One of my greatest moments of transcendence happened on the Marin headlands. I was standing within view of the glittering city of San Francisco and the elegant curve of the Golden Gate bridge. It was early in March, and the wildflower season had started. I had been hiking and photographing them for three hours, working […]
Transcendence: surprised by joy Read More »
During my time in Alaska, while I was enjoying the ubiquitous glories of the vast stands of fireweed, I noticed something unusual. Almost always, among the blazing fireweed were a few stems of yarrow. A white, sometimes pale pink flower, shaped like a flattened umbrella, with stalks of feathery leaves. Except for some pink ones,
Yarrow: a quiet goddess subdues half a planet Read More »
The farther I went north in the summer of 2015, the more I found a world full of lichen. It’s everywhere in Alaska, and a dominant species in the arctic tundra. But it’s everywhere else, too, covering 8% of the world’s surface. Lichen holds the desert in place, fills the forests, hangs off branches in cool,
It takes a village: the community of lichen Read More »
If you want tundra, you must either go far enough north or high enough up. So a trip up the Dempster Highway in the Yukon was perfect for my longing for arctic plants. Two days of careful driving over the dirt and gravel road will take you into the Northwest Territories and to the Arctic
The mysterious Yukon Read More »
For the first Songlines post last spring, I wrote about how much I love creation stories that not only have the world sung into existence, but also have us continually bringing life to life as we relish our own passing presence. What a great joy it is to be given the task of singing of
Songlines 2015: north to Alaska Read More »
One of the first things we noticed when we drove into Alaska in July was that vast stands of spruce — and Alaska is full of vast stands of spruce — were dark brown at the top. Seeing them from a distance, as we drove through a valley, we wondered if they were suffering from
Spruce family planning Read More »
Ten years ago this October, I traveled to New Jersey and found myself celebrating Samhain. I had no idea on the way there I’d be doing any such thing. But it’s the sort of place where that happens, so I might have guessed. Miriam McGillis has been a friend, mentor, and teacher to many, including
Samhain in New Jersey Read More »
Some years ago I took a photography workshop at the New York Botanical Garden. At the end of a day spent shooting the vast array of flowers in the perennial gardens, Allen Rokach, our teacher, told us to come back next morning with two favorites to share. Everyone else brought in pictures of flowers at their
One of the things that is constantly, and wonderfully, borne in on me as I travel is how utterly beautiful our world is. Everywhere I go, there is beauty easily at hand. And for someone who spends as much time driving from place to place as I do, the gorgeous scene along so many roads is
A few years ago, I realized that daylight has a different sound than night does. Not the usual distinctions, like birdsong, crickets, traffic. When the sun rises, I hear a difference in the world. A tone, very subtle, with more vibrance in sunlight than the velvety sound of night. I haven’t found an explanation for
The Place Where You Go to Listen Read More »