Category: Outreach

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July Walks: I Think I’ll Just Stay Out

July 4, 2024

Hi, it’s July. 4th. I am contemplating the walk event of the day. So, I’m down by the great Miami River. wondering what happens if I just stay out, even if it’s raining? No umbrella. I’m carrying my backpack. Is it always necessary to shield myself from rain? It’s very warm out.

I’m less than 30 minutes from my vehicle. I have water . I  have food. I even have my backpacking equipment, including my shelter.

I think I’ll just stay out.

And….. I did stay out for about thirty minutes as light rain fell, then stopped. I completed the mile back to my vehicle and stepped into the stone shelterhouse to eat my lunch, being graciously welcomed by a couple enjoying their lunch. As I ate, the sky blackened and the wind picked up, tossing the leaves high in the forest canopy. Rain pelted down and I moved back from the open side of the shelter to the next table to stay dry. read more

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July Walks 2024: Resistance

July 2, 2024

I did take a walk this morning – two short ones, actually. I would have skipped the first one except that I declared to my community that I would walk every day this month! So glad I did, too, because it really is true for me that walking in Nature, even with no mileage goal, lifts my spirits, wakes me up, and opens my heart to lighter views of the future. (I admit that yesterday’s Supreme Court decision feels heavy, even when I am open to things “unfolding according to a divine plan.”) read more

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Sunrise Steps


 Damariscotta, Maine. June 8, 2020 I see it! I open my heart and mind to the metaphor offered. A new day’s light beams through the trees in the sky and in the world and time I am in…

The light calls me to see my own path in creating racial justice, to see the true history of the horrendous enslavement of black people, the disingenuous “freeing” of black people, and the disgusting and conniving suppression of black people as you courageously fought and must still fight for your full humanity to be respected in my white world. I HAVE been blind and tolerant of the deep and orchestrated systemic racial discrimination in the US, assuming that it has been enough for me to be kind to the black people I meet and know personally. I now see that I can DO more. Today, I let the Light reveal that path for my best way. read more

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Deepening Practices

June 9,

In everything I do, I strive for deepening my sensory and spiritual experience. I’m pretty sure you do too!

I’ve picked up on some techniques from John Muir Laws (his real name!) through his Laws Guide to Nature Journaling. Two years ago, I launched a program at the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park Visitor Center to provide a platform to practice what I’m learning.

Notice and Wonder is now a frequent listing in the Park’s Interpretive Schedule. In it, I offer five simple techniques to read more

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What If?

January 31, 2018

My Super Blue Blood Moon experience today filled my senses with awe and my soul with awakening! A few days ago I realized that the view I would get from my employee housing here at Anza-Borrego Desert State Park would limit my experience to just the beginning of the totality phase of the eclipse. “That’s not good enough!” I declared. As a creator of fulfillment (in difference to a settler for whatever comes), I asked, “Where can I go to get the fullest eclipse experience? I need to be able to see the horizon!” Where better to see the western horizon than the west coast! read more

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Eclipse!

August 22, 2017

My Eclipse story. We decided at 6 pm on Sunday to go for a location in the path of totality rather than stay in the Mt Rogers area for a 90% eclipse. I resisted traveling, wanting to avoid the trouble and shame of contributing to traffic. We made all sorts of bargains about what would make us abandon the plan. We packed for the worst case scenario of being stuck for two days by loading up with 6 gallons of water and our whole box of backpacking food, five or six days worth! We can sleep in the van. read more

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Trail Delights

August 9, 2017

Today, I walked from Dickey Gap to Fox Creek, 8 miles. The weather was utterly pleasant and I saw just one family group of five hikers. During the last 3 miles of the forest walk, I started taking photos of some of the fascinating specimens that caught my eye. There was an endless supply! Here are a few:

See the whole album at this link:

https://goo.gl/photos/xCsius67gnw77gnh8

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Real

August 2, 2017

I got up early this morning eager to meet Janet for a Satori game. It’s quiet, unbusy, and energetically unfettered at this time of day at the Konnarock Basecamp.

My blue puffy jacket keeps the slight chill away from my body. Ginger tea wakes up my belly. Ready.

“I need to pass on the game,” she greets me. “I just need to sit quietly. I hope that’s ok.”

“No.” I respond frankly, then move on quietly into the community kitchen. Inside I fume, “Of course I get stood up! Most people are afraid to get real! She’s just afraid to be with her own life. Afraid to move through her story! And just yesterday she told me how she feels lighter from playing last week. Dang!” read more

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Vitality

Day One, 63 Days of Gratitude 

July 14, 2017

My birthday yesterday reminded me of my blessings, so many blessings for my 63 years on Earth that I can write one, at least one, every day for all my years so far!

My first is gratitude that I have lived long enough to raise my three children to have their own children! Those two boys are the best! They bring the best out in their parents, too! I am grateful to have the vitality to be here to watch them, to visit them, and to receive their greetings! read more