I said last year that I didn’t want this blog to be a place where I posted really personal stuff, like health issues. I don’t have any serious issues, but part of my doctor’s plan in the last few months was to try various medications to counteract symptoms arising from heart palpitations–and all of them…
After I saw a bear in our back yard last summer, and had reports of a mama and cub tearing fences up in other yards, I decided to do most of my gardening on our balcony above the front yard this year. Out back I still have some chives and the cherry tree, however. I…
Update: My review is now live at SFFWorld.com. Today I got tickets to see Annihilation. I don’t look intensely forward to a lot of movies, but I have this one, ever since I read the book. Back then, the author was kind enough to talk to me some about his writing. You know me, I…
My winter solstice spirit only goes so far, for I am a summer person (and fall), and as soon as January 1 happens and goes away, I am ready for spring. I’ve composted the old cedar boughs from tabletops around the house and we’re done with the last of the holiday parties. The wreath is…
We keep getting warnings of weather advisories: snow, wind, that type of thing, but it has not happened too badly yet. Friday morning we awoke to our first snow this season, yet it was nothing but a ground dusting. I wanted to take a photo, but it was too dark that morning and by the…
I listened to this talk the other day on the way home from work. I really like hearing author perspectives of their writing about the wild. In this talk, the two were in Toronto just a couple weeks ago. I have chatted with both at the main site (see “Selected Interviews” on the front page)…
Solar Eclipse 2017: We were not in the swath of the umbra whose residents were able to view the total eclipse of the sun today, but Vancouver’s visibility was 87% or so. Morgan and I awoke early, showered, and went over to Mundy Park–our favorite running grounds–and made a two-hour camp in the same field…
Going back to rural America was both pleasant and obnoxious. Everyone has guns these days. There is a culture of paranoia and religion. How these two may go hand in hand I’m not sure. Yet the backdrop to it all has a pleasant rural quality, where it doesn’t take very long to walk down the…
I follow nature writing in the news, and saw an article in The Spectator today about Amanda Craig’s recent novel The Lie of the Land. The author of the article, Lauren Freeman, starts out with: I’ve diagnosed myself with early onset cottage-itis. It’s not supposed to happen for another decade, but at 29 I dream…
One week from today I will be greeting my family in open arms, and most of us will see each other for the entire week, wherein, despite foot problems I am bound to go to Turkey Run and hike. We’ve also been talking about a possible Lake Michigan Dunes trip. And I’ve been trying to…
