I had gone flat. Nothing was wrong. The work was the work, and I needed to get my heart and my head back in the game. So I went up the trail, because I believe, not feel, believe, that nature never disappoints. The first miles made the case politely. The maples had...
Houston, we found the problem. It’s me. My resentment built until I dug into why the West has grown so fast, why Utah and Idaho have outpaced the nation, why the trails I hiked alone are now crowded, why the freeway that once moved now stalls, why the bucolic...
My phone informs me nearly every day that I’ve been sedentary too long. I don’t really need the notification. I feel it in my back, my shoulders, the particular heaviness that settles in after a full day of digital work. But then I guess I do need it. The...
Dad joke anyone? I’ve never slept outdoors a night in my life. I’ve spent dozens laying on the bare ground or in a tent, though, eyes wide open, waiting for morning to come. That wasn’t true when I was younger. But over the past few years, it’s...
Late yesterday afternoon, a gust blew down a wasp nest. Not a little one. We found it on the grass over toward the river in the park in front of our house, a gray paper mass roughly the size of a basketball, torn open by the fall. Inside were layers of hexagonal cells...
I’m offended by the smoke that has invaded our valley. I’ve heard all my life that smoke follows beauty. Around a campfire, it’s an old joke. If the smoke drifts your way, you move to another log and let someone else become the punchline. This week there is no other...
