In a day, we went from 60 to 0.
Degrees that is, at least the wind chill.
It had been unnaturally balmy for early December.

Then big winds brought a front
that arrived at our doorsteps,
quickly cycling from
rain to ice to a little snow.
And the thin jackets from the day before
looked laughable hanging on the coat rack.

To step outside […]

For the peace and promise of a sunrise.
The quickening of breath that comes
when we take in the beauty of our surroundings.

For the mystery and humility
of daring to see how we are all connected.

For the opportunity, over and over again,
to choose joy.

For waking up every day to the unknown
and the courage to walk into that day.

For […]

A wet fall has stretched out the season.
Even still there are trees with deep green leaves
alongside trees with leaves that have long since departed
alongside leaves in their autumn glory:
bright brilliant hues or orange, gold, and deep red.

Often this happens for a week or so
then leaves let go in a flurry of color and wind.

But this […]

This gift of human form and brain,
able to reach such depths,
able to look within,
is also destined to lurch from past to future,
sometimes only briefly visiting the present
in its wanderings.

I sigh.
Another deep breath.
Calling myself back to the world of here and now.
To cycles of storms, bright blue skies,
deep midnight darkness and shining days-
the only things I’ll […]

I wish you peaceful silence
at least for moments
in this world that holds so much volume.

I wish for you moments of bliss
when it is quiet inside and outside of you.
Perhaps it will come late at night
or in the pre-dawn morning.
Perhaps on a walk in the glory of a crisp fall day
or in the close embrace of […]

What words can be said, really, in the face of wind and water so strong it tears down buildings or submerges them? At the same time, fires rage unquenched out west despite all that water swirling many miles away.

Sometimes all I can think to do is go outside. When people or politics press too close. When this country glaringly misaligns with what I hold dear. When time feels slippery in its passing. Sometimes all I can think to do is go outside.

There is no way there are golden retrievers in the Amazon. I watch my wooly golden girl on humid days as she walks slowly, heavily, even her whiskers droop. She gives me a mournful look as we get back to the house clearly asking if we can move further north than our Minnesota home.

Fireworks. People love em or hate em. I would fall into the latter category. Mostly for my dogs who suffer through what has become two weeks of inexplicable (to them) and random explosions that go on into the early hours of the morning.

Hard rain. The kind that pounds the ground and splashes up caking low leaves in mud spattering dirt into mosaic designs on higher foliage. Five minutes later... Bright sun. Clear delicious air, the kind that only comes after rain. Wind, even blue sky amidst the dazzling clouds.