Connecting with Ourselves, Each Other, and Earth — Personal Tools for These Times, part 2 (332)

“If we’re going to really be present in this predicament, we’re going to have to befriend all of our emotions. So we teach some tools for how to do that. Being present with your body. How does the body fit in with all of this? Then, we teach some tools for how do we really … [Read more...]

Connecting with Ourselves, Each Other, and Earth — Personal Tools for These Times, part 1 (331)

“Every single metric [of abrupt climate change] has been accelerating since I took on writing the book [The Impossible Conversation] in 2014,” says Dean Spillane-Walker. “But … the calling of our times, is: who will be together in the face of these predicaments?” Dean and … [Read more...]

Love, Intelligence and Sex — Musings on the Natural World, part 2 (326)

I asked Derrick Jensen whether he believed in God. “I believe in something,” he replied. “There is some animating force or something. Life is so complex and so extraordinary, and even our individual bodies are so extraordinary and complex.” He plies us with examples of … [Read more...]

Love, Intelligence and Art — Musings on the Natural World, part 1 (325)

Derrick Jensen reflects on the bird and frog songs he loves, and the richness of longtime relationships with natural places where one lives. By contrast, and especially in cities, our sensory input is largely mediated by machines (computers, television, radio, cars, etc.) … [Read more...]

The Once and Future World — Rewilding Nature and Us (314)

“Today we’re looking at a ten percent world,” says J.B. MacKinnon, author of The Once and Future World: Nature as It Was, As It Is, As It Could Be. “What we think of as nature today has been depleted by 90% in many cases.” Diaries of explorers reveal an abundance of sea … [Read more...]

A Frog Blog

Earth Day at Lone Bobcat Woods was a mixture of joy and grief. We celebrated the beautiful bountiful wildflowers and rich greenery which have sprung up since the late March rains (yes, the poison oak is bountiful, too). Pacific Chorus Frogs in our pond regaled us with … [Read more...]

Becalmed in Paradise

A few weeks ago we went sailing with friends at nearby Fern Ridge Reservoir. I looked forward to my first sailing outing, expecting it to be different from my family's waterskiing life on California's reservoirs. Here I would learn how to work with the wind and waves and … [Read more...]

A Robin’s-Eye View of Fairy Fen on Bowen Island

Fairy Fen is a wetlands preserve in the deep dark woods on Bowen Island, BC. Robin was especially attracted to this place, a reminder of the Olympic Rainforest her family visited every year in her childhood. Western red cedar, fir, and hemlock are interspersed with whispers … [Read more...]

Three Artistic Views of Quarry Pond, Bowen Island

Quarry Park is short walk from where we're staying on Bowen Island, British Columbia. It's a landscape of water falling over sharp black rock cliffs and alders framing ponds and pools and rivulets. The monochrome photo was taken on a gray day after the pond had frozen … [Read more...]

Celebrating My Art – Prints to Share

I've long wished to share my paintings more widely, and have just found a way to do it! You can order prints of these images in Janaia's Gallery at SeattleOnCanvas. You choose the size and medium (canvas or paper or notecards). We've found that "Burning Platform" (above) … [Read more...]