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Category Archives: observation
Leaving Words at Home
I often say I write about my home place, but that’s not true all the time. The book project currently consuming my writing energy, for example, is about scientific literacy. (Though it might far afield from the natural history and … Continue reading
Posted in observation, travel, working from home, writing
Tagged Azores, Canyon de Chelly, Fire Island, Iceland, Istanbul, journaling, Palm Springs, travel
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Summer of a Different Color
August: By now, usually, our high mountain landscape is burnished with a brassy gleam, as grasses send seedheads up to nod and wave in any breeze that bothers to turn up. In July, though, a monsoon weather pattern settled in, … Continue reading
Posted in color, observation, weather, wildflowers
Tagged Colorado wildflowers, July precipitation, monsoon rain, mushrooms
4 Comments
Writing Short
I recently dipped my toe into the sub-genre of so-called “flash” or “micro” nonfiction, the defining characteristic of which is an abbreviated word count. I regularly write blog posts in the 700-900 word range, which qualify as flash nonfiction under … Continue reading
Posted in observation, poetry, writing
Tagged flash nonfiction, narrative essay, The Fourth River journal, writing exercises
2 Comments
Rooted
One of the side effects of abundant solitary time is an inclination toward idiosyncratic projects. If my husband were not spending his weekdays provisioning Coloradoans with wine, he might kindly suggest that I stick with tasks that are either of … Continue reading
Posted in observation, weeds, wildflowers, working from home
Tagged Colorado native plants, native landscape plants, transplanting wildflowers
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On Sitting
I walked out of the house with no aim other than to go somewhere and sit: no destination, no errand, not even a camera to box in my attention. I’m not noodling a conundrum from a piece of writing left … Continue reading
Posted in change of seasons, fall, observation, writing
Tagged reflection, taking time, the writing life
2 Comments
Beyond the Frame
In mid-October, I hit the road for Santa Fe, where I attended the Women Writing the West conference. After a socializing, talking shop, and attending sessions on craft and the business of writing with colleagues for a few days, my … Continue reading
Posted in driving, observation, travel, writing
Tagged Anasazi ruins, ancient puebloans, Canyon de Chelly, Colorado Plateau, Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks
4 Comments
The Long View
The iconography of changing colors garners plenty of attention this time of year. Deservedly so, I suppose; even here, where the most charismatic foliage species are pretty rare, there’s a good show. The mounded forms of currant and mountain mahogany … Continue reading
Posted in change of seasons, color, fall, observation, wildlife encounters
Tagged autumn in Colorado, bugling elk, fall foliage
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Still Learning from Horses
Moondo, my little red horse, is a complicated character. I wrote about his personality and opinions in the “Horse Lessons” chapter of Between Urban and Wild the book. A number of years have passed since then, and I can report … Continue reading
Posted in animal communication, horses, observation
Tagged animal communication, equine communication, horse behavior
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Reading Season
The pattern makes sense: that these winter months are a time of retreat, a withdrawal of sorts from the outdoor domain of wild that orients a significant part of my life. The weather is cold and even if it’s not—even … Continue reading
Posted in inside/outside, observation, reading, working from home, writing
Tagged literacy, reading nonfiction, the writing life
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On the Theme of Running Late
For once, it wasn’t me. The party running late, this time, was autumn. Oh sure, the light changed, spearing over the land at that long low angle that first alerts me summer is waning. And, yes, leaves of sticky geranium … Continue reading
Posted in change of seasons, fall, gardening, observation, weather
Tagged climate change, growing tomatoes
6 Comments
