I have a fascination with spiders. Maybe it’s their artistry, an ability to create intricate structures that serve as both homes and practical food-capturing devices. Maybe it’s their solitude– how they live alone, work alone, spending hours waiting…waiting…patiently, high in trees, low in branches, on fences and between houses. Maybe it’s how their webs catch the … 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
“In 1898 a party of thirty church ministers, seeking the larger view, boarded six horse-drawn carriages in town and headed uphill at 4:30 pm. Two hours later they arrived [at the top]. Convinced that native people had held council at this lofty site, the ministers named it Council Crest. Today, a two-hour drive leads to … Continue reading
In this time of reflection, as the nights come sooner, the fires become cozier, and the new year approaches, I cannot help but reflect on the spirit of the season. Why has this time become so sacred? In a purely secular context, I can see how celebrations of light and hope have developed during the … Continue reading
The change in the seasons is subtle. A wash of green or a crocus bud breaking the soil at the approach of spring, extended daytime and a break from the rain at the approach of summer, a slight cooling of the air or blush of red in the trees at the approach of fall…all of … Continue reading
To mark the coming of the Autumnal Equinox this year, I planned a trip through my favorite local natural area. Though this year’s autumn solstice was sunny, muggy, and warm and all the leaves were still green, I embraced the seasonal importance of the day and the few hours of sunlight still available to me … Continue reading
While contemplating some wonderfully visual food and lifestyle blogs I have been looking at frequently for artistic inspiration and my own visual pleasure, I began thinking about the nature of space. How important spaces are to our identities as people. How we express ourselves through decoration. What we display in our spaces as monuments of … Continue reading
The Marquam Trail- evening light coming through the trees, brightest green and dusty light brown. Particles floating through the soft setting sunlight Spider webs- so strong. How long does it take the make? How are they made? Why do they keep sticking to me? What do spiders have to tell us and what can we … Continue reading
Sometimes you take a break. You go to school, you move away. But then you come running back to me like a lover who realizes that distance makes the heart grow fonder. Move away, go ahead, but you’ll be back to this park, in your city of warmth and charm and niceties. Of quirky neighborhoods, … Continue reading
Every time I enter the Marquam Nature Park, I think of Bill Bryson’s bestselling book. Not the content necessarily, since I only just finished reading the book, but the concept- walking in the woods. Either one step in, one step out, a quick nose in the trees to smell the pine needles and embrace the … Continue reading
in the midst 