There is an awful lot to like about Robert Frost’s poem “Birches” but the first three lines will do for now: When I see birches bend to left and right Across the lines of straighter darker trees, I like to think some boy’s been swinging them. It is such a sweet vision. That those trees…

Four thousand years ago in Crete ancient fisherman left huge crushed shell middens of a particular kind of sea snail in massive piles in spots in their old cities. We aren’t completely sure what those middens were a sign of but there is a very good guess. Three thousand years ago in ancient Phoenicia, those…

I have never surfed. Or ever really tried. I’ve swam in the ocean. I’ve body surfed. And in my youth I used boogie boards on loan from time to time. And I’ve loved the ocean and I have loved surfing movies and video clips and I’ve loved watching from the shore too. How easy it…

In the last few days a friend sent me this image above. He thought I would like it. And I did. But it was sent without any sense that it had any meaning beyond “this is a cool image.” Being on the receiving end of an image like this can set you to either quickly…

I came across these two prayers for pig hunters recently… ‘Dear Lord. May all dogs be blessed with your grace. To all who wander the fields and forests, may you guide them safely back to camp. Thank you for the blessing of hog meat. Let the hunters always remember it is a gift from you.…

The last few days have brought the biggest snowfalls in New York City, where I live, in quite some time after many years of quite mild winters or at least light on snow. One of the tiny consequences of these storms have been the flipping over of one of my planters where I have grown…

If you live in the northern half of the United States or Canada you will know that the trees there produce fruit, seeds, and nuts that hang out all winter. Sometimes still on the branches and sometimes on the ground at the base of the trees. Trees produce different amounts from year to year based…

If I ask if all be right From mirror after mirror, No vanity’s displayed: I’m looking for the face I had Before the earth was made – William Butler Yeats, Before The World Was Made, 1933 There is a popular social media celebrity who has emerged in the last few weeks named Bunny. Bunny is…

When a reporter asked Marilyn Monroe if she had anything on during her nude photo sessions for Playboy, she famously said “the radio.” While this was a funny rejoinder it speaks to the way that a media environment covers and informs us. Shape us. But also how easy it is to be immersed in them.…

Even if you don’t have heritage from Scandinavia, if I said “viking” to you and asked for your associations I wouldn’t be surprised to hear a few references to Thor or Odin or some other mythological figure. Also likely to be on the list would be “pillaging” and to be sure vikings pillaged. Also on…