Sometimes the back yard is more active than others. Today is a wet, gloomy day. I’d describe it as Novembery, except that it’s now December. The trees are bare except for a single red or bronze leaf hanging on. The grasses in the garden are tufts of dried blonde blades. The perennials are brown, scraggly, … Continue reading Birds
I’ve felt very fragile since we dropped our son off at college. I’ve had trouble sleeping, and I feel jittery and strung out. Work has been hectic, which has been hard. My team lead encouraged me to be gentle with myself in the coming weeks because she knew this would be an emotional time for … Continue reading Gentle
We tried several excursions in Iceland that didn’t quite work out: a hike we couldn’t get across a river for, puffin watching that was obscured by fog, wind, and rain, another hike that was only accessible by a road that turned from paved, to gravel, to rutted gravel, to grass, to grass and mud, to … Continue reading Every step a wonder
I walked in a soft gray drizzle this morning. Shiny green leaves dripped, and honeysuckle scented the path. As I walked, I listened to Krista Tippet’s On Being interview with Robin Wall Kimmerer. They talked about the intelligence of plants. Kimmerer wrote a gorgeous book, Braiding Sweetgrass, which I read after it arrived unexpectedly in … Continue reading Why is the world so beautiful?
Today’s the last day of my at-home vacation. Since it’s too cold to sit outside and watch the garden grow, I opted to use my final day off to go hiking with my husband. When he asked this morning, from under the covers, before the sun came up, “Do you still want to go?”, I … Continue reading Mountain top in cold and wind
A podcast episode showed up in my feed the other day: Why You Should Snap Pictures of Nature. I started listening while I unloaded the dishwasher in the early morning, and I finished it while I made my lunch. It’s on the Science of Happiness podcast, and in it, the guest talks about her-two week … Continue reading First bees and first vinca
Butterfly Mind 