Posts Tagged ‘learning’
The Haunting Tree
There is a tree nearby that haunts me, rooted deeply into the hillside and growing up far into the horizon crooked and crippled, imperfect. And when I look at it, I then look out across the Marron Valley at Parker Mountain, and my eyes follow all of the aberrations of contours, the patterns of trees…
Read MoreThe Undercurrent
Tonight I wandered the property with the dog. It was dark but with a bright cradle of moon, bright enough even through the clouds that it cast light on the sidecut pathway across the hills, and across the valley below dotted with headlights and farm lights. It made shadows out of the tallest sage bushes…
Read MorePowerful Words from a First Nations Elder
A year or two ago I was fortunate enough to hear elder Sykes Powderface speaking to a small group of mostly First Nations students at Exshaw School in the Canadian Rockies. He was telling them stories of growing up, of learning from his parents and grandparents, and the students sat riveted. When he asked them…
Read MoreLast Day of 2017
Can having a cold become an existential quagmire? If you’re of my ilk, the answer is yes! It would be nice to write something poignant for New Year’s Eve, but truth of the matter is I’ve been so sick lately that I’m lucky to string two coherent words together. Don’t worry, it’s “just a cold,”…
Read MoreNo Hurry
This is going to sound out there, but whatever. A number of months ago I realized that I am the agent of joy in my life. While external factors can increase or decrease my momentary happiness, I have the capacity to impact the level of it over the long term. I can raise the bar…
Read MoreArrival
Big sagebrush in a field doesn’t just smell like turkey dinner, its got a whole lot more to it than that. When you twist it and crush it in your fingers and you bring it to your nose there’ll be something like eucalyptus, maybe some mint, the citrus of lemon balm. These aren’t faint scents…
Read MoreDoubletrack
Out back of our place is a little piece of trail that leads to some doubletrack. I don’t know what that doubletrack is or used to be, maybe an old mine road, or maybe the town put it in as some kind of service road. Back in the floods they used it after the fact…
Read MoreKill Your Darlings
Much of what I do these days reminds that I’m drawing closer to the last time I’ll do these things. Our move from the Bow Valley is drawing in. We’ve started packing our things, and yesterday we received the building permit and submitted all of our paperwork to the bank for financing. On Monday the…
Read MoreGetting on With It, Bike Culture
I was reminded tonight that in much of what we do, there’s a threshold past which discomfort can be shattered. I was tired after work and almost called off my ride. Changing into my kit my body already felt heavy, but I looked out the window at the darkening sky carrying its threat of rain…
Read MoreGood Will
I wonder how far you can get on good will and spiritual need. People are tied to the land on which they live. If you’re in a city and surrounded by concrete and steel (you poor bastards), there’s a certain element to that. If you can thrive in that element, that clinical, right-angled and structured…
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