For my birthday last year, my husband’s gift to me was a raptor walk–but we could not go during the cooler months, so scheduled it for April 20, yesterday. The owners of the raptors live in the country outside Maple Ridge, and their large yard consists of super-sized bird cages; beyond their home is a …
I guess it’s technically spring now, but it just goes to show how long it’s been since I first started this post–and wrote nothing on it–until now. So many things have been going on that I just haven’t had time to blog. One is a new series’ focus at eco-fiction, which I’ll announce shortly. Another …
This morning when I woke up and climbed out of bed, I opened the blinds to gaze out our sliding window to the back yard. It’s a habit I’ve had ever since this summer when I saw Mr. Bear (Mord) out there. This morning was another animal, black in color, but much smaller. It was …
Every year I donate a portion of book sales from my press, Moon Willow Press, to planting trees. It’s really just a niche micro-press, publishing about 2-4 books a year on average. It’s such a huge endeavor for me to run personally that I’ve now put a hold on submissions so I can complete some …
If you’re a writer, you might have several drafts of things sitting around. I do as well. I have two novels I am actively working on, both in a series. The first novel is just a slight revision. The second is a new book in the series, and over the weekend I just realized exactly …
A couple weeks ago, my husband and I joined some of my coworkers at a brewery for a couple beers after work. One of the coworkers came here from Ireland. He is the same guy who gave us great insights on the best places to go when we visited Ireland last year. That is to …
The other morning, after my bear encounter, my husband heard a couple roars out in our back yard. It was early, and I didn’t hear it, and he didn’t get up to look, but I think our bear–and perhaps the sow–may have been back? I find myself constantly looking outside for black bears. On Saturday …
We have been submerged in wildfire smoke for the last week or two. So many fires in the interior have sent the smoke our way, but it is sitting over the Vancouver area like a very large hen incubating her progeny. My husband’s cousins were evacuated for two weeks at one point but have finally …
That’s sometimes what I think I should call this blog. For every good week where I can run up to 10 or even 20 miles have been down weeks where I’m stuck on a treadmill, bike, or something else–where when I retrain it feels like I’m hobbling along rather than running. From the get-go, when …
I feel like a turtle poking its head out to sense the sun and warmer weather after having hid myself in a shell most of the winter–for the past two months to be precise. I’ve had a few times when I’ve been able to run outside, but not many, having to rely on mostly indoor …