Nature
A Place Out Of Time
The sleepy little village of Yelapa, Mexico appears like a dream as our water taxi speeds south from Puerto Vallarta along the coast of Banderas Bay. We round a promontory and there it is, a perfect crescent scooped out of the land, it’s all azure sea and golden sand,...
Winter Trilogy
On the cusp of Winter Solstice, I've had some thoughts about the upcoming season. Leaf Ballet A handful of leaves cling stubbornly to the branches of our majestic valley oak, a tree that one day 20 years ago poked its spindly trunk cautiously out from the cover of...
It’s Ok
It's ok to just sit here, right? It’s ok to watch the green fingers of the apple tree sway in tandem with the singing of the wind chimes, right? It’s ok to watch the sky-blue scrub jay hop from tree branch to lawn to fountain. It’s ok to marvel at the stillness and...
Found Feathers
The hike I went on today was all about feathers. It seemed like everywhere I looked, there they were: A 12 inch long, steel-grey wing feather from a Great Blue heron, a tail feather from a crow; coal-black and broadly rounded at the end in two heart-shaped humps. I...
Imaginary Glances From Behind Green Facades
I get the feeling that someone or something is watching me. Am I being paranoid or are those just imaginary glances from behind the green facade of the forest? The canopy in here is thick and nearly impenetrable, what light that does make it through is green and...
Finding Peace on a Foggy Morning
The fog is quiet as a dream. Sunny mornings sing, foggy mornings whisper. The sky today is a grey blanket, the diffused light deepens the infinite shades of green and colors become more saturated. The air is absolutely still. A couple of tiny songbirds occasionally...
Point Reyes: 8/16/24
Yesterday was as picturesque a bluebird sky day as there could possibly be, the temperature Goldilocks perfect. Summertime, and the livin’ is definitely easy. It was Multiples of Eight Day (8/16/24), a day not to be repeated for another hundred years! Carol, Denali...
The Monster In Our Backyard
There's a monster living in our backyard. It only comes out at night, catching and devouring its prey in an elaborately constructed trap. This monster strikes fear into our hearts; a primal dread that sends shivers up our spines. Ok, this “monster” is actually just...
Colorful Colorado
Carol and I recently spent a week traveling around Colorado. Here are a few of my impressions Wildflowers Crested Butte, Colorado is the self proclaimed “wildflower capitol of the world” and the Snodgrass Trail on the outskirts of town is its epicenter. It’s a lofty...
The Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle
Some things never get old. Snorkeling with Hawaiian Green Sea Turtles is one of them. When I’m underwater, turtles usually appear out of nowhere, gliding into my view frame when I least expect them to. I’ll be checking out the coral or some colorful reef fish when out...
River Meditation
Here at Riverfront Park, the Russian River carries small pieces of the forest with it on its slow journey to the sea. Leaves, twigs, bits of fluff, bird feathers and who knows what else. The river’s main current flows close to the bank opposite me in an unending...
Chickadee, Crow and Jay
Crow How black is that crow sitting way up there near the top of that Dr. Seuss-like eucalyptus tree? So black that it looks like negative space; like a perfect crow shape has been cut out of the blue sky to reveal the blackness of outer space beyond. Black licorice,...
Great Blue Heron Rookery: My Secret Place
In a world thoroughly trampled on by humans, “secret” places are hard to come by. A couple of months ago I found one such spot just off the trail here at Riverfront Park Riverfront is one of the more popular of the regional parks in Sonoma County. The location of my...
A Reimagined Tree
Our plum tree is almost completely dead, but instead of mourning its loss, we’ve reimagined what a tree could be. Somehow a small cluster of branches at the center of the tree have managed to bloom this spring. Tiny white blossoms have given way to slender green...
Spring Is Here!
Carol and I left for the Sierras on a rainy Wednesday before dawn, returning home after three days of snow and bitter cold to brilliant sunshine and a warm breeze that said, “Spring is here!” with every jingle of our wind chimes. To finally get a clear, dry day after...
The Serendipity of Beach Structures
The serendipity of a beach structure always makes me smile. I can see the spontaneity in its design, the helter skelter randomness in the way the various materials were used to construct it. There may have been a conscious effort on behalf of the builders to come to...
The Language of Waves
I’m sitting here at Doran Beach with my eyes closed, deep in meditation and listening to the waves in stereo. In the absence of sight, sound is all I have so the sounds of the waves become intensified. I’m hearing four distinctive sounds. First there’s a woosh as the...
A Haven For Birds
I’m watching the birds come and go, they flit and flutter from tree top to branch to feeder. The titmice peck contentedly at the seed feeders until they are supplanted by a larger species like the towhee or golden crowned sparrow. When the magnificent scrub jay with...
Tangerines
Electric orbs of fruit dangle from our tangerine tree like earrings on the Buddha. Tangerines are holy fruit, each one is a sunrise or a sunset; the promise of a new day or gratitude for the day that has just passed. Is there a more delightful fruit than a tangerine?...
Bullfrog Pond, January, 2024
Heading out through the forest today, the journey is the trip. It’s a slow and deliberate stroll, I’m breathing, listening and seeing with eyes wide open. The air is redolent of winter, rains have given voice to the creek that flows below me as I walk upstream. The...
A Miniature Miracle
I stood beneath our oak tree and looked up through its nearly bare branches, the sky was milk white and formless. There was just enough breeze to dislodge a few leaves, one or two or five at a time. Some floated straight down, landing on the lawn or me. Others flew...
The Sound Of Silence
I walk out onto our back deck this morning just before dawn. Brilliant Venus is visible high in the indigo sky. As Earth spins towards the sun a thin band of orange and pink begins to appear in the east. Monet brush strokes paint the sky in pastel hues. It’s quiet,...
Singing In The Rain
It’s a rain dance out there today, a veritable, seasonal soiree. Drip, drop, splish, splash, pitter, patter, an onomatopoetic smorgasbord of sounds. Cars whizz by on the freeway, their tires hiss like bacon on a hot griddle. Ducks are delighted. Frogs flip and flop...
Impressionist Oak
Last Monday was an absolutely stellar fall day so I decided to take a hike at Annadel State Park in Santa Rosa. Annadel is one of the crown jewels of Sonoma County parks. It has diverse ecosystems, many hiking and biking trails, a large lake, creeks and abundant bird...
Thankful For Autumn
It’s all about the light. Honey golden and lemon yellow, soft and dreamy it cuts through the reds, yellows and oranges of the autumn leaves, illuminating them like electricity. When the sun is out on a fall day such as this, the foliage glows as if lit from within....
Our Little Redwood Tree
It was around nine years ago when I first discovered it. Poking out of the ground in our backyard where the kitchen wall meets the ground, this tiny redwood shoot couldn’t have been more than three inches tall. I remember in the spring of that year purchasing several...
Magic and Mystery at Point Reyes
We gradually make our way along the bluffs, a slow snake, we slither and wind. Limantour Beach gradually dissolves, consumed by the march of fog until it is engulfed in a cocoon of pure white. The trail describes a wide S as it makes its way upward and away from the...
Beach Trilogy
Throughout the years, the beach has been a consistent source of wonder and inspiration for me. The following short pieces all had their genesis on recent visits to Salmon Creek along the Sonoma County CA coast. Barefoot I love walking barefoot. With nothing between...
What I’ve Been Up To
I was catching up recently with an old friend during a lengthy phone conversation. After the initial exchange of pleasantries, she posed the inevitable question, “What have you been up to?” My reply? “I’ve been busy, very busy.” I’ve been busy watching the lilies....
Summer Afternoon
It’s the first real heatwave of summer, the day is languid and lazy. The drone of my neighbor’s air conditioner, the jingle-jangle of the wind chimes when a welcome breeze blows through, the blip-blop of our fountains and the insect like buzz of a small airplane are...
Spring
Spring. Is there a more glorious time of year? The other seasons all have their upsides. Summer: the heat and sunshine, the lazy river and the ocean, barefoot days and a cold Mexican beer just when you need one. Autumn: the golden glow of the vineyards as their leaves...
Let It Rain
Rain, rain, rain! I’m so delighted to be experiencing actual winter weather for the first time in a long time. Too much of a good thing you might say? Never! The news media is doing its level best to try and rain (pun intended) on our parade. Hyperbole like...
Abbott’s Lagoon
Point Reyes National Seashore, Valentine's day 2023 The last raindrops drift away, they splatter our windshield with kisses of winter. Grey skies give way to blue, a patch here, a patch there. By the time we begin our hike the storm clouds have retreated to the south...
Reeling With Rain
This essay was written back in November during the first rainstorm of the year. Little did I know what was in store for us here in Northern California! It’s written in a stream of consciousness style. Take a breath and dive in! Cypress trees spiral into a grey sky...
Jack Frost Morning
On the cusp of winter solstice a cold winter light filters through the mostly bare branches of our fruit trees, the golden glow of autumn has all but faded away. Out here on our deck just before sunrise everything is coated in a thin dusting of frost. I can slide...
Turtles and Tourists
At a beach on Kauai’s south shore, turtles and tourists share the sand. The Hawaiian green sea turtle is a year round resident of the Hawaiian islands. These massive reptiles can be seen gracefully plying the waters all throughout the islands. The highlight of any...
Hanalei Soundscape
Outside our little garden cottage just off the beach in Hanalei on the island of Kauai the white-rumped shama greets the day with its happy song. Our bedroom slowly begins to fill with light, sunrise is still an hour or so away and the shama is already in fine voice...
Silence
Silence is such a beautiful thing. In the hyperdrive world that we live in there are so few opportunities to experience true silence, those opportunities are there but you’ve got to seek them out, silence does not usually come to you. Silence helps me think, allows me...
Autumn
I love autumn. The cool, clear nights, the cold, foggy mornings, the cloudless blue skies and Goldilocks temperatures during the day, the sunsets with those endless gradations of blue followed by a final blaze of orange-to-pink-to red. The low angle of the sun at this...
Lemon Cucumbers
In our garden four perfectly round lemon cucumbers sit among a tangle of vines, the largest is the size of a baseball, two of them look like ghostly billiard balls and the third is just downright tiny. The two largest ones have begun to take on streaks of pale yellow...
Otter Encounter
This stretch along the Russian River, just over the hill from Riverfront Park, at times seems like a river otter highway. It’s a rare occasion when I don’t see an otter or two while I’m here. When I least expect it there they are, but always from a distance. My...
Eagle Encounter
My most memorable moments in nature have been those that were the least expected. A case in point was on a secluded beach along the Russian River today. To get to this secluded spot Carol and I had to hike about 45 minutes from the parking lot at Riverfront Park. It...
Mockingbird Music
The Northern Mockingbird is so entertaining. From sunrise to sunset it sings incessantly and I have no idea what its actual voice sounds like. Its palette of sounds is seemingly endless: chirps, trills, whistles, peeps, coos and everything in between. You see the...
Hidden Nature Revealed.
I stood before the large picture window in our kitchen this morning and watched a Coopers Hawk systematically devour a small bird. Bit by bit he picked it apart until there was nothing left but a few feathers fluttering in the breeze. This window looks out upon our...
Beach Meditations
The beach is a place where a man can feel he’s the only soul in the world that’s real. Pete Townsend Driftwood…bleached bones. Tibia, fibia, a random scattering offered up by the sea, come to rest here. Finger bones, toe bones, skeletal remains of once living things....
Wonders At Our Doorstep
One of the benefits of retirement, besides the obvious one of not having to go to work every day and deal with the trials and tribulations of a regular job, has been getting to spend more time with my wife Carol. Over the past year Carol and I have made it a point to...
Salmon Creek Dream
The beach at Salmon Creek on the Sonoma County coast is one of the most spectacular and awe inspiring stretches of sand that I've ever set foot upon. My wife and I love this place. We recently spent an afternoon there, it was one of those warm and golden blue-sky...
Winter Closing In
The trees are nearly naked, their skeletal branches are stark against a white and overcast sky, a sky without definition. The thirty foot oak tree that stands outside our house has picked up the pace at shedding its small, light brown leaves. Like puzzle pieces they...
Before 8:00am
It’s before 8:00am and all things seem possible. Before 8:00am there’s no hatred; the mean, vicious and small minded all sleep in. Before 8:00am no one wears a face mask, fear is still in bed. While greed heads dream of more and more and more, the earth awakens and...
October Rain
A week ago Sonoma County, where I live, received its first substantial rainfall of the season. By the time the deluge had passed, nearly 8 inches of rain had fallen over a 24 hour period. It rained last night. I mean it really rained. This was not the fleeting storm...
The Magic Of Seasonal Change
I get here and and just wait for the magic to happen. Sometimes the magic manifests itself in obvious ways like the sudden appearance of a river otter or the piercing cry of an osprey as it circles the sky above the river. Quite often though the magic of this place is...
Rain!
I was awakened at 1:20 this morning by the hypnotic notes of wind chimes; one deep and sonorous, the other high pitched and tinkly. The wind had picked up, something was happening. The rain began slowly at first, barely a whisper as the drops fell through our pear...
Fountains Of Life
I’m not going to write about Covid-19 or the delta variant or imbecile anti-vaxers. I will not write about California wildfires or European floods or the myriad other natural disasters fueled by climate change. There’s no way I plan to write about the world situation...
The Bee Tree
When we were shopping for our first home nearly twenty years ago, one of the things that attracted us to our neighborhood was the easy access to a network of trails that criss cross Santa Rosa and Paulin Creeks. This trail system is truly an oasis and a hidden gem in...
A Different Spring
At the spring equinox last year the world was in turmoil. A mysterious and deadly virus that began “over there” had made it to our shores. Schools, movie theaters, restaurants, health clubs, basically all “non-essential” businesses were immediately closed. Baseball,...
Heaven On Earth
Taylor Mountain is a 1,000 acre gem in the crown of the numerous open space preserves that dot Sonoma County. I was enjoying a day free from obligations today and hiked to the mountain’s 1,380 foot summit. Once at the top I was higher than the hawks and turkey...
An Aural Masterpiece
Since beginning this blog earlier in the year, a recurring theme of mine has been finding solace in nature during uncertain times. Here's my latest take. The only human made sounds I can hear are the occasional rumbling of a plane taking off from nearby Charles...
Remembering Rain
My wife and I were watching a movie the other night. About halfway through the film, a man pulled his car off to the side of the road to call his wife. He was in the process of leaving a message when it began to rain. The rain started slowly, gradually building in...
Pressing The “Mute” Button
The water in Bullfrog Pond is olive green and still. The breeze, ever so slight, is just strong enough to push a few leaves across the surface; small vessels who’s destinations are unknown. As I approach the lichen spotted and weathered picnic table from where I am...
Breathe In, Breathe Out
As I write this, the Air Quality Index (AQI) is 15. This is good, very good. Lately I’ve become quite well versed in the parameters of the AQI. Anything below 50 is good, smooth sailing, no problem, might as well be sitting on the beach in Maui. Between 50-100 we’re...
Let It Rain
Let it rain Cats and dogs, pigs and frogs Oodles, puddles, gushers, mushers Let it flow Meander, tumble, rumble A cascade parade Buckets, sheets, fill the streets Let it pour More, more and more Rivers, streams, dreams A wonderful gullywashing downpour A soaking...
Don’t It Always Seem To Go…
The sign on Highway 1 for Doran Beach showed that the parking lot was FULL. Since it was late afternoon we figured that some people would most likely be leaving by now so we headed there anyway confident that we’d find a place to park. The road to Doran winds...
Spring Visitors
It’s a subtle announcement. I mean if you’re not listening for it you’d think it was just another random chirp from one of the many birds that call our part of the world home. But this one is different. This little chirp tells me in no uncertain terms that winter is...