STAY, in the Breath

letters from a writer & photographer's journey

Beginnings, Endings, The Myriad Unknowns and…It’s Okay

Thank You and a Give-Away! Seven years ago, this month, I began writing on this blog having no idea where it would lead and it’s got me feeling tender and misty-eyed as I recollect the time. Seven years ago my youngest wasn’t quite two years old, and my oldest was twelve. Now my youngest is asking me for a briefcase for his upcoming birthday because he is a full-fledged-eight-year-old-entrepreneur and.. Read More

Between the Darkenings (my friend C.T. Giles taught me those words, and…)

I’d been facing and hiking west most of the late afternoon, watching the sunlight play in the mist cascading down the mountainsides. I had been captivated. Then, as the sun sank low, I turned to a sound behind me. Facing east now, I was surprised when my eye caught the first rays of the moon rising over the mountain. Winter will be here soon and the days are growing darker.. Read More

Practicing Hope.

How does destruction happen among those born with the instinct not to be destroyed? No one is born wanting to die, wanting loss, wanting pain, and yet we are surrounded by all of these things. To take it even further and maybe even more personal? Have you ever known someone who once helped you see yourself and then their vision left, they left? It’s as frightening as it is devastating… Read More

Hope Heals, After it Burns

I’m at the threshold of a thing that on the other side of which I will likely want another 10 hours of talking late into the night and the early morning sitting somewhere waiting for the sun to rise. So, it seems right that at this threshold there is a pause, a moment in time to consider the path that has come before and all that lies beyond. I have.. Read More

In the Wind, In the Fire

I saw fire fall from the sky this week. Then I realized it was a leaf. A burnt orange leaf was spiraling rapidly downward as I rounded a curve in the canyon. The wind there whirls in that vortex much differently than in the open field where sometimes it can seem as though the leaves are falling in slow motion, meandering like a mountain stream around a pathway of rocks… Read More

Dirt Paths (Part 2)

In the last few days have you noticed a change in the air? A season has turned. In the lunisolar calendar, the year 5781 has begun. What will we do with this year? Wanna take a dirt path, together? Yesterday, I shared a favorite quote: “Of all the paths in life you take, make sure a few of them are dirt.” -John Muir   In Part 1, I wrote about.. Read More

Dirt Paths (Part 1)

“Of all the paths in life you take, make sure a few of them are dirt.” -John Muir It’s easiest to feel compelled by these words when we’re out adventuring. Dusty dirt seems just right when summiting a mountain peak on a misty morning or even meandering on a sandy shoreline in the dark of night waiting for the excitement of a new moon to appear. Our souls sigh contentedly.. Read More

The Quiet & the Thunder in the Confluence

“…standing between the earth and sky, we are silenced by the sight…” -Abraham Joshua Heschel, I Asked for Wonder Hello my friends, What a confluence in time we are within! It’s had me in a quiet place considering the many river-like convergences in our lives that at once bring a loss of self and a greater intimacy. I find as I get older not a lack of meaning or nothingness in.. Read More

Hope Abides and Rivers Flow

Sometimes the thoughts come so fast, so I walk on and on like maybe if I bring my body up to speed I can catch all the thoughts, and then I stop. Depending on where I am at on the property, I am often surrounded by the sound of the rushing river.  Sometimes I’m surrounded by memories. I can see nineteen-year-old-me needing help to walk around the block and how.. Read More

HOPE

Hey there! Wanna go for a walk in the woods together? Afterwords, I have some news I’m eager to share with you today. I’ve been thinking about hope lately. I was traversing our wilds when the thought came to me that maybe hope is something to…practice. In the same moment a flash of remembrance over what we named our little river cottage, when we moved here, lit across my mind:.. Read More