The desert is sparkling with bouquets of wildflowers in shades of salmon and sunshine, striking violet, soft white, and rich velvety red. Each day I notice a different kind of flower stretching toward the vast open sky, flourishing in the warmth of the sun with a flash of ephemeral beauty. It’s miraculous to witness these blooms springing out of the dusty, dry soil. I’ve been in southern UT for the past week, camping in and near Capitol Reef National Park. …
The other day I saw a puddle on the pavement that was mixed with gasoline leaked from a car. It looked like a big, swirly iridescent rainbow. I remember seeing these kinds of puddles when I was a kid, and feeling a great sense of delight as I exclaimed, “Look, Mom! A rainbow!” And so, we go from childhood to adulthood. The simple things that delighted us become weighted by knowledge and reality. A pretty puddle that once made me…
It’s my birthday! And that means it’s time for my annual birthday blog post. This year, I’m spending it in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, where we are camping and hiking for several days. Our campsite is right on the Little River at Elkmont Campground, and apparently, we lucked out by getting what veteran campers here refer to as “the primo site” (Site F8, if you happen to be going there). And I can see why! It’s private, quiet,…
Whew! What a day! As some of you know, I volunteer on Tuesdays at a wildlife rehab facility. Today, we released 3 of the raccoons that we have raised for the past year. Loaded up in cages in the back of the van, we drove them out to a carefully selected site. My heart went out to them as I could hear them scratching frantically at the cages, desperate to get out. Poor babies! Fortunately, their distress was short lived,…
April 21, 2017 Today, I am honoring myself. It is my 40th birthday and I am spending it outdoors in the wilderness of Guadalupe Mountains National Park in Texas. I can think of no better way to celebrate than by reveling in the wonders of the natural world. I cannot think of anywhere else that I would feel such a sense of peace and connection with the grand web of life – a connection which particularly bears reflecting on as…
At last! Spring is here! The air is alive with birdsong and the warm glow of the sun. The phoebes are back and are diligently working on their nests, a squirrel is chattering on the branch of an old oak, and a newly emerged chipmunk darts in and out of a stone wall like a beachgoer carefully dipping his toe to test the water. (Come on in! The water’s fine!) Everyone seems to be feeling a sense of energy and…
Every year on my birthday, I like to spend some time reflecting on my life and who I am as a person. Have I changed? Have I stayed the same? Often, the answer is both. Today, I am feeling extremely grateful for the gift of life. What an amazing thing, to be alive – to see beauty and experience suffering, to see yourself and the world around you change with each passing year. I am grateful to my parents for bringing…
I have been thinking a lot about the power of music lately. I don’t know if there is anything else that has such an ability to evoke such a breadth of emotion – tapping into memories long since forgotten and touching the very essence of our selves, our souls. Music moves us as nothing else can. I notice this a lot when Rob and I perform at nursing homes and senior facilities. I see the joy and recognition in the…
It’s my birthday! I love birthdays – both mine and other people’s. It’s the one day of the year that seems like your own personal holiday. I always try to take the day off to do whatever I feel like, to indulge in the things that fill me with joy, and to reflect on my life and what makes me “me”. This invariably means that I am spending time outdoors. For years, I was tormented by the fact that my…