In the beginning of July, I was a lucky participant at Fishtrap’s Outpost workshop, a week-long writing workshop that takes place on the Zumwalt Prairie, owned by the Nature Conservancy as North America’s largest native grassland. This little gem of waving grass and wildflowers, bear tracks, and coyote song is nestled in the notch of … Continue reading
Beauty can both shout and whisper, and still it explains nothing. -Mary Oliver- It is mid-October and we are now Day Two into our three days rafting the Rogue. At this point, we are immersed. We spend a majority of our waking hours using the kinetic energy of water and the gravitational pull of the … Continue reading
the last of their kind remain: Quercus alba and Junco hyemalis, colorful ornaments to celebrate the season Continue reading
“It was about an hour after sunset. The Catlin Gabel campus was completely still all around. But yet, nothing was still at all. Not even the tiny bright green fern sprouting from rich soil. The wind went crazy and there were way too many bird calls around to keep track of, and yet not enough. … Continue reading
The skin of the planet is fragile. Watch. Listen. You can only listen. By listening, you may see a sparrow warming itself in steam on the corner of your gutter. By listening, you may see the first crocus shimmy up from the frozen Earth. A sentry, the first scout. You may hear the fall of … Continue reading
This is a continuation of a previous post detailing the first three days of my week-long bike trip through Western Washington. Day 4: 40.4 miles Dosewallips State Park Hood Canal, WA Today began on the side of a highway, hearing logging trucks roll by, engines roaring. We said our adieus to our neighbors- Jack in … Continue reading
I heard once that it is a beautiful thing to wake up singing. To test one’s vocal chords in that mystery which is the voice, an illustrator for sheet music. Before the sun has peeked over the edge of its nightly slumber, when the moon is till sharp and in focus, this is when you … Continue reading
It’s dogwood season. The time when color comes back into the world, fragile green leaves craving the sweet kisses of sunlight. They (and we) gather it close, soaking it in, feeling the fresh breaths of spring. Outside my back door is a dogwood tree. Most of the year, it grows unassumingly out of a concrete-enclosed hole … Continue reading
As we transect the city streets which look like mirrors, dark and wet with the insistent rainfall, we zip up our boots and our hoods, faces close to the candle just a couple minutes longer to savor the light. The lights burn in markets and tea houses, beckoning those who hang on to their habitual … Continue reading
Summers were spent in the alternate reality that was Beach Haven. The small strip of beach between the YMCA camp and the harbor on Orcas Island, divided by large rocks that jutted out into the sound. A natural barrier against reality. Sometimes civilization would weedle its way in, in the form of yogurt containers and … Continue reading
in the midst 