Isabella Bird Miscellany

he mocks me Most nights hubby and I go for a walk with our dog, Isabella.  With us having been at work all day, it’s important for her to have some exercise – us too.   The walk is in the dark and where we live there’s a definite lack of street lights. Across the road there lives a park with a nice path around a small lake.  Geese, deer, assorted birds and tons of frogs have begun to call this newly developed area home.  We saw three good sized bucks come down to water, the velvet still clinging to their horns.  A gaggle of geese created quite a commotion one quiet evening when they landed in the dark.  As quickly as it was loud, it became noiseless when they settled upon the water. Another evening the path was littered with frogs not much bigger than your thumbnail.  Belle was her usual nosey self, sniffing them.  When one hopped, she jumped straight up like a scared rabbit.  Sheesh dog!  Some kind of protector you...

reflecting - paulina lake, october 2015 Weekend getaways are all about kicking back and well, getting away from the entire buzz of life.  Caffeine excluded from this statement. Somewhere around noon of day two’s whatever we want to do schedule, my baby and I decided to hike around the lake that we’d been watching transform before our eyes.  The distance was seven and a half miles according to the sign.  That sounded totally do-able.  Especially since yesterday we had ventured out on two shorter hikes that amounted to six or so miles.  Besides, we’d walked a small part of the trail; it seemed like a pretty comfortable walk by the lake.  First glances can be deceiving. Now, in all fairness to avid outdoors people, it probably was easy peasy.  But to this urban girl, who only a few years ago had given up her love of walking due to not pleasant back pain from nerves having their life squeezed out; this hike was of larger-than-life proporti...

with a nod of dignity, he pulled her close people driving by without even looking; it’s too risky, so just don’t look funny, and not in a good way, how that dignity and pride stood out beyond the destitute standing on that corner, all too familiar cardboard sign in hand clothed in dirt from the street a common sight has become our normal; we go by without a passing thought these people were different their presence struck my conscience; piercing my heart with their status homelessness has a face stepping out of comfort Their sign was simple.   Out of the corner of my eye I saw that it asked for camping gear.  No hollow pleas for food, work or a blatant hand-out. I know nothing about the “whys” of why they were living on the street.  I don’t need to.  What does matter is my response to the things that I see with my eyes and my heart.  Am I aware?  Am I mindfully aware? Answer . I received an email...

specks of vine maple autumn:    a period of maturity verging on decline (the free dictionary.com) It arrived this week. Yep, fall officially debuted on my calendar, with its cooler nights and warm days, bushes screaming for attention while the leaves are in the throes of death, to quote my husband. I love autumn; crunching leaves with my feet like a little kid and eating bowls of soup that have been ignored while the weather was scorching.  I like to slip a fuzzy scarf on with my t-shirt, since the temps are in between…and did I mention the leaves?  Yeah, I kinda did.  Big, small, gold, burnt umber, okra and coffee colors; some crinkling and others still pliable, at least for now. crinkling Walking in my neighborhood is like a kaleidoscope, ever changing as you turn the lens.  The same occurred on a long - over 200 mile - drive about last weekend.  Every corner of the long and windin...

tick tick tick tick I receive daily writing prompts in my inbox.  I go through streaks of using them, when they intrigue me and dry spells when the ideas bore me. A recent one that pricked my writing reverie was “write a list of things that tick;” quite different from things that tick me off.  Honestly, there are days that list would be a catalog.  No, this one was simply things that tick.  I interpreted that as a sound - a clicking or rhythmic beat; and even took it a step further with a check mark indicating something is done.  I avoided the pesky blood-sucking insect that latches itself to you while hiking in the summer. A few of the words and phrases that I wrote on my list pocket watch     alarm clock    time bomb     my eye when I’m stressed     creepy working to clean the pool    a metronome     high heels on a concrete floor    D...

east lake, oregon ... summer 2015 Morning came with a cold smack in the face.  The sun was just beginning to light the day, soft and melancholy.  The campground was quiet as dawn tip-toed in.  Snuggling down a little further in my flannel lined sleeping bag, I noticed my visible breath; evidence of the chill.  In a sleepy, pre-coffee state of mind, I heard the chop of an axe, crumpling paper and the promising strike of a match.  Crackling flames stirred me from my cocoon, mocking me to emerge and join the day.   Silent mornings have a cold heart. This snippet pretty much sums up a recent camping trip to East Lake.  We had an unseasonal cold front move through, dropping the temperatures from the usual mid to upper 40’s at night down to, well, seeing my breath conditions.  Fortunately, I had not only my not-made-for-backpacking sleeping bag, but a wool quilt piled on top.  Add to that sweats and I was all toasty. I did em...

walking the chosen road We all have roads to walk... Roads filled with flowers and fluffy bunnies and all things bright; others strewn with stones and cluttered with boulders of gargantuan size.  Most roads, however, are ordinary... laundry lists, family obligations and the day-to-day necessities. Right now, I am keenly aware of my stony path and the boulder-blocked trails for family and friends.  When I analyze my "stones" I see that they are, in reality, merely fine grains of sand.   To the many feet that have walked before You have paved the way, broken trail Adventurous in spirit … with curiosity unending You have opened our minds to infinite possibilities Crossing oceans, climbing mountains, Planting fruit and flowers and trees; crops to harvest and feed You have created, invented … and harnessed Tools, vehicles and electricity, and the wind Seeing beyond the here and now You were and are still a visionary, a wanderer … a disco...