Because children grow up, we think a child’s purpose is to grow up. But a child’s purpose is to be a child. Nature doesn’t disdain what only lives for a day. It pours the whole of itself into each moment. . .Life’s bounty is in its flow. Later is too late. Alexander Herzen I haveContinue reading “Remembering Harmony Falls”
Tag Archives: camping
Remembering Simple
As my regular readers well know I made the decision to stop backpacking about a year ago, my aching back complaining loudly each time I hoisted my ultra-lite pack. I feared doing more damage to my crumbling spine. Ultra-lite, as it turned out, was not lite enough for this aging woman. I knew though thatContinue reading “Remembering Simple”
Bighorn Memories
How many people who will die today even know that it is the last day of their lives? Joan Halifax I moved to my new Wyoming home in early September many years ago. It was a beautiful warm day, the sun shining but not too hot. I had of course been reading and studying mapsContinue reading “Bighorn Memories”
More about Memories
What saves a man is to take a step. Then another step. It is always the same step, but you have to take it. Antoine de Saint-Exupery in Wind, Sand, and Stars The memories I described in my last post apparently resonated with readers, for I received many gratifying comments, including this one from myContinue reading “More about Memories”
Duckabush Memories
Whenever I hike a trail that is familiar to me after many years of returning, I am of course flooded with memories of past trips. Recently I revisited the Duckabush River Trail, which I first hiked in 1971, the year before I graduated from college. My friend Patty and I had planned to hike aContinue reading “Duckabush Memories”
In Praise of Pink
The photo of the beautiful rhododendron you see above was taken on one of my last backpacking trips two years ago. I love hiking the river valleys of the Olympics in June when the woodland flowers are in bloom. They bring light that filters through the forest canopy after a long gray winter in westernContinue reading “In Praise of Pink”
Swinging in the Lane
And like Billy Bray I go my way, in and out of Shadow Creek, dancing, in a daze, to the twin silver trumpets of praise. Annie Dillard in Pilgrim at Tinker Creek In my early twenties when I first started backpacking alone I got into the habit of tucking my thumbs underneath the shoulder strapsContinue reading “Swinging in the Lane”
Joy in the Morning
The painting was an impulse purchase at a local winery recently. This one called to me immediately, and it was not until I brought it home that I realized why. I hung it on the wall opposite where I sit in the morning, sipping my tea and writing in my journal. It is my mostContinue reading “Joy in the Morning”
I Saw That!
Every day I discover more and more beautiful things. It’s enough to drive one mad. I have such a desire to do everything, my head is burning with it. Claude Monet When I find myself feeling sad about my decision to give up backpacking in order to save my aching back from further injury, IContinue reading “I Saw That!”
The View from My Chair
Will you seek afar off? You surely come back at last, In things best known to you finding the best or as good as the best, In folks nearest to you finding the sweetest, strongest, lovingest Happiness knowledge not in an other place but this place, not for another hour but this hour. Walt WhitmanContinue reading “The View from My Chair”
