“You are the sky; everything else is just the weather.” Pema Chodron In late February, with the advent of spring, the prevailing path of storm fronts rotates from east to west. Temperatures rise. Precipitation presents itself as rain instead of snow. Depending on your disposition, Oregon’s default weather forecast is now either partly cloudy or … More Clouds
Up on Mt. Hood, my son is testing equipment and shooting video for Nimbus Independent. There, at elevations exceeding 7000 ft., the thermometer climbs to 50+ degrees. The sky is clear and blue. Skiing aficionados refer to this phenomenon as Juneuary: spring conditions in mid-winter. Down here, in the foothills, most days repeat the pattern of overcast … More The Certainty of Uncertainty
In the 34 years my wife and I have lived in the Hood River Valley, each winter has been unique with the various permutations of ice, snow, wind, and rain. If there is a common theme, it is the blanket of cloud that settles between the foothills of Mt. Hood. From the high meadows all … More Five Years
In autumn, before the snow falls, winter’s quiet seeps into the upper Hood River Valley. Frosty winds relieve the trees of their rustle and choirs of crickets cease to sing. Intruders trespass upon the calm. Migrating grosbeaks strip the elderberry bushes of ripened fruit. The cacophony of their chatter shatters the silence. Abruptly, they depart, leaving … More Sounds and Silence
“There’s a reason you can learn from everything: you have basic wisdom, basic intelligence, and basic goodness.” Pema Chodron Autumn arrived. Outside, the maple trees turned from green to crimson and gold. Their coat of leaves drifted with the wind and tumbled to earth. Undressed, the bare branches revealed damage from last winter’s ice storm: … More Raking Leaves
In front of my house is a crescent shaped perennial garden. Though small in size, it gives me endless entertainment, both in tending to its needs and musing on its ecology. Each spring I purchase a sampler of perennials. Every year brings surprises. 2012 gave me a complementary trio of color with coreopsis, valerian, and … More Opportunity
Lately, the morning sky has drawn me outdoors before first light. There, under the comfort of a blanket, I recline in a deck chair on the front porch. The planets Venus and Jupiter are prominent out east this month. And, due to the absence of streetlights in our remote part of the Hood River Valley, … More Star Gazing
I have multiple myeloma, a cancer that affects the plasma cells in my blood. The initial diagnosis occurred in December of 2007. So, it’s been four years and seven months. My first doctor gave me five years to live; the second opinion I received generously offered six years. In retrospect, both those prognoses seem pessimistic. … More Good Books
My wife and I are prepping our house for sale. We live about 15 miles south of town in the upper Hood River Valley. Our home is tucked into a remote corner of the county. Private timber company land and a Forest Service seed orchard adjoin us to the west and south. Deer, elk, and … More Spring Fever
Last fall, snow came early to the valley, and then stopped. The foreshadowing of a long, gloomy winter evaporated with a succession of sunny December days. The New Year heralded more of the same. In front of the Post Office, snapdragons I’d planted last March stood tall. Customers marveled at blooms so late in the … More Stormy Weather
Good Blood, Bad Blood 