Half of who we are is what we remember. The other half is what we forget. The first is made sweeter or more valuable when we remember what we forgot. I remember the crack of a branch. I am camped on the side of mountain near Lake Manyara. The [...]
My inbox is filled with a hundred emails everyday telling me to “resist” the travesty wrecked on our climate and environment by our new president and his kleptocrats. There is no doubt that the environment is being plundered and destroyed by these people for nothing other than simple greed. [...]
I am heading from Portland to Coos Bay, Oregon. Having some extra time, I drive the back roads through what seem like endless verdant forests. The road winds through valleys next to streams, and the forests climb the hills and mountains to the ridgelines. It’s a good day. The [...]
Of course climate change is real. So what? Is this really helping? I’d say no. Part I: Given the appointment of climate deniers to key cabinet posts coupled with the rapid rollback of environmental regulations by the Trump Administration, it feels OK to be angry. Scott Pruitt, the new [...]
I have always been fascinated by maps. Imagining what places may look like from their names. I am heading west in search of the Buffalo Gap National Grasslands. What I believe to be a vast area of tall prairie grasses waving in the steady breezes of South Dakota. Endless [...]
A friend of mine told me that I was a romantic. I had to look it up. It wasn’t much help. If you’ve ever had a literature course, you might remember the “hero's journey.” One of the things required for a hero’s journey is a challenge or an obstacle the [...]
Are we above God? Sunrise on the south rim of the Grand Canyon, light reflecting in pinks and rust, purple clouds slanted to the west. My daughter and I are cold as we start down the South Kaibab Trail. But something stops us. Looking out across the canyon, our eyes [...]
I am not happy. My grandkids are. We are at the park after school. I am reading email on my cellphone, when I stop to look up. Teo and Eva pick up two large sticks and begin to play Star Wars with them. They are serious in their characters, but [...]
Farmers are connected to the earth physically, economically, and spiritually. They understand what’s going on with the earth and have for six thousand years. I am talking to a friend of mine who farms in Iowa. It is pheasant season, which is mostly an excuse to walk the land. [...]
Walk with me for a minute. I want to talk about the Wanugi. I am sitting on top of Carlton Peak on the North Shore of Lake Superior watching the sun go down. From here I can see the forest stretch out for miles to the horizon. Fall has [...]
