NAN SANDERS POKERWINSKI
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HeartWood
A blog about cultivating
creativity, connection and contentment
wherever you are

Breathe

11/4/2020

24 Comments

 
So, there was a presidential election yesterday, right? Yet as of this morning, we don't know the outcome, and we may not know for some time. What to do until then (besides nail-biting and obsessively checking the news)? 

Let's all take a deep breath and enjoy another visual retreat with some of my favorite photos from the past four months.
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Mysterious mist on Croton Pond
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Opening
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There must be gnomes around here somewhere!
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A midsummer experiment with zooming at a long shutter speed
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Timid turtle
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Midsummer morn in the field down the road
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Puffballs
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Our creek after a heavy rain
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This little guy commandeered an unused bird-feeder bracket to use as a perch for most of the summer. He sat there watching me through the doorwall while I ate breakfast every morning and sometimes joined me for happy hour on the back porch.
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These shapes remind me of a Dale Chihuly glass sculpture
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Living in the woods has given me a new appreciation for shades of brown
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Sipping swallowtail
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Cicada shells look like alien invaders
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The variety of mushroom colors always amazes me
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So that's where the birdseed went!
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Fall finale
24 Comments

Respite

10/21/2020

24 Comments

 
With the looming election, the ceaseless pandemic, and oh yeah, the threat of Zombies sticking their arms through your windows on Halloween, I know you all have more than enough on your minds. Who needs anything else to read at this moment in time?
That's why instead of writing some rambling blither-blather, I'm treating you to a visual getaway.
Most of these photos were taken on an actual getaway Ray and I had recently. For many years, we headed to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore every autumn to take in the fall colors and overall wonder of the 111-square-mile park. We missed a few years when other trips and other matters took precedence, but this year's visit was our twelfth to the area. We arrived when the leaves were just beginning to turn, and we returned home to Newaygo to find even more dazzling colors.
So have a soothing beverage and enjoy the views.
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Field and forest
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Loon Lake
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Lake Michigan from Empire beach
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Platte River
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Paddling on the Platte
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A reflective moment
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Quackery
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Weathered
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Wired
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Ray's breakfasts are always a highlight.
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Looks good!
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The verdict?
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Yum!
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Inspiration Point, overlooking Glen Lake
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Another view from Inspiration Point
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Good Harbor Bay
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Good Harbor Bay, looking toward Pyramid Point
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Shalda Creek
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Tree hugger
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Point Betsie
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Point Betsie lighthouse
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Stony and stormy
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Back home in Newaygo, beside the Muskegon River
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Reflections double the beauty
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Last leaf
24 Comments

Trails and Tales

9/16/2020

12 Comments

 
PictureAn inviting Michigan trail


​​Mark your calendars! Next week is Michigan Trails Week, and whether you live in Michigan or not, it’s a fine time to get out for a stroll, a hike, a run, or a bike ride.

PictureA recently-opened section of the Dragon Trail



​​In a state with 13,000 miles of state-managed trails, thousands more miles of local, county, and federally managed trails, and more rail-trail miles than any other state in the nation, you might think the addition of one more trail would be no big deal.

PictureHappy hiker
​​Not so in Newaygo and Mecosta Counties, where the opening of the first segments of the Dragon Trail is creating a buzz. Once complete, the 47-mile loop will encircle 4,000 acres of Hardy Pond, with thirteen scenic overviews. While some portions of the trail are specifically designed for mountain biking, others are wider, with longer sight lines more conducive to both hiking and biking.



​​Ray and I tried out one of the recently-opened segments on a sunny day a few weeks ago. A number of other hikers and cyclists had the same idea, but we found it easy to maneuver around one another, even at social-distancing lengths.
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Ray takes in the view of Hardy Pond from Sandy Beach County Park
PictureHouseboats at Hardy Dam marina


​​We hiked the section that runs south from Sandy Beach County Park to the Hardy Dam marina, an easy stretch for sauntering or stepping up the pace.

PictureA story stop along the trail



​​One delightful feature of that section of trail is a series of postings of laminated pages from a children’s book about a boy and a dragon, The Knight Who Said NO! by Lucy Rowland and Kate Hindley. With or without a youngster in tow, the story is a fun read, and the illustrations enchanting. Plus, if you need to catch your breath, you can always pretend to be stopping just to read the next installment.

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Spend enough time on the Dragon Trail, and you start to see dragons everywhere
PictureIt's a fine time for a woodland walk
​In honor of Michigan Trails Week, the Department of Natural Resources is sponsoring a challenge. The goal is for Michiganders to collectively log 100,000 miles on state, local, county or federally managed nonmotorized trails between September 20 and 27. There’s no fee to participate, and participants will be entered into a drawing for outdoor gear and Michigan-branded prizes.

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​​And you earn badges! I think they’re virtual, so you probably can’t sew them on your hiking vest, but you can still glory in the achievement. You earn the first badge simply by registering for the event and logging at least one mile. 

Then you get another badge each time you:​
​Horseback ride for 5 miles
Walk, run or hike for 5 miles
Bike for 10 miles
Paddle for 2 miles
​For more information on Michigan Trails Week and to sign up for the challenge, visit Michigan.gov/TrailsWeek.
12 Comments

How YOU Spent Your Corona-cations

5/20/2020

8 Comments

 
In the last installment of HeartWood, I wrote about some of the ways I've been filling my unexpected free time during the weeks of social distancing and Stay Home - Stay Safe. In this installment, I'm giving other folks a chance to share what they've been doing. And what a variety of things they've come up with!

Check them out!

Tonya Howe
Croton, Michigan

​I've been puttering around with a few drawings and one of Eldon eating soup.
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Laura Bailey
​Hartland, Michigan

I'm still working half-time at U-M (currently from home), but with the extra time I've been taking my dog Eleanor for long, meandering walks around the farm fields and vacant land and building sites surrounding our home in Hartland. Unfortunately, the ticks are out like mad, so we can't go off trail as much as I'd like. 
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Eleanor and Laura
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Eleanor sporting sportswear
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Eleanor recuperating from a strenuous outing

Eileen Kent
​Croton, Michigan

I’ve been out weeding the garden - staring into space - sitting on the outdoor swing and watching the river - baking too much!  Ahhh, lethargy!  There was a moment of inspiration though - I pulled out some fabric scraps and made a table topper for upcoming Memorial Day.  Now back to staring into space . . . 
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Eileen's table topper

Cindi McDonald
​McKinney, Texas

We have been watching too much TV, Netflix and Amazon Prime.  Also, managing to work out at least three times a week. ​

And we're enjoying housebound happy  hours with the help of our new margarita maker!
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A little TV time, well-deserved after a workout.
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The margarita machine, ready for happy hour

Kendra McKimmy
​Croton, Michigan

​I have joyfully been working in my garden (look how big the garlic is already!) and last week canned a couple gallons of maple syrup. Keeping very busy around here even though my regular artsy muse took off for parts unknown.
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Kendra's impressive garlic crop
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And maple syrup!

Emily Everett
​Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan

I’ve never been a jigsaw puzzler but a friend sells them so I bought some to support her local business. It’s hard for me to focus on anything for very long during stressful times but I get lost in a puzzle, every time. Even writing this for Nan makes me feel like I took a happy pill.
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Emily's choice of puzzles reflects her passions: yoga . . .
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. . . and Frida Kahlo!

Brenda Huckins Bonter
Newaygo, Michigan

A great time to create. In my walks in the woods I find so many "tree spirits." They fascinate me, so I've finished ten so far. I do a quick sketch on site, then add sharpie and watercolor. Now working on grad gift caricatures.
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Janet Glaser
Fremont, Michigan

I've been working on learning how to bake bread. I tried early in my marriage, but too time consuming and nothing would rise!! I think the yeast has improved because I've had success in baking loaves of bread AND in making pizza crust.

My husband "designed" the one with the wreath of pepperoni slices and lots of onions. Mine was not so carefully thought out. Anyway I made the sauce too! It was fun. 

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The pepperoni-wreathed pizza
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And Janet's free-form creation. Both look yummy!

Phyllis Flanigan and Mike King
​Farmington Hills, Michigan

We’ve got a quilter friend who went into auto overdrive, sewing masks and scrub caps for healthcare and front-line workers. So we are her crew, turning right side out and ironing everything she sews. Last week we topped the 4,400 mark (just the two of us).  With our small group, we’ve topped over 10,500.

So that has been keeping us busy. Trying to get in some daily yoga and weight lifting. We also started going to wave at Mom every Monday morning at 10. That’s fun. ❤️
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Some of the masks Phyllis and Mike have helped make

Kathy Misak 
Newaygo, Michigan

Last Tuesday was a special Covid day. I got to hang out 2 loads of wash and get out the very quiet weed whip and head down to the river for some enjoyable work. I also got the clippers out and cut the grasses out of the iris bed.

Many games of Scrabble have been going on in our house, and each night now we seem to gravitate to The Newshour on PBS. Making a call to a friend or family member is an almost daily event. Meditation is becoming a regular part of my day and I hope it continues.

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The Muskegon River behind Kathy and Rod's house

Jan Ross
Arcata, California

I have been forced to become a walker rather than a swimmer the last few months. My dogs love it and it has been spectacular watching everything come to life this spring. So very grateful to live where I do.
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Arcata Community Forest
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Jan's very willing walking buddies, Kip and Nixie
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Ray Pokerwinski
Croton, Michigan

When I'm not patrolling the area in my role as self-appointed neighborhood watchman, I've been spending time in my workshop. My latest project is making hand-turned bottle stoppers.

I also created a fairy fire station for Camp Newaygo's Virtual Enchanted Forest event last month.

And like Cindi and Dale, we're enjoying home-centered happy hours, too.
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This one even lights up, for a little romantic ambience
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The Fairyland fire station
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Happy hour, backyard style

Laurel Sercombe
​Seattle, Washington

Editor's note: Laurel is an ethnomusicologist and the most devoted Beatles fan I've ever known.
​One thing I spent too much time on was adapting my (famous) lecture on the Beatles for an online popular music class at the University of Washington using Zoom - weird not to be able to engage directly with the students. Also, I gave blood.
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Laurel in 2002 at the Abbey Road crosswalk made famous by the Beatles

Sally Wagoner
Croton, Michigan

​After initial quarantine tasks such as cleaning out drawers and closets, the promise of birth, growth and renewal overcame the need for order. We talk everyday: me and these little giving friends who awaken like babes from a nap. They give me hope.

And 
every morning I take a barefoot walk into my "woods" - about a dozen trees at the end of our drive - to see how my shady native plants are faring.
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Gloria Switzer
​Fremont, Michigan

I have a designated recipe and cookbook cupboard in my kitchen, filled with recipes from my now deceased mother and mother-in-law as well as my own recipes, some in small wooden recipe boxes, although most were loosely scattered all over the cupboard. Plus, there was a multitude of recipes I had cut out from magazines, newspapers and the back of packages, for at least the last 4 decades or more!

I took the whole mess out of the cupboard and put them on the kitchen table with great intentions of getting them and that cupboard organized! It took a very long time (think weeks not hours) to go through them, reorganize or throw them away or rewrite the ones that were so stained and tattered they were useless. We ate on TV trays many times during that extended project!

​In all of that mess I found a delightful surprise; a recipe in my Grandmother's handwriting for Sour Cream Cake, that I swear, I had never seen in my life! The cake was tasty! She would be 132 years old this year. 
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Project in progress
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Gloria ready to try the cake recipe
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The recipe

Valerie Roberts
​Durham, North Carolina

What I missed most in isolation is playing with my 3-year-old grandson, Roman, so in addition to FaceTime on the phone with him a couple times a week, I wrote him an adventure story. I mailed him a chapter every two days. Each chapter introduced three new animals, all of which live in north America. I sent a link of the story to my neighborhood list serve and was gratified to read thanks from parents and grandparents anxious for activities. It was fun for me to create, fun for him to read, and according to his parents, fun for them to read aloud.  

Read and download "Isolation Adventure" here.

Sandy VandenBerg
Fremont, Michigan

Editor's note: Sandy and her native plant garden were featured in a 2018 HeartWood blog post. This spring she has been giving away extra plants to friends, via social-distancing pick-ups.
Stay home and stay safe was a gift in some ways. My gardens have never been so well tended. Really enjoyed knowing the plants are going to good homes.
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Sandy's plants, potted up and ready for pick-up

Katherine Myers
Claremore, Oklahoma

 I've always been active in the gardens, but I've increased just walking--and have lost 10 pounds during the shutdown. I'm happy and my doctor is too! Though I don't have a blog, photos for my Lily Hill page force me to stop gardening and appreciate the views, far and close up,
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Lily Hill, a gardening hobby that grew and grew
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And iris
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A little early for lilies, but not for peonies
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So lovely!

Kay Cummings
Newaygo, Michigan

Hiking is one thing I’ve been trying to do to be active, in addition to yoga about 3 times a week.  Beyond that, I’ve been continuing my piano lessons (on my own), and planning my wedding, which was last Saturday and was quite different than the one we originally planned!  Much simpler, with only 10 people, but very nice just the same.
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Proper wedding attire, 2020-style
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Kay and Bob, unmasked

Rebecca Howey
Rochester Hills, Michigan

Editor's note: Rebecca's "one or two sentences" came in at 774 words. I didn't want to cut a bit of it, though, because there's a lot of good stuff here! (I keep telling her she should have her own blog.) I just gotta say, it's a good thing I didn't ask for pictures to go with it.

The most beneficial thing (much better than vacuuming, which I have not done) has been the free Coursera from Yale called "The Science of Well-Being." It's really about what makes us truly happy and how to get there. Spoiler alert: it's not what our culture tells us.
 
Also, these days it's a bit disconcerting to see the non-virtual students sitting close to each other and hear them coughing!  (Has anyone else been yelling at their tv screens? It can be the most innocuous old sitcom and I'm all, "Don't shake hands! OMG, now you're hugging each other! OMG, OMG, OMG!" I'm better at this now, but it was rough for a while there.)
 
I have been knitting up a storm - charity knitting, mostly with "legacy" yarn I inherited from a friend's stash. I also made miles and miles of chain stitch cord and mailed it off to a friend who is converting her fabric stash into face masks she's giving away. (She and housemate totally ran out of elastic, old t-shirts and potholder loops. Their dining room is like a small factory.)
 
I think doing things for others is especially good just now, though it was more than sobering to consider that the hats, sweaters, and ponchos I was making for the Navajo school kids might . . . well, you know.
 
I dusted off my elderly Kindle and learned that, with a newer software download, it is Way Less Annoying. I've read and read and read!
 
I have been going through my DVD collection and Watching All The Bonus Features. The directors' commentaries for Bend It Like Beckham, Seabiscuit, and Monsoon Wedding were almost better than the films.
 
This last one might seem counterintuitive.
 
It started when a Facebook friend (a friend of friends in real life, one of the few FB friends I've not met) shared a post from the Holocaust and Humanity Center in Cincinnati. They were having a virtual book club. First up was Elie Wiesel's Night, which I had never had the courage to read by myself. Being part of a group was helpful. The next book was Anne Frank's diary, which I had read, so I fired up the Kindle and read Francine Prose's book about the book and its author. Wow! I learned all kinds of stuff.
 
I also learned how much I swear when figuring out the arcane magic tricks of the multiple websites required to borrow e-books not owned by my library.
 
I did not, however, curse during any of my several calls to the library staff who helped me gain access. I think one of them wanted to, though; that episode was something goofy in the library's circ software.
 
It was all worth it in the end, though, AND WHAT ELSE DID I HAVE TO DO? A jigsaw puzzle of Easter eggs, shaped like an egg. Also coloring, knitting, and - OK! - vacuuming, like that's gonna happen.
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This organization, the Holocaust and Humanity Center, offers all kinds of online sessions. There's one later this week about preserving your family artifacts: photos and other things. (They have a website and multiple FB pages.)

AND, because I attended a bunch of those, I got invited to a series of Holocaust survivor presentations from a community college in New Jersey that is absolutely inspiring. They tell the tale, but the focus is on resilience.  
 
Also MSU Extension "Cabin Fever" presentations. The most hilarious thing there is that I forwarded the follow-up email with its many citations to a cousin, who replied, "I was 'there' too!"  
 
And the mourning dove chicks on the front porch have flown the coop. Stupid birds! But I did learn that just before they fledge, a normal human being will be convinced that their no good rotten birdbrain parents have abandoned them. That was good to know, because it was gonna be one Huge Moral Dilemma whether I fed those things or not. Last I saw them, they (two of them) were standing up in the flower pot under the porch light and looking like it was time to steal the car keys and light out for the Dairy Queen.
 
WHAT WOULD WE BE WITHOUT THE INTERNET IN ALL OF THIS? Mostly insane. I might even be vacuuming.
 
Another thing I have done is re-read Salinger's story "For Esme - with love and squalor" or whatever it's called. The whole thing is online as a pdf.
 
It has come up in multiple conversations (because I MAKE IT), because I firmly believe that the ONLY thing that we must do during this time is "survive with our faculties intact." Job One, right there.  ​
8 Comments

Poems for a Planet

4/15/2020

10 Comments

 
​Even in this strange and uncertain time, we can find reasons to celebrate. Two big reasons come to mind this month.
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​April is National Poetry Month, and if ever there was a time to read poetry, it’s now, when many of us have extra reading time and are looking to fill our minds with something other than dire news reports.

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​​This month also brings the 50th anniversary of the first Earth Day next Wednesday, April 22. Though the mass celebrations that had been planned will no longer be possible, we can still commemorate the day.

Combining these two celebrations, National Poetry Month and Earth Day, I asked local (and not-so-local) poets to contribute Earth Day poems to today’s blog. I’m happy to share those with you now, along with the collage I created for the occasion.
As I worked on the collage, I went back and forth in my mind about whether to portray the vision of a healthy Earth that many of us had on the first Earth Day in 1970 or the reality of Earth in 2020. In the end, I opted for the more hopeful vision, because I want to believe there's still hope. 
​Once the piece was done, however, I noticed it's darker than most of my other collages (many of which are now posted on the COLLAGES page on my website). Perhaps in the end, my Earth Day collage reflects both hope and concern, themes you'll find in the poems below.
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Earth Day 2020 by Nan
And now, poetry.

Sunset Off Brockway
by Jon Riedel

The way the sun drips through the trees
feels like the tart sting of oranges
sliced through on a cold winter morning
the shadows sway on uneven stilts 
purposeful but perhaps a bit drunk
hawks flying through the thin mist
 
we did not come here to talk
but to recall bloodlines and bruises
to watch the ache of God's wounded finger
find its solace in the sky
we came to watch the forest settle
shivering around an old circle of coals
 
To pull new yarn out of old wool
to re-dye the worn, faded blue
to an unspoken, holy red
to choose new stones to throw
into the solitude of the lake
to settle into the night
and watch the fireflies shiver and shake

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On Revisiting an Ancient Headland 
​by Tim Hawkins

​I struggle to recall the words of those long-ago incantations,
but I can still feel the sun, and the sand spray of those of us
 
who ran down to the continent’s edge to shout wild oaths
and promises, twisted and torn from the wind itself.
 
Hoping for what exactly? I don’t recall. A certain slant of light,
or a feeling of home on the sun and sea-blasted turf?
 
It all looks so weathered now in a way that has grown familiar;
the landscape possesses the face that it has earned.
 
Not searching for monuments, though open to any eventuality,
I remember us, suddenly, as pleased and shy as deer in fields of spring,
 
not as tail-less, lumbering animals, growling and sniffing
for the bones we had buried and lost.
 
Ferns sprout large and primordial where none had grown
in the shaded region above the tides.
 
The sea has crept in closer; it has taken on an ancient aspect.
 
Through broken teeth I whisper a few broken words
and listen for those long-ago incantations.
 
Our footprints left a faint impression of our lives,
but the wind has carried the songs away to the sea.
 
* First published in Blueline: June 2011, Volume 32
Collected in Wanderings at Deadline (Aldrich Press, 2012)

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​Sitting in the Woods
by Katie Clark

​This silent
green life and death place.
Life bursts forth,
buzzing around me.
Death underfoot-
covering the forest floor.
Smelling of earthy must
and sweet pine.
Fallen trees, once promising,
now slowly decaying back into
Life-giving soil.
Life and Death-
existing in this shared space.
Life and Death, working
hand in hand.
Life giving into Death
giving into Life.
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Photo by Katie Clark

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I Think They Will Not Mind
by Marsha Reeves

Ninendaan gaawiin waa-babaamendanzimowaad
I think they will not mind that
 
wiikaa bi-dagoshinaan.
I arrive late.
 
Gijiigijigaaneshiiyag gii-giimoodaanagidoowag noopiming
The chickadees were mumbling in the bushes
 
besho naadazina’iganing.
by the box where I get mail.
 
Andawendaanaawaa Manaadendamaazowin
They needed an Honor Song
 
mii wenji-nagamotawagwaa
so I sang to them
 
nisidawenmangwaa miinawaa
because we understand them again
 
ezhi-manaadenimangwaa ingiw wiidokawiyangidwaa
the way we respect those who keep us company
 
gabe biboon
all winter.
 
Gaawiin da-giizhokoniyesiiwag misawa
They do not need to dress warm and yet
 
giizhokawiyangidwaa gidode’iminaaning.
they warm our hearts.

* First published on ojibwe.net

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Written on the Wind
by Tom Cordle

I am Soulofhawk come to sing my song – may your ears and heart be opened.

I stumble in this foreign tongue and try to make the talk
I speak of when this land was young, and of my brother hawk
My spirit voice is hard to hear, I have so long been gone
But I will whisper in your ear, and having spoke, move on

This finger pushed into the sea of sand and swamp and pine
Has been a welcome home to me – I sing this land of mine . .. . 
Of night song sung in joyous trill by every kind of fowl . . . 
Of chickadee and whippoorwill . . . of warning from the owl . . . 

Of plenty fish and wild oats . . . of berries blue and red
That danced their way down happy throats to bellies always fed . . .
Of rivers coursing through green world of gleaming golden lake . . .
Of alligator, hog and squirrel . . . of moccasin the snake . . .
​
The screaming panther ruled the pine, the eagle ruled the sky –
Oh, will you hear these words of mine? Will you even try?
I have no words on talking leaves for you to read, my friend
For all this simple man believed was written on the wind.

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Animal Planet 
​by Tim Hawkins

​While we bow our heads to the ground
and our hearts seek meaning among the stars,
wild creatures assert their presence
in the here and now
and the just here and gone.
 
Unknowable in the way one speaks
of the alien and other-worldly,
the title to their kingdom is forged
in their absolute
manifestation of the flesh.
 
If this seems ironic and abstract,
then so be it.
 
For irony and abstraction
are our great gifts--
not to the world, but to ourselves--
invented for our survival.
 
And we, of course, are the real aliens;
Each a world unto one’s own,
orbiting a sun of its own devising.
 
* First published in Sixfold, July 1, 2013, Summer 2013
Collected in Jeremiad Johnson (In Case of Emergency Press, 2019)


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Our Mother  (In the Pandemic of 2020)
by Sally C. Kane

Listen!
          Do you hear her – Our Great Mother?
                      In this moment, in time - a reprieve -
                      when all human activity
                      has slowed to bare bones minimum,
                      She inhales an expanse of cleaner air.
                      Exhales a wasteland of toxins.
 
          Do you hear her – Our Great Mother?
                      She weeps for us, her children – All
                      Residents, two-legged and four,
                      winged, finned and serpentine. We
                      share the same earth, sea and air.
                      We, the two-legged ones, hold
                      the choices in concert with Our Mother.
                      Even as forces seem out of control, and
                      the playing field remains unequal.
 
          Do you feel her – Our Great Mother?
                      She shudders as the sludge venoms
                      from Frack wells, the vast desolation
                      from wildfires, and endless wars’ ravages
                      do a rival dance with the C-virus.
 
          I wonder about this massive
                      Blue Marble in our universe. The
                      one we call home. Our Mother. 
                      There’s nowhere else to go.  We cannot
                      just walk off or fly away.
 
          I wonder, if I were an astronaut, or
                      could hitch a satellite ride, how - in this
                      Pandemic blink of time –would
                      Our Mother, our home - look?
                      Would her greens be greener, her blues
                      be bluer,  her storms less turbulent,
                      her mass free from veils of smog?
 
          Like a cataclysm, would I see
                      a rotating orb, vibrating
                      glimmers of brighter, kinder energy?
                      Perhaps violet or white? Would
                      I know – would we all know- we’ve
                      begun to exercise our choices for love?
 

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Mother's Milk
by Jessica Mondello

Control and fear became our story
Addiction lies between the lines
And love was lost to pride and glory
This ego virus made us blind
 
Your mother's dying by your hands
But you won't listen
Her blood is all over your hands
Will you listen
 
The soul was lost beyond the shadows
The fog will choke us into dust
Collective conscience chose the gallows
The time of man will turn the dust
 
Your mother's dying by your hands
You won't listen
Her blood is all over your hands
Will you listen 

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The Soul of Spring
by Kathy Misak

​I hear it in the river.
I see it in the buds of the maple.
I hear it in the sounds of the red wing black bird.
 
Inquisitive cat so happy to be playing outside
Warm breeze on the back of my neck
 
I see it in the new bright yellow feathers of the gold finch.
I hear it in a distant barking dog.
 
Ever grateful to be walking this Earth mother experiencing my spring soul

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And The Earth Stayed Young
by Tom Cordle

​Once the land was green
And the buffalo could roam
The rivers clear and clean
Washed by our simple homes
And all turned in the wheel
And the sacred song was sung
To teach us what was real
And the earth stayed young
Once a man would take
No more than he could use
Set bones back in the lake
When a meal of fish was through
And all turned in the wheel
And the sacred song was sung
To teach us what was real
And the earth stayed young
     
Once the earth was young
And men saw with their hearts
That everything was one
And man was but a part
And all turned in the wheel
And the sacred song was sung
To teach us what was real
And the earth stayed young
Now the earth is old
The buffalo are gone
The rivers have been sold
And man stands all alone
Let all turn in the wheel
And sing the sacred song
To teach us what is real
So the earth stays young

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What Have You Learned
by Jessica Mondello

​You can't eat the money
That you've all been praying on
That God has only destroyed you
And you can't drink the oil 
You've been pulling out of the ground
Your momma's shaken and torn . . . fool
 
Do you know what you are
And what you're here for
When it all comes crashing down
What have we learned
 
Distractions have kept you
From what's really going on
Keeping you away from your mother
Her life source you could tap into
Can heal that broken bond
Yes, you can get there inside you
 
Do you know what you are
And what you're here for
When it comes crashing all down
What have we learned

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Pale Blue Seasons
          by Tim Hawkins         

​There is a sudden authority to nightfall
in the flight of a heron, and to the surrounding
darkness where countless feed.
 
But so much that is unattainable, so much
that lies beyond the sovereign dark, rises up
out of the pale blue season of twilight
 
like fireflies summoning among the trees
as the moon loses her translucent and ghostly pallor
in the evening’s first clear and troubling dreams.
 
***
 
Toward daylight, the deer rise up
from among the flattened grasses
and low-lying hummocks,
 
emerging in the cool of morning
from indiscernible swales
and cedar swamps,
 
wary and shy, but alive with owning
at least a part of this
pale blue season of wildflowers.

* First published in Blueline: June 2011, Volume 32
Collected in Wanderings at Deadline (Aldrich Press, 2012)


You can find links to many more poems on Tim Hawkins's website at https://www.timhawkinspoetry.com/links-to-poems-and-more.html
10 Comments

UP and Away

10/2/2019

14 Comments

 
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Summer came, and summer went, and just after Labor Day, Ray and I looked at each other and said, "Hey, we forgot to take a vacation."
Well, we didn't exactly forget. We just, you know, had stuff to do. So much stuff we thought, Get away? Oh, we couldn't possibly!
But have you noticed? Whenever you find yourself thinking, I couldn't possibly, that's exactly when you really, really need to.
So in spite of to-do lists, appointments, and other obligations, we found a stretch of blank spaces on our calendars, booked a campsite at Tahquamenon Falls State Park in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, packed up the RV, and headed north.
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For six days, we hiked on wooded trails, cooked on the grill, took photos, read books, and drank Alaskan Amber by the campfire. Wait, you're saying, aren't those all things you can do at home in Newaygo? 
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Right you are. We can do all those things at home, and often do. The difference was, for those six days in the U.P., there was nothing else to do. No phone, no internet, no domestic duties, no book launch details to attend to. Plus, views of rushing rapids and cascading waterfalls.
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As a result, we truly relaxed for the first time in months, so deeply we couldn't even remember what we'd be obsessing about if we weren't too relaxed to obsess.
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Happy campers
Of course, once we were back home, it took about a millisecond for realities and responsibilities to assert themselves. But somehow, even two weeks later, some of that getaway serenity has stayed with me. I'm back in to-do mode, but with a mellower mindset. And when I start to drift back into frenzy, all I have to do is look at photos from the trip to reset my calm-down button.
Care to join me?
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The leaves were just beginning to turn when we arrived. We watched more change every day.
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A viewing platform for the Lower Falls area is just a short walk from the campground
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Not all the color was on the trees
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Some visitors row boats across the river to the island for an up-close look at the Lower Falls
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We took the boardwalk instead and were rewarded with this view. The golden color of the water is from tannins leached from the cedar swamps that the river drains.
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The North Country Trail goes right through the campground where we stayed and connects the Lower and Upper Falls.
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The blue blazes are a familiar sight
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Found along the trail
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Campground overlook
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Upper falls with ever-present mist
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What the sign doesn't tell you is that there are even MORE steps once you get down to the gorge.
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A little stairway humor
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Upper Falls from the gorge
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Patient husband waiting for photographer to take several hundred more waterfall shots
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Part of the enjoyment is seeing other people enjoying themselves
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Like this guy, who celebrated his 84th birthday on our getaway. Happy birthday, Ray!
14 Comments

Lake Love

9/4/2019

8 Comments

 
PictureAnne-Marie Oomen leading a writing workshop at Sleeping Bear Dunes on Lake Michigan
​What with summer activities and chores and the myriad details associated with the launch of my memoir Mango Rash, I confess I haven’t been doing much new writing lately. I was inspired to make an exception, though, when I received a compelling request earlier in the summer from one of my favorite Michigan authors, Anne-Marie Oomen.

​She was appealing to writers in her circle to join in an undertaking she called the Lake-love Letters Project. The idea was simple: write a love letter—no more than 400 words—to the Great Lakes or a specific lake. Not a huge investment of time and energy, but an important one, as Anne-Marie’s cover letter made clear.
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It began:
​ 
I love our waters: lakes, rivers, wetlands, little sinking ponds, remote swamps. If it’s wet, I’ll probably like it.  And of course, I’m worried about all of them, as I know many of you are.  I often wonder what I can do.  I’m not a scientist, politician, lawyer, not even a very good journalist.  I often feel inadequate, a “fish out of water” when it comes to this work. This year, a question I asked myself: how might I use my small gifts a literary artist (creative writer) to do something for our beloved waters.

​She went on to relate that just as she was considering how she might make a difference, she received a letter from Liz Kirkwood, director of the regional water organization For Love of Water (FLOW). The letter explained that in July, the International Joint Commission of the Great Lakes would meet in Traverse City. Liz wanted to enliven what might otherwise be a dry discussion (subject matter notwithstanding) by involving artists who are passionate about our water.
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As Anne-Marie described it in her letter,
 
She had a vision: at the final meeting with the commissioners, could we showcase our love of water in a way that would involve the arts, particularly the writers. She spoke of the arts as one heart behind all the science and legal work. I was so grateful for her rare understanding. And she offered an idea that I could run with. Could we writers and artists do something with love letters to our waters. Love letters? Yes! 

​I usually take my time responding to requests that ask me to write, edit, or critique something. I like to consider what else is on my to-do-list and how interested I am in adding to that ever-expanding list. This time I didn’t hesitate. As soon as I found a sliver of writing time, I drafted my love letter. After a few revisions, I sent it off to Anne-Marie.
 
Here’s what I wrote:
PictureWith friends Sarah and Cindi at Lake Carl Blackwell in Oklahoma, circa 1968
Dear Lake Michigan,
 
You’re not like the others—the ones I grew up with. In that flat and dusty land, those pretenders to the title were ­­­­mere puddles. Knowing no better, we suited up, dived in, toweled off, sat on shore with sandwiches, staring out across their dense, red-silted expanses, thinking, “Well, this is nice.”

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Then I met you, and I had to expand my vocabulary. I’ll admit it: you dazzled me, spangled like a rock star, necklaced with villages whose very names enchant: Empire, Pentwater, Saugatuck. 

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The only time I didn’t love you as much as I wanted to was on that blustery September day I ferried across your liquid skin. Your ups and downs! How they unsettled me. Betrayed, I sulked until I reached the other shore and looked back at your troubled face, your spectrum of shades.

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You, too, carry burdens, I realized in that moment. And also this: I may have loved you since we first met, but I haven’t really known you. Let me know you now.
 
Love,
Nan

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​Just before the commission meeting, Anne-Marie reported that nearly 100 letters submitted to the project would be presented in book form to each of the commissioners. In addition, she extracted sentences from some letters and shaped them into a ten-minute script to be read as part of the presentation to the commission. “Your words made a beautiful praise song to the lakes—thank you!” she wrote to contributors.

​So often, writing feels like a solitary, inwardly-directed pursuit. It was gratifying to take part in this project, and it made me think about other ways I might merge my passion for writing with the issues I care about. 
​How can you apply your talents to something you care about? 

FLOW’s video of the entire Traverse City meeting can be viewed here. The Lake-love Letters Project portion begins around minute 14 and continues to minute 28. FLOW and the commission also plan to post the entire collection of Lake-love Letters on their websites.
8 Comments

Signs of . . . Spring?

4/17/2019

12 Comments

 
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This is what spring looked like at my house a few days ago. Not exactly picking-posies weather. But I do believe it's coming . . . eventually.

Until then, let's enjoy a few reminders of what spring should​ look like.
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What are your favorite signs of spring?
12 Comments

Oh, The Places We've Been

12/19/2018

12 Comments

 
It's a busy time of year, wouldn't you agree? You've got places to go, people to see. I've got stuff to do. So instead of burdening you with blather, I'm making my holiday gift to you a visual one. Today I'm sharing some favorite photos from our trip out West last fall. 

But before we head West, some photo-related news: Copies of my photo book, "Nature by Nan," are now available for purchase at Hit the Road Joe Coffee Cafe in Croton. The 8x8-inch hardcover book contains 20 of my photos of local flora and fauna.
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I hope to soon add copies of my second photo book, "Nature by Nan, Volume II," and to make both books available for order on this website. Stay tuned.
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Now, let's head out West!
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All aboard the Lake Express for the first leg of the trip, across Lake Michigan
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Leaving Muskegon, headed for Milwaukee
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As we made our way west, some of the scenery was quietly awe-inspiring
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Some of it was downright spooky
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Yet even the desolate scenes had their own kind of beauty
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I developed a fascination for ramshackle structures
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Some especially stunning in their decrepitude
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And I kept an eye out for wildlife, like this pronghorn antelope
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Fargo, North Dakota, provided the prop for our first goofy-tourist photo. The actual chipper used in the movie "Fargo" is inside the visitor center, but this replica is stationed outside for photo ops
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It's always a delight to find art in unexpected places, like this mural in a parking lot in Des Moines, Washington (who knew there was a Des Moines in Washington?)
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And this garage in Spokane
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And this utility box in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
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Also these delightful dandelions in a Coeur d'Alene park
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Lake Coeur d'Alene was dramatic on a blustery day
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Not a day we cared to go flying
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The views from nearby Cataldo mission were more serene
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Like this restful view
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The old mission bell
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Is the light really different out West, or does it only seem that way? The view from this spot overlooking the Columbia River was wondrous
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Another view from the same overlook
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The scenery in nearby Gingko Petrified Forest State Park provided stark contrasts
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The park's landscape is almost other-worldly
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A ferry ride in Washington offered glimpses of Mt. Ranier
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And took us to Kitsap Peninsula, where we visited Point No Point lighthouse
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On the way back to Michigan, we took in this monument to wild horses, designed and created by sculptor David Govedare.
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Little did we know we'd soon encounter the real thing (keep scrolling).
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As long as we're on the subject of monuments, no trip of ours would be complete without visits to oversized roadside attractions. Here's the world's largest buffalo in Jamestown, North Dakota
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And the world's largest sandhill crane in Steele, North Dakota
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You don't have to go to New York to see the Big Apple. This one's in Edgerton, Wisconsin, which is also the home of the world's largest Culver's Restaurant (which I didn't take a picture of because it looked just like every other Culver's, except bigger).
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A highlight of the trip was Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota
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Roosevelt's cabin has been relocated to a site near the visitor center.
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The sweeping vistas are spectacular
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But for me, the critters were at least as much of the attraction
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I could've spent all day watching the prairie dogs' antics (and if you ask Ray, he'll probably tell you it seemed like I did).
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If you tire of watching prairie dogs, you can track down some bison
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Or those feral horses I promised you
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What are some of your standout memories from the past year?
12 Comments

Last Wednesday Wisdom for April 2018

4/25/2018

15 Comments

 
On the last Wednesday of every month, I serve up a potpourri of advice, inspiration and other tidbits I've come across in recent weeks. This month -- this week, in fact -- finds us commemorating both Earth Day and Arbor Day. In the spirit of those two observances, here's a collection of quotes about nature and the planet on which we live.

As a bonus, I'm including at the end of this post, some of my favorite nature shots from our recent visit to the Southwest.
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Love of wilderness is more than a hunger for what is always beyond reach; it is also an expression of loyalty to the earth which bore us and sustains us, the only home we shall ever know, the only paradise we ever need -- if only we had the eyes to see.
-- Edward Abbey
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Find your place on the planet, dig in, and take responsibility from there.
​-- Gary Snyder
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The Earth was small, light blue, and so touchingly alone, our home that must be defended like a holy relic. The Earth was absolutely round. I believe I never knew what the word round meant until I saw Earth from space.
-- Alexey Leonov, Russian cosmonaut
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The universe is composed of subjects to be communed with, not objects to be exploited. Everything has its own voice. Thunder and lightning and stars and planets, flowers, birds, animals, trees -- all of these have voices, and they constitute a community of existence that is profoundly related.
​-- Thomas Berry
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The earth is a living thing. Mountains speak, trees sing, lakes can think, pebbles have a soul, rocks have power.
-- Henry Crow Dog
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When I get sick of what men do, I have only to walk a few steps in another direction to see what spiders do.  Or what weather does. This sustains me very well indeed.
-- E.B. White, One Man's Meat
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Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is symbolic as well as actual beauty in the migration of the birds, the ebb and flow of the tides, the folded bud ready for spring. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature -- the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after the winter.
​-- Rachel Carson
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Nature repairs her ravages -- but not all. The uptorn trees are not rooted again; the parted hills are left scarred; if there is a new growth, the trees are not the same as the old, and the hills underneath their green vesture bear the marks of the past rending. To the eyes that have dwelt on the past, there is no thorough repair.
-- George Eliot, The Mill on the Floss
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What is the use of a house if you  haven't got a tolerable planet to put it on?
-- Henry David Thoreau
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Loyd: "It has to do with keeping things in balance . . . It's like the spirits have made a deal with us . . . The spirits have been good enough to let us live here and use the utilities, and we're saying: . . . We appreciate the rain, we appreciate the sun, we appreciate the deer we took . . . You've gone to a lot of trouble, and we'll try to be good guests."

Codi: "Like a note you'd send somebody after you stayed in their house?"

Loyd: "Exactly like that. 'Thanks for letting me sleep on your couch. I took some beer out of the refrigerator, and I broke a coffee cup. Sorry. I hope it wasn't your favorite one.' "
-- Barbara Kingsolver, ​Animal Dreams

And now, for a little more nature appreciation . . . 
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Saguaro National Park
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As close as I care to get
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Soaking up the sun at Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum
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Even in a desert, the diversity of life forms amazes me
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Saguaro are like sculptures
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Sleepy prairie dog at Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. (Or perhaps just bored with all the tourists?)
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Beauty as far as the eye can see
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Early spring flowers growing among the rocks in Sabino Canyon
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Sabino Canyon. It's hard to gauge the scale of the rock slabs until you see the people strolling and sunning on them.
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Moment of reflection, Sabino Canyon
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My best guess is pyrrhuloxia (desert cardinal)
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Swirly saguaro
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Sabino Canyon, a true oasis
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Evening on the road between Tombstone and Sierra Vista
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Spooky tree, Chiricahua National Monument
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Chiricahua vista
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Chiricahua
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Chiricahua
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Lots o' rocks
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Sunset from Tombstone
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    Nan Sanders Pokerwinski, a former journalist, writes memoir and personal essays, makes collages and likes to play outside. She lives in West Michigan with her husband, Ray.

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