As people who want to live a good, full, unrestricted, adventurous, real kind of life this is certain instruction we can follow: see what is. Pema Chodron I encountered my first subalpine larch tree on a backpacking trip in Washington’s Pasayten Wilderness, an area I came to love because of its isolation and beauty andContinue reading “Finding Strength in a Twig”
Tag Archives: Colleen Drake
Discovering Red
One can speak poetry just by arranging colors well. Vincent Van Gogh I grew up under the gray skies of western Washington. While heavy rains rarely fell, a light drizzle was a common occurrence, especially in the winter and spring and fall. . .well, almost all the time. The trade off for this abundant precipitationContinue reading “Discovering Red”
My Happy Place
Life is the hospital where healing takes place. Oliver Sacks The happy little girl you see above was born less than four years after the United States dropped nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In that photo, if my estimate is correct, I would have been about three or four years old, so the nationContinue reading “My Happy Place”
Hiking Broken
Let go or be dragged. Zen Proverb Readers of my blog may recall that I fractured my shoulder about six months ago. When it happened I recall feeling hopeful that I would have the entire autumn and winter to recover, then would be back on the trail by spring. Isn’t that the way it isContinue reading “Hiking Broken”
Poop Patrol and Other Trail Pastimes
Wilderness is not just the preservation of the world, it is the world. Gary Snyder If you have been reading my blog for awhile you have no doubt figured out that I am not a big fan of crowds, especially on the trail. It is of course a recurring theme in these posts, one IContinue reading “Poop Patrol and Other Trail Pastimes”
Set Apart
The photo you see above is Cathedral Rock in Sedona, where I spent the last week. There must be dozens of Cathedral Rocks in this country, as well as Cathedral Peak, Cathedral Mountain, or anything else that points towards the sky and fills us with awe. Sedona’s Cathedral Rock is so named because it isContinue reading “Set Apart”
Wild Strawberries
Be here. Be present. Wherever you are. Be there. Willie Nelson It is late winter, which means I almost always want to be someplace other than at home, away from the snow that lingers, the icy paths that make walking treacherous, the gray skies, the weight of it all. That is why I find myselfContinue reading “Wild Strawberries”
Bearing Witness
It is what I was born for– to look, to listen, to lose myself into the soft world– to instruct myself over and over. . . Mary Oliver The painting you see above was transferred from the riverbank to the canvas by my grandmother, who was an accomplished oil painter. My grandfather was an earlyContinue reading “Bearing Witness”
Happy Hiking
May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds. Edward Abbey It is New Year’s day, and like many people I become pensive at this time of year, reflecting on the year that has passed and wondering what the new one willContinue reading “Happy Hiking”
Petals and Patience
“Patience” comes from the same ancient roots as “petals”—to open like a flower, to unfurl, to receive the stroke of a moth’s tongue and the ministrations of a bee. And so we are given “passive” and “patient” and “passionate.” Kathleen Dean Moore in Wild Comfort The flower you see in the photo above is aContinue reading “Petals and Patience”
The Solitude Trail 