I've continued my practice of putting one foot in front of the other, out in nature, since I returned from backpacking in the Grand Canyon. Every Thursday, I hike with a local group I found through MeetUp. But hiking is not the only thing I've been working on this summer.
I traffic in words, and yet words sometimes seem wholly inadequate to convey an experience. Yet I owe it to myself to try. I recently returned from my third journey to the bottom of the Grand Canyon. I made the trek in 2008 and again in 2012. This time was different. This time, no mules carried my supplies. Instead, I carried a backpack containing 28 pounds of everything I would need for four days and three nights. This time, no Phantom Ranch cabin awaited at the bottom. This time, I journeyed into a more remote part of the Canyon. This time, I had a guide.
A particular form of story popular in the Victorian era became known as the “penny dreadful,” which tells you pretty much everything you need to know about it. Often these stories, detailing lurid crimes or scandalous activities, were cheaply printed so as to be available for a penny to a mass audience. They weren’t intended... Continue Reading →
Over the holidays, the cats and dogs got up to mischief. In particular, Ruby, the Springer Spaniel belonging to my good friend and fellow writer Lisa Meltzer Penn, sent a missive to my Tabby, Joshua. I almost didn't let him read it. But then I relented, and of course, he had to respond. TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: First of all, what is with this “invitation” thing? Yeah, this dog “Ruby” may have started blogging a while ago but it was my human (I am not going to stoop to calling her my “mother”) who had the idea of an interspecies conversation. But I am big enough to overlook that.
When the days are lengthening, it is possible to believe that eternal expansion is possible, that whatever is happening now will continue, only better, and that life is always on the upswing.
