In the summer, the song sings itself. William Carlos Williams Now that Memorial Day weekend has passed, we are advised by marketers that summer has “officially” begun, and we should all be grilling burgers outdoors and eating potato salad. That is not a bad idea any time of year, but the whole “official” thing isContinue reading “A Prayer for Summer”
Author Archives: Colleen Drake
A Bluebird on the Fence Post
Chanting is no more holy than listening to the murmur of a stream, counting prayer beads no more sacred than simply breathing, religious robes no more spiritual than work clothes. Lao-Tzu On the morning after the school shooting I awoke early to get ready for a hike I had planned to attend with a groupContinue reading “A Bluebird on the Fence Post”
When the Mountain Came a Tumbling Down
The world is always ending somewhere. It just depends on whether it falls in your line of vision or not. Akwaeka Emezi My twin daughters were three years old when Mt. St. Helens erupted in 1980. I remember the day well, for my husband and I had taken them on a long bicycle ride nearContinue reading “When the Mountain Came a Tumbling Down”
Chasing the Airstream
Let go, live your life, the grave has no sunny corners. Charles Wright When I was ten years old my grandfather retired from his decades long job as a pressman for Tacoma’s morning newspaper. I did not know him well. He had worked nights those many years, so when we visited he was often asleepContinue reading “Chasing the Airstream”
Comfort in a Cup
Drink your tea slowly and reverently as if it is the axis on which the world earth revolves–slowly, evenly, without rushing toward the future. Live the actual moment. Thich Nhat Hahn Mornings on the trail I drink tea from a green plastic cup. It has warped gently, no longer possessing a perfectly circular rim fromContinue reading “Comfort in a Cup”
Oh My Aching Back!
Life gets mighty precious when there’s less of it to waste. Bonnie Raitt As I have shared in previous posts my mother often boasted that I started walking when I was just eight months old, and I have been walking ever since, which means well over seventy years now of carrying myself upright on twoContinue reading “Oh My Aching Back!”
In Praise of Reservations
Those who dwell. . . among the beauties and mysteries of the earth are never alone or weary of life. Rachel Carson I started hiking and backpacking while quite young, and I have to admit. . .that was a very long time ago. When I first started backpacking alone in my early twenties, I oftenContinue reading “In Praise of Reservations”
Getting to the Tops of Things
On Climbing the Sierra Matterhorn after Thirty-One Years Range after range of mountains Year after year after year. I am still in love. Gary Snyder The summer between my junior and senior year of college I took a mountaineering class. I needed one more physical education credit to graduate the following spring, and climbing mountainsContinue reading “Getting to the Tops of Things”
One Step at a Time, One Stitch at a Time
That’s it, I guess. Just go on living, whether you feel like it or not. Anton Chekhov My readers will not be surprised to learn that I have a life apart from hiking, though my hiking life will always be the axis around which everything else revolves. Still, the winters are long where I live.Continue reading “One Step at a Time, One Stitch at a Time”
The Season of Mud
And I was some of the mud that got to sit up and look around. Lucky me, lucky mud. Kurt Vonnegut Winters settle in for a long time in northeastern Washington, and when the snow finally melts it is replaced by mud, thick and dark, the kind that sucks your boots off when you stepContinue reading “The Season of Mud”
The Solitude Trail 