crates | December 7, 2007
I was walking along a beach on the east side of Case Inlet of Puget Sound a few years ago, when I noticed an area where the sand gave way to smooth stones. It was a lovely sunny day which can be rare in the area, and the water was gently lapping at the stones. The dry [...]
crates | November 25, 2007
My only child is planning on getting married next May, and has been busy planning things. I threw a monkey wrench into the plans the other day when I suggested a marriage in Hawaii. At first she didn’t care for the idea but she later changed her mind. So I have been scouring the [...]
crates | November 2, 2007
I awoke for some reason around six with the morning outside still dark, dripping from a recent drizzle, cool with low clouds, not even a hint of light in the east. I arose and left, and although I could hear the sound of rain, it was only the trees dripping, not a drop fell on [...]
crates | October 1, 2007
Well it’s happened, I was dimly aware that it had, but it was brought home to me when I saw the bright yellow leaves of a Big-leaf Maple in the dimness of the woods this morning. Autumn has arrived in the Northwest. The native trees of this area aren’t that colorful. As I said the [...]
crates | September 23, 2007
For some reason I’ve been putting off writing. It’s as if I think that anything that I write would be so trivial that there would be no use writing. But I’ve decided just to write and to let what comes come… Perhaps that’s the way to get past this block. There are all kinds of [...]
crates | August 30, 2007
I came across this in Orson Scott Card’s, Shadow of the Giant: “Life is full of grief, to exactly that degree we allow ourselves to love other people.” I got to thinking about this, wondering about how true it is. We have all experienced loss. In love affairs when the person we love [...]
crates | August 18, 2007
the song of Lee Ann Womack I hope you never lose your sense of wonder You get your fill to eat But always keep that hunger May you never take one single breath for granted God forbid love ever leave you empty handed I hope you still feel small When you stand by the ocean [...]
crates | July 22, 2007
As the sun begins to slip below the western horizon, the cicadas, which have been shrilling during the heat of the day, gradually slow down. A discordant clanking arises for a moment as the Green Tree Frogs (Hyla cinerea), impatient for the night, start up and then dies down. The high pitched trilling of [...]
crates | July 11, 2007
In this area of Washington there are many native americans and many still retain a vestige of their land. I pass through some of this land almost every day, and every time that I do am faced with a dissonance…something that rankles, something that is an apparent contradiction. Many of us are familiar [...]
crates | July 9, 2007
I’m getting into my trip mode now. I leave Sunday for Texas (a reverent pause) for a 26 day visit that I make every summer. I’ve been making this pilgrimage every summer since 1980 come hale or high water. I get to see my father, mother, brother and sister and all their numerous family [...]