this moment, today, this year
on this last day of the year 2022, I went skate skiing. the forecast called for snow all day, with temperatures hovering right around freezing the entire time. some snow had fallen during the night, but the overnight temperatures barely slipped below freezing. this is...
slow down
the snow gods have been generous with us so far this winter. the conditions of the skate-skiing tracks I've been on have ranged from fair to glorious, which is delightful this early in the season. and there I am, out there pushing and sweating and panting, same as I...
once upon a dream
a trail in teton national park takes off from a nondescript, dirt parking lot that one reaches only after traveling a mile or so of rutted, gravelly earth with occasional potholes the size of, say, a watering trough. this puts few travelers off: what lies ahead is...
what binds us
a few days ago I hiked to grandeur peak, a local favorite that begins with a steep-sided upward journey alongside a shaded creek, then moves through a series of switchbacks to reach a view-dripping saddle, and ends with a twenty-minute climb graced with unending...
kernmantle
here I go again, giddy over a word. it began with research into carabiners, which led to research into climbing ropes, which led me to attempt to understand rope construction. my head began to spin as I tried to understand the three-strand hawser rope, because "with...
regret
twenty years ago I was committed to living a life without regret. now I realize the naivety of that position, and that I could likely fill a page or two--or ten--with the things I've done, said, or chosen that I now truly wish I hadn't. perhaps this is simply the...
love affairs
I've had many love affairs in my life, some with men, and many others, with words. presently I'm in love with uncompaghre. un-com-pa-gre. what a beautiful word. and even more beautiful, the uncompaghre wilderness. oh, my heart swells, takes over. uncompaghre is said...
the cowardly lion
all he needed was courage, correct? and after convinced he'd been given a healthy dose of courage, he began to act courageously. l. frank baum, through his character the cowardly lion, drew a picture for us all of both the placebo effect and the importance of...
there will be dragons…and owls
a couple years ago I had an encounter with an owl. it swooped across my chest as I was cycling one dark, pre-dawn morning, which scared and excited and thrilled me. I'd been in the midst of heartbreak and despair, and the message I took from this experience was, there...
being human
not that I'd rather be something else, but being human is hard. damn hard. yesterday I wrote a bigger-than-expected check for taxes, received word that I did NOT receive a residency I'd applied for, had a client cancel last minute, and broke a tooth eating a carrot....
moon house ruin
I have large hands. Strong, capable. They can reach a tenth on the piano: an octave plus two. I’ve at times been embarrassed to hold hands with a boy because mine often equals in size or—quel nightmare—outsizes his. Sometimes it’s a delightful coupling, fingers knit...
the clearing of wy’east
the Captain George Vancouver expedition explored the northwest coastline of North America in the 1790's, mapping the often rough and wild landscape from Baja, California, all the way to the Cook Inlet of Alaska. they gave name to numerous areas and features, most of...
land of oz
round valley is tucked in between a few lines of hillocks on the eastern side of park city. a trail system winds around the valley, with three trailheads, and over twenty-five kilometers of groomed nordic track. it perches at about 7200' of elevation, and is primarily...
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