This is the time of year when the grass only intermittently catches the light. Its ability, however, to combine visual and emotional parts of the observing human mind, is wondrous. These effects […]
The Eye’s Travels Through Late Autumn Grass
The Great Push of Life
Look at the filberts in my garden, hanging out their catkins. For them, the great push has begun. This is their springing up, their spring. And here on the hill is the […]
The Best Hours of the Year
I had an unusual start in life. When the sky got like this at this time of year (and even darker at solstice), I was out pruning fruit trees, like this apple […]
And the Salmon Come Too
The twisted, reaching trees… … from whom we learned our bodies … … reflect in the water, just as we reflect in them. And there in the mind and all the deep […]
Gathering is “Instinctual”
When picking rose hips… … pick the ones that offer themselves to you. Those are the good ones. You’ll know which ones. The others are just mean. This is actually a syilx […]
Seeing by Touch
The time for playing in the woods is over. So many powerful dreams end with the wonder and practical reality of the frost. But then a new door opens. One becomes attuned […]
Dogwoods Reveal Their Ancient Healing Secrets
The great medicinal being, stektektsxwíIhp, aka red osier dogwood or red willow (be careful with that; more than one plant bears that name), reveals her anti-inflammatory secrets when her leaves stop making […]
Making Spaces for All
Here’s an intriguing balance at work. Meet the staghorn sumac, and its friend the pussy willow. Both of them put hairs on their bodies to stay warm. Both of them have leaves, […]
Lake Country Playground
The old orchards of Oyama are not doing well. How could an orchard do well, with so few trees per acre? You might ask. This property, long-neglected, has sold. These apples are […]
Winter Comes to Northern Cascadia
As you descend from the alpine hemlock zone towards the St. Elias Mountains on the Haines Highway, Cascadia reveals itself. Farther south, this meeting of energies would give shrub steppe, sagebrush and […]
