Category: Home Work
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Work Gloves | Twisp, WA | August 2019 I peeled off the gloves to discover the lines of my hands had imprinted on the rubberized fabric. Finger creases and palm prints showed that I’d gripped a rake handle for an hour. Unusual, yes, but maybe all clothes retain evidence of our activities? Jeans wrinkled at…
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Tomato | East Wenatchee, WA | July 2019 I seek ripeness, but it’s stubbornly elusive. A full ripening requires patience, and most of society — whoa, wouldja look at the time? — has to be somewhere else. Tomatoes at their ripened peak are good role models, however. Yesterday, they were pulpy potential. Today, they’re prime…
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Grasses at Bathroom Window | Twisp, WA | June 2019 Grass grows. And mowing it has been a constant in my life for over five decades. Pocket lawns, big fields, sprawling suburban yards — I’ve clipped them all. Still, it grows. Push mowers, self-propelled mulchers, riding machines, bush hog tractors — slicing, chopping, spewing. It…
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Mow | Twisp, WA | June 2019 Hitting a rough patch has benefits. It jars you from the norm and alerts you to a shift in conditions. You learn quickly that grit hurled at high velocity will sting enough to require immediate response. You can
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Strawberry | Pasco, WA | June 2019 Small things reflect big things. Spiral shell = spiral galaxy. Leaf veins = river delta. Strawberry = supernova. “To see a world in a grain of sand … hold infinity in the palm of your hand,” wrote poet William Blake. The more we wander, the more we
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Grills | Wenatchee, WA | May 2019 A grill master in Spain has received worldwide acclaim for his barbecued baby eels served on a bed of smoked seaweed. Me? I like hot dogs. Either way, food cooked over an open fire seems more gift than gastronomy. The recipe is in the cooking itself, straight from…
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Palm | East Wenatchee, WA | May 2019 Tropical is a state of mind. Wear a Hawaiian shirt and sandals while sipping mimosas under an electric palm and … well, it doesn’t matter if it’s 50 degrees outside with a threat of rain. What matters is that
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Thorns | East Wenatchee, WA | May 2019 Once in awhile, beauty makes you bleed. Climb mountains, sculpt marble, pick roses — you’re subject to pain and puncture all in the name of splendor. Most unsettling, though, are artful moments that prick your emotional poise. They slice through defenses, nick the heart, and can chafe…
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Checkers | Cashmere, WA | May 2019 Our paint’s wearing off, too. And our pieces are jumbled or missing. But the great thing about this game — this one unfolding now — is that, despite appearances, we’re still practiced players. A faded, peeling board only intensifies our
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Leaves | East Wenatchee, WA | May 2019 Beauty often emerges from life’s tangle. We step back and begin to see hidden patterns, maybe even meaning amid the mess. When I stare into the distance, friends think I’m wrestling with deep thoughts. But I’m really just mesmerized by
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