I read three new essays last night and as I did so, I thought a bit about what I look for in essays for class. My curriculum focuses on bringing stories of scientific discovery and policy to life–by way of character development, scene setting, and narrative structures designed to engage Read more…
January, and the first half of February, is one of the two busiest times of my year (the second has usually been around July). This is when I work three jobs: one tech writing and two teaching. Since my time for “extra” stuff is very limited around this month, I Read more…
I don’t know if I can pull off another one of these projects, but the last one was grounding and created a useful routine for me. This year it isn’t about “being a writer” or any other single goal, but the modest hope to do better at a few things Read more…
I’m just back in Phoenix after most of a week at the house in Estacada. Weird eclipse light over the backyard. We finished none of the things we went there to do. The plan was prep the walls and floors for paint and new flooring. Instead, we (with a little Read more…
First, the good. There are blackberries and birds in great abundance, both. I have such good, and wonderful friends very nearby. M is still cautiously optimistic, even after the weekend we had. Many small changes will make a big difference. I feel a connection to my heritage, here, which is Read more…
This essay was first published in full by Ted Floyd and Birding magazine – Mar/April 2014 Spring, 1981Today we are headed to Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in southeastern Oregon. Birders have checked off more than 300 species in the marshes, lakes, and fields within Malheur’s protected borders. Which is why Read more…
I’m sick right now. I haven’t been sick in ages and so this head cold feels apocalyptic. I have been trying to get a new job, and my trying seems to be going nowhere. My current job is getting me out of debt, and my second job is getting me Read more…
The Dead Shall Be Raised Incorruptible 1 A piece of flesh gives offsmoke in the field– carrion,caput mortuum,orts,pelf,fenks,sordes,gurry dumped from hospital trashcans. Lieutenant!This corpse will not stop burning! 2 “That you Captain? Sure,sure I remember–I still hear youlecturing at me on the intercom, Keep your guns up, Burnsie!and then screaming, Stop shooting, Read more…
Parque Nacional Torres del Paine, Chilean Patagonia – Days 12-17 // Sept 13-19 Torres del Paine means “towers of paine.” Paine means “blue” in Telhueche, an indigenous languange from some of the earliest people of Patagonia… It is so named, because of all the different blues that manifest in the Read more…
We are packed, it feels, for the apocalypse. David has 65lbs of gear and I have 40lbs. We struggled to get food and supplies yesterday because it was both Sunday and still off-season (see above photo). Luckily David bought an updated whisperlite that can handle canister and liquid fuel Read more…