The second week of running my new-to-me woodstove after years of intermittent installation is quiet. After starting the coffee maker I inspect the remains of last night’s fire and find a small pile of coal with glowing specks covered in ash. A younger me would have spent half an hour trying to get the stove… Continue reading A prayer by the fire at the end of the year.
Yesterday for the first time in forever I loaded the younger kids up and headed to the “Big Town” for a bike ride. While we have been on our own rural bike ways many times I figured they (and I) could use a change of scenery and we could social distance well enough. So along… Continue reading Imperfectly.
Early spring is always a roller coaster ride in Western Oregon. Warm sunny afternoons may end in hail, and days of rain can have vivid sun breaks. The clay soil starts to slowly and temperamentally drain and clover is blooming in the unkempt lawn. Before and after work I plant trees and plan for bees.… Continue reading Keeping hope in the hive mind.
That was my first thought. The image was of me bicycling the 20 odd miles between work and home. After six years of more-or-less regular commuting, the longest of my life, my sense of adventure had led me down every possible pathway between my own little town and the College burg where a desk has… Continue reading “This is not how I imagined this moment.”
The Accidental Farmer 