Essays
Philosophical and Political
Thoughts From My Journal – Natural Spectacle
I walked on the bluff earlier watching today’s high surf. Waves up to 28’ were forecast; hard to tell if they reached that but the sea was certainly tumultuous, as high as I ever remember seeing it. Extremely frothy and carrying considerable woody debris, which I...
Thoughts From My Journal – Being Elder
It feels paradoxical: on the one hand, age brings physical diminishment; I’m slower, weaker, less resilient, so perhaps the capacity to manage gripes is concurrently reduced and maybe we elders become more thin-skinned with age so our resistance to annoyance is lower...
Thoughts From My Journal – Nature after Covid
Flurry of snow falls around the camper. The massive improbability of Grand Canyon defies description; it is, I admit, grander than Yosemite Valley but I have never become intimate with it as I have the Valley. It is futile and pointless to compare them by objective...
Thoughts From My Journal – Discovering John Muir
A few months ago, I was reading an essay that cited John Muir and for unknown reasons felt more acutely than normal how much I’d loved him and his sensibilities. So, I pulled down the first book of his I’d ever read, the initial introduction occurring in 1988 as I was...
Thoughts From My Journal – Oneness in Nature
When I see or hear of generosity and self-sacrifice and compassion offered, I am moved and reminded of some people’s remaining readiness to care. I will never be so reclusive as not to recognize the ultimate goodness of these acts. I continue—and assume I always will...
Thoughts From My Journal – Richard Nelson Died
Early 2021... I learned today that Richard Nelson died a year ago. He was an anthropologist, 77 years old, who spent the latter part of his life in Alaska, primarily the Sitka area; I first encountered him through one of his early books, Make Prayers to the Raven,...