On the Edge

Published in Kelp Journal December, 2022.

Encounters with penguins in New Zealand are a chilling reminder that my own actions are responsible for the decline of many species.

“‘Sometimes it doesn’t feel right to take something, just because I can.” I was referring to photos but thinking about all types of unnecessary consumption. How necessities slide into wants that slide into luxuries, and how each decision to acquire more for ourselves means less for other species.”

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A Death Well-Lived

Published in Flyway Journal of Writing and Environment in the Fall/Winter 2020 issue.

After death, many trees enter into a new life of community service by providing nesting and roosting sites for birds and even bats. I peer inside bird nest boxes with my granddaughter and discover that I, too, have many snag-like qualities.

“I glance up at the small slit between the trunk and bark of the old snag and struggle to comprehend how three hundred bats could possibly fit in such a space. I feel I’ve witnessed a trick of some sort, like an endless stream of handkerchiefs pulled from a hat by a clever magician.”

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Footsteps of Fiftymile

Published in Newfound for the spring 2020 issue on “Virtual Realities.”

While paddling a canoe in a remote side branch of Lake Powell, the unexpected splash of footsteps reminds me that the water below me was once a creek. Whose footsteps now haunt these waters?

“Our senses were as sharply-honed as the edges of the cliffs that squeezed us on either side. The splashing was distinctly human in its regularity and gait, but eerily non-human in its speed and agility. Who could possibly wade at a pace faster than our canoe could glide?” 

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Do You Know Where You’re Going?

Published in Belle Ombre, September 2019

My adventurous mother and our contrasting views of life and death.

“The days of spiritual sparring with my mother were over. Faith had granted her a vaulting pole to leap over the hurdle of death into the afterlife, and I would not wrest that from her. As much as she loved the beauty of the Earth, she envisioned Heaven as even more glorious.” 

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The Tree and I

Published in Hawk and Handsaw, Journal of Creative Sustainability, Spring 2019 (Note: Ignore privacy warning and continue on to the article. Hawk and Handsaw is in the process of renewing their website license.)

The power of the Brazil nut tree to influence human behavior, especially my own.

“After this revelation, the Brazil nut tree grew even more lofty in my eyes. As humans, we have managed to tame, subdue, modify, and force into slavery nearly every plant and animal that feeds us. Yet here before me was a tree that could not be tamed and a spirit that could not be broken.”

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Falling into Life

Not yet published, no link at this time.

Photo credit: Skydive Arizona

My adult daughter’s struggle with gastroparesis—a stomach-paralyzing illness—and how that life-altering condition led her into a career of skydiving. 4,000 words. “Suddenly, she plunges straight down, heading for ground at a frightening speed. I see arms and legs now, and I gasp, not knowing whether her fall is planned or not. I want to look away, while at the same time, my eyes are glued to my plummeting daughter.”