Fox kits, twitterpated over beavers, rain droplets like sequins (😍) . . . and then this line, which feels like an opening into a darker world: "There is no reciprocal relationship if a checklist is involved."
Ha! I too was about to comment on that incompatibility of reciprocal relationships and checklists. Also glittering raindrops and indigo buntings and unexpected deliciousness. Thanks.
The other evening my wife and I were walking in the bird sanctuary by our home and we encountered three mule deer, one white-tail deer, a brown headed cowbird, a trout and two fish of another kind we didn't recognize, an abundance of wood ducks and wood ducklings (VERY SMOL AND NEW), baby prairie dogs, goslings, and one very fat, happy beaver with a branch for nomming. The beaver was swimming along toward a bridge just as we came to it. We watched her swim under, the leaves on the brunch trailing out alongside her like she was some mythical animal in a Miyazaki film.
I breathe more easily after reading these lines, even considering smoke from the Big Country and the uncomfortable spread of suburbia. We are sitting prettily on the laurels of a wet, cool spring that has filled thirsty reservoirs up and down the West coast, making us hopeful we will throw less smoke in the air this season. But it's early yet. Thanks for each line. -Nigel
There are so many great lines here. I love this one 'Almost lost in the cacophony of the other morning birds, the doves keep up their steady, rhythmic cooing, like tiny monks chanting their way to paradise.'
What a terrific image.
I have a pair of plump woodpigeons who nest in my back garden, and are always cooing their mantras.
Of course, I would choose your most overt political statement... "When the ancestral calving grounds of a sacred animal are turned into a subdivision for rich assholes with Trump flags, it is clear this “national mammal” farce is just another in a series of farces going back more than two hundred years." When I see the red hat or the Trump flag, the person behind the flaunting is saying to me, "I am a narrow-minded, artless white racist who hates women and owns an assault rifle."
I love this practice! For a few weeks, I made an effort to post a picture of a small moment of delight in my day. My own way of being present and noticing while learning, “what actually brings me joy?” Usually it was cooking or something outdoors. A song on the radio at just the right time or my one year old’s laughter.
We don't have indigo buntings. I am off to Google them now - the name is a poem in itself. Thank you for sharing these shining snippets of your life 🙏🏻
Love each and every line in May. Especially Mama and her fox kits, because I often get excited believing I’m seeing a fox running across the meadow when it’s just Mac, our ginger tabby, hunting voles…
I smiled at soooo many of these — but “reverse end-capping” — !! Took me back a few decades to years of managing a bookstore with a “national presence” and a definite local flavor, as in “hell NO we will NOT feature that crap on the caps” . . . Seemed like every other month some higher-up had conniptions over my advertising decisions. 🤷🏽♀️ “So fire me (if you can find somebody else to run this place and make a bazillion dollars for you nah I didn’t think so SIT DOWN).” Thanks for the sentence that pulled up those memories.
Fox kits, twitterpated over beavers, rain droplets like sequins (😍) . . . and then this line, which feels like an opening into a darker world: "There is no reciprocal relationship if a checklist is involved."
Ha! I too was about to comment on that incompatibility of reciprocal relationships and checklists. Also glittering raindrops and indigo buntings and unexpected deliciousness. Thanks.
That sentence made me think of so many things … (though Chris’s sentences always do so that’s no surprise!).
i had the exact same response. so good.
Indigo buntings!!! :D
The other evening my wife and I were walking in the bird sanctuary by our home and we encountered three mule deer, one white-tail deer, a brown headed cowbird, a trout and two fish of another kind we didn't recognize, an abundance of wood ducks and wood ducklings (VERY SMOL AND NEW), baby prairie dogs, goslings, and one very fat, happy beaver with a branch for nomming. The beaver was swimming along toward a bridge just as we came to it. We watched her swim under, the leaves on the brunch trailing out alongside her like she was some mythical animal in a Miyazaki film.
I love “like tiny monks chanting their way to paradise!”
I breathe more easily after reading these lines, even considering smoke from the Big Country and the uncomfortable spread of suburbia. We are sitting prettily on the laurels of a wet, cool spring that has filled thirsty reservoirs up and down the West coast, making us hopeful we will throw less smoke in the air this season. But it's early yet. Thanks for each line. -Nigel
There are so many great lines here. I love this one 'Almost lost in the cacophony of the other morning birds, the doves keep up their steady, rhythmic cooing, like tiny monks chanting their way to paradise.'
What a terrific image.
I have a pair of plump woodpigeons who nest in my back garden, and are always cooing their mantras.
I just love these lines and I have 100 % stolen your idea!
Me too!
Of course, I would choose your most overt political statement... "When the ancestral calving grounds of a sacred animal are turned into a subdivision for rich assholes with Trump flags, it is clear this “national mammal” farce is just another in a series of farces going back more than two hundred years." When I see the red hat or the Trump flag, the person behind the flaunting is saying to me, "I am a narrow-minded, artless white racist who hates women and owns an assault rifle."
Bigots come in a rainbow of colors.
beauty with reality mixed in to make it even more beautiful. love this so much. 💜
I love this practice! For a few weeks, I made an effort to post a picture of a small moment of delight in my day. My own way of being present and noticing while learning, “what actually brings me joy?” Usually it was cooking or something outdoors. A song on the radio at just the right time or my one year old’s laughter.
We don't have indigo buntings. I am off to Google them now - the name is a poem in itself. Thank you for sharing these shining snippets of your life 🙏🏻
Wow, so beautiful! Not this kind though... https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/1377188328/3-12-ft-indigo-blue-ombre-felt-bunting
Wow
Those cherry trees sure are showy fuckers. 😁
Obnoxiously so, even.
2023-0506 The cherry tree wears rain droplets like sequins depending from every branch? Did you mean "descending" from every branch?
I didn't!
Thanks for helping at Choteau. So many great reviews on your presentation.
It was a wonderful event.
Love each and every line in May. Especially Mama and her fox kits, because I often get excited believing I’m seeing a fox running across the meadow when it’s just Mac, our ginger tabby, hunting voles…
I smiled at soooo many of these — but “reverse end-capping” — !! Took me back a few decades to years of managing a bookstore with a “national presence” and a definite local flavor, as in “hell NO we will NOT feature that crap on the caps” . . . Seemed like every other month some higher-up had conniptions over my advertising decisions. 🤷🏽♀️ “So fire me (if you can find somebody else to run this place and make a bazillion dollars for you nah I didn’t think so SIT DOWN).” Thanks for the sentence that pulled up those memories.