Seed Savers and a Greg Brown concert
July 3, 2012 § 3 Comments
I’ll be hearing Iowa folk legend Greg Brown, visiting a college friend, and admiring an amazing assortment of vegetables and fruits (and some gorgeous Ancient White Park cattle) in less than two weeks. Yay! (P.S. You could come, too.)
More on fog
March 25, 2012 § Leave a comment
My Midwest has been making me supremely happy with these dewy, foggy mornings. I step outside and breathe in the air with a feeling akin to relief. We had these rarely in Colorado, and I am sure they were not quite the same. Not the same cool thickness, not the same soaked grasses.
Today I moved to Wisconsin; more on that later. But one of my last days in Iowa started with such a gray-white, England-like morning and I had to slide on shoes – even while still in my pajamas – to catch it.
Is it possible magic things can happen in nature’s fog? Does magic dwell there somehow?
Tiptoeing around outside, I swear I felt it seeping into my skin. I stopped. Hushed. Held out my hands in welcome.
Let the dogs out
February 28, 2012 § 1 Comment
The nice thing about rural areas? Hardly-traveled dirt roads. Ditches and fields. Places for dogs to be off the darn leash without all sorts of regulations.
Miss T. loves it out here. Even if the other two are best buds and she is the old girl who stays closer (and listens when you call).
Let ’em play.
A snowy view
February 23, 2012 § 2 Comments
Some dogs get to sleep inside when a blizzard swirls outside. My shoes often serve as a security blanket. This causes me to wander around the house trying to find them when I must go somewhere.
We watch the snow from big windows.
While the dog dozes, I sort through illustrations my sister has done for my book. Finishing touches are so exciting!
And drink coffee all morning, while snow collects in corners.
Hike the river
January 23, 2012 § Leave a comment
So we used to do. These walks became welcome breaks from studying and working, in those graduate-school Iowa winters. Miss T and my sister and brother-in-law and I went out where the high banks and the thick ice would invite us in, and on.
We followed the tracks of cross-country skiers. The paw prints of other dogs, the boot prints of other hikers. We put our own prints in new snows.
Climbed fallen trees and ducked beneath their branches. Saw our breath turn to fog.
We loved winter. How it opened new terrain. How it made the river a favorite hiking trail.
Kinds of Honey 