There is an Asian elm tree that I can see out of my office window. In the winter, its branches trace intricate lines against the pale sky. Every few years, an arborist casts ropes through the branches and climbs up to trim the tree. One year, he pointed out a fork in the trunk with […]
Weather
Update, 1/27/2026: When I wrote this post, January was lying low. It has now risen from the deep with monstrous noises. So, a cold snap, fair enough. And then my boiler (which I think of as a furnace, no clue how wrong I might be) started not heating very well then not at all so […]
In the Navajo vernacular, this time of year we often get what is called male rain, níłtsą́ bikąʼ. These are drenchers that come on strong and swift, rutting out driveways, turning the river a sudden brown, and they’re usually finished just as fast as they started. This happens when upwellings of heat from the ground […]
I usually like the beginning of the school year, but this year I want a do-over. Lucky for me, there’s a new year starting next week: Water Year 2026! We had a surprise storm this week, complete with purple veins of lightning and raindrops filing our barrel to round out the end of water year […]
Last week my family traveled to Oregon for an end-of-summer trip. We wanted to start in Bend, in the central part of the state. There we would hike and explore a bit—somewhat to her dismay, I was especially eager to take my daughter up South Sister, one of the Three Sisters volcanoes—before driving down to […]
This first ran on August 17, 2022. Three years later, August 20, 2025, same. Except this year we also have infrastructure, (it’s like measles: you get it, you suffer, it goes away) which we have often enough that I know code for the street markings: gas is yellow, electric is red, sewer is green, water […]
Here’s a picture of something I found and put in my mouth. You get to guess what it is. The season for these where I live is just getting going, and this first ran four years ago, so it’s about time to show it again. First, is it organic or manufactured? Don’t scroll down to […]
