When I began this blog nearly two years ago, my main goal was to write about running and otherwise being outdoors in the Anthropocene–particularly running in an age where our species has impacted all the other species of life on our planet. The deeper I get into wonderful circles of folks who do similar blogging, …
Off-grid living has been on my mind for quite some time. Earlier this year I published Ron Melchiore’s Off Grid and Free: My Path to the Wilderness, which is one the most successful books to date at my small publishing company, Moon Willow Press. After Morgan and I went on a long hike and run …
Jeff VanderMeer has a great piece today in Environmental Critiques called “Hauntings in the Anthropocene.” It goes into dealing psychologically, and in fiction, with global warming, which he terms a “hyperobject.” Morton’s central idea of a hyperobject is in a sense a way of using a word as an anchor for something that would be …
I haven’t run more than a mile since returning from Ireland, though I have hiked some, once in Mundy Park (where we definitely heard a bear nearby), and another time over the weekend on a trek up the hill for a few groceries. It is a slow recuperation, getting back to work, both my day …
The Ireland vacation now seems like a magical dream. We planned the trip some time ago simply so that my mother could visit her ancestors’ homeland and her own dream “place to go in life” before she got too old. It is a place that I have always wanted to go as well, mainly being …
Note: This post may contain spoilers for the movie Into the Forest. Last night we saw the movie Into the Forest, starring Ellen Page as Nell and Evan Rachel Wood as Eva, two sisters who learn how to survive without electricity. Post-apocalyptic is one of the genres thrown about when describing this movie, but I …
Though not technically summer solstice yet, we’ve been warned by Environment Canada that we’ll have a warmer summer than last year’s, all across the country. I thought, wow, last year was a heat wave and drought for 4 months straight–will we really be warmer than that? Here I sit today, exhausted from a late night …
I think, as humans, our own nature is creative and fun. Those of us who like to imagine and write stories often find a sense of surreal or dreamy ambiences where others may not even take a second look. Where this may then branch off to unscientific ideologies is another thing altogether, but I like …
First, happy birthday to Bob Dylan! Second, I was very sad to hear today that Gord Downie, lead singer of the Tragically Hip, has announced his diagnosis of terminal brain cancer. I met him a few years ago when the non-profit I worked for had a booth at one of his performances. Later we had …
I am escaping tomorrow to go on a much-anticipated three-day camp trip to the interior. Weather outlook has turned from all cold and rainy, to at least two mostly sunny days that will be warmer than previously forecast. The occasion is a ten-year anniversary. I am highly looking forward to this outing. When my husband …