out the bird nesting scene. The cows found this fascinating….
Wren Independence Day
The house wrens nesting on our yurt porch chose this morning, the 4th of July, to shoo their young ones out of the nest.
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 [...]
Rocks I Have Loved: Two Photos for Earth Day
I’ve been going through old photos to pick out some that might be appropriate for an album (or maybe a series of blog posts), tentatively entitled, “Rocks I Have Loved.” It struck me this morning how well that metaphor suits Earth Day….
Poodles Are Dogs
I try not to blog about my pets too much, but I came across a blog post this morning that prompts me to defend my dog’s honor….
Waking to the New Year in a Treehouse
I woke to the first day of 2007 in a treehouse in Northern Laos. That set a standard for New Year’s celebrations that I’ll probably never live up to again. It was just me, my partner Jerry, and all the wildlife of Bokeo Nature Reserve. We could have joined eight other travelers at the main treehouse for a night of revelry, but we longed for solitude….
Douglas Fir: Species of the Week
I’ve spent most of my life among Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga sp.) Although I love other trees and plant communities, Douglas fir forests still speak to me of home. In the Pacific Northwest, they’re ubiquitous from the Cascades to the coast. Douglas fir and other conifers of the region are why I’ve never felt at ease in the deciduous forests of eastern North America (as lovely as they are), where bare branches in winter make me especially homesick….
