


Autumn Grief
The flowers have all faded, the seeds scattered to the wind and to be swallowed by the ground; the moisture has evaporated and leaves burnt by the sun hang on by a mere thread before casting themselves off to die and become mulch and eventually new soil…

Voice of the Earth
And still there are places where the pika squeak and thrive, where cold-loving evergreens reach toward the sky, where wild mountain waters run under stone through creases in alpine meadows… . . . …But even those pikas are threatened, so many of the trees have been lost to beetle-kill and other blight, and the waters are low, the snows shallow…

Musings on the West…
If like me you’re feeling pretty wintry and less outwardly festive in this new year, may I recommend a good documentary for these dark days? I recently watched “Ken Burns: The West,” and WOW ~ heartbreaking and beautiful and intense! …to learn...