I’ve always enjoyed this quote by Albert Camus about the invincible summer we hold within our hearts. It seemed to fit this grumpy statue of St. Francis that I discovered one snowy day when walking in the Village of Oak Creek.
When I was poking about in Jerome’s suburbs one day, I came across this old shack. The roof was still intact, although patched with tin. The windows were gone, but that didn’t matter because there were plenty of openings to let in the great views. What struck me, though, were the myriad of things piled up in…
What a marvelous tiny house this was, hidden in the forest ferns! In my mind’s eye I miniaturized it like Alice in Wonderland, making it just the size for forest gnomes hiding among the rocks. I tried to spot them, patiently waiting for me to leave so they could go on about their daily business…
Whenever I go touring historical houses, I always head for the kitchen. There I will find where the real work was done, and where the folks that did it hung out. Although this Southern mansion had an elaborate, curving, walnut-carved balustrade in the front of the house, this simple staircase in back, divided for male and…
One year my cousin invited me to the Western Legends parade in Kanab, Utah. The highlight of the parade is a longhorn cattle drive down the main street of town. What was surprising to me was the abundance of baby cows along with the adults. Apparently in the longhorn family tree, cows as well as steers wear…
I once lived near a gully that served as a major byway for wildlife. Through it came bobcats who liked to sit on the big rocks and sun themselves, rattlesnakes who would park themselves underneath my bird feeders and wait for dinner, and these guys. If there is one thing that javelina like better than…
“Thirty spokes meet in a hub Where the wheel isn’t is where it’s useful.” ~Ursula Le Guin, Lao Tsu, Te Ching I am working my way through Ursula Le Guin’s translation of Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu. She had loved this classic epic, and learned Chinese so that she could portray the work from a…