Rural Living

My mind has been wrapped around our move, but was suddenly kicked into higher gear this past weekend when I saw the documentary on Netflix called The Biggest Little Farm. It’s about a couple who lived in Los Angeles and decided to start their own farm in California, north of LA. They bought over 200 …

The Deep Autumn

So many things have been happening lately that it is hard to stop and get my bearings. Our move to Halifax has been approved and will happen in the spring in late April or May. The sheer amount of things to do before then is pretty daunting, but as I was just joking with one …

Surveying

We used to do this all the time. I’m doing it now on a slow afternoon while I try to stay awake and get through a bad cold. Who is your hero? Probably Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and I hope she becomes president someday. If you could live anywhere, where would it be? West coast of Ireland. …

The Desert, Revisited

At age 13, my parents bought me a Spanish guitar and I took guitar lessons. My first songbook was called “Peaceful, Easy Feeling,” and that became one of my lifetime favorite songs. I like the way your sparkling earrings lay Against your skin so brown And I want to sleep with you in the desert …

Camping

With a bum foot and lack of running this year, along with a lot of writing, editing, and reading, I am really looking forward to getting outside and staying there for a while. Last Friday night I spent hours mesmerized by my own back yard while sitting outside until past dark, warming myself eventually by …

Cottage-Itis

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 …