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Perspective
As the wind blows across sand, rocks, and driftwood I marvel at the change within me that I am aware of. Time has not softened the being, but strengthened through experiences and exposure to a world so scary as a child. Reaching out beyond the close-knit sphere I sought to understand the blood and tears…
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The Dream That is the Big Lake
Testing out some new gear and setting up a tent in preparation for the next trip to Alaska. Of course, being on the big lake and my need to be close to the water, I always get wet and nothing like the sun to take care of the drying. Another beautiful fall day on the…
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A Fall Day in MN
The day started early just before the sunrise with enough time for coffee to get us warm before venturing out to the shoreline. The sun spread its fingers across the horizon, the water, and our faces. We continued to a state park and found a calm and secluded lake surrounded by nature’s palette. So many…
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Poem – One
The world is large, sphere-like and hurtling through space. Life began in primordial forms billions of years before giving the life we have through complex processes. At some point in ancient history of the human species we merged from the same source from the same cells and sub-atomic parts. We are one and in this…
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Poem – Machines That Move Earth
(1) Putting aside hollywood notions of machine versus man – September morning is hidden in fog, coated with an early frost. Subdued sun scattered across fields, meadows, and prairies. The sky becomes the land becomes the horizon. We head north, leaving behind city lights and traffic for pine trees and winter in the air. (2)…
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Essay – Judgment
Why do we continue to judge ourselves and our actions against a written word and faceless God when the only entity we should measure against is life around us, how we impact them, and the face in the mirror? When you wake, can you think back, reflect on the previous day, your actions, your impact,…
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Poem – When the Tree Speaks My Name
Weeks have passed since my last visit. Jack pine needles blanket the pole barn’s roof a painting of solid green and brown slivers. The front porch is covered with maple and oak leaves, spider webs and left-over wood that was cut for fires. What used to be a driveway is now in the beginning stages…
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Nature and Us – One and the Same
I’ve been continuing to read the book The Deep Ecology Movement. This includes an introduction to the movement and a collection of essays with varying thoughts and opinions. Along with finding many similarities to Buddhism, I feel this is a meaningful framework to express nature and humans, and the dependency of each on the other,…
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Beginning Deep Ecology
Continuing to read “Cultivating the Empty Fields“, the translator makes a comment that Hongzhi’s teachings , who lived from 1091 to 1157, presage the modern philosophical movement of Deep Ecology. I had not heard of this movement and school of thought until this passage, which goes on to make the connection that not only are clouds…