Here, you’ll find unfortunately true tales of an accidental naturalist’s misadventures in the wild, as well as shorter, inspirational reflections of nature
a few of the Needles
I live near the mountains, yet I prefer the desert. There’s a feeling that the desert gives. What would the Chinese say about my chi, my energy, the energy to which I’m drawn?
Canyonlands covers over 500 square miles of desert. Since trees grow there – mostly pinion and juniper […]
“…nature strives for adequacy, not perfection.”
Catch me, if you can
Life is to be lived, rather than perfected. I’ve spent a good deal of my life not trying to do certain things — take certain risks — because I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to do them perfectly. But nature strives for adequacy, […]
Take Temple Junction/Goblin Valley Road to Temple-Junction-to-Hidden-Splendor-Road (that’s all one name). Keep driving (or walking, as I did), for about 1½ to 2 miles. The pavement will end, but you’ll keep walking. You’ll track Temple Wash, a deep and ruddy affair, for awhile on the right. You will pass a rusted sedan the same color […]
Hite Marina: See Any Boats?
What you see above is last year. It’s a picture of Lake Powell in 2022, during the worst drought we’ve ever had, year over year.
What you see below is this year, just a few days ago, as a matter of fact. It’s upriver from Lake Powell, along a different […]
Arkansas in Autumn
You can glide all day through the Ozarks and not hit a mall until Branson. I wind through oaken national forest on routes that switchback like true mountain roads even though they rise only 30 feet here, dip just 20 feet there. I don’t reach higher elevation until the Boston Highlands, […]
The more time I spend in the woods, the more time I want to spend with them. Yesterday, I limbed a pinyon I’d spent days cutting down. The work became easier. Much easier than expected. The first part – cutting down an oversized tree with a 12″ diameter trunk, was much more difficult. I never […]
Highway 50, wandering east-west through Nevada, is billed as America’s Loneliest Highway. I can’t believe it’s any lonelier than some of the other highways I’ve travelled (95 in Oregon, 278 or 225 in Nevada, 51 in Idaho). Still, I didn’t run in to an Olive Garden.
A vast, wandering playa stretches south, some of it mirrored […]
The Colorado Plateau is a geologist’s dream. How can rock be alive? Yet it once was. Take a look at this picture…
I am a know-it-all, so it is with some humility that I confess I cannot make out what made these scratches on the stone. If anyone can explain it, please do. It was taken […]
Growing up in Chicago, I had to discover my own mountains. I could choose from skyscrapers or clouds. Tall buildings were okay, and I still love them, especially with the world-class architecture that’s downtown Chicago. But high-rises always look the same, no matter what day you ride up the elevator. Clouds are different. They change […]
Yellowstone Caldera will eventually end the world!!
If we look at the world today, we see a vast array of splits, divisions, and conflicts between and among peoples. Worldwide, there are protests, revolutions, the talk of war between great powers. There are splits between religions, and within religions. There is heightened class warfare. Although […]