Category: Landscape
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Grass | Stratford, WA | 2014 “I believe a leaf of grass is no less the journey-work of the stars.” — American poet Walt Whitman
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Halo | Wenatchee Heights, WA | 2014 It’s easy to imagine that certain big trees have souls. Old-growth cedar, spruce, oak, cypress and redwoods have a knowing that comes from decades or centuries of standing witness to the world. We can feel it, a presence that connects to something deep within us. We only need…
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Face | Moses Lake, WA | 2014 That’s George, the face I see in the wooden steps leading down to the koi pond in the Japanese garden. Always smiling, George reminds me that
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Fence | Searsport, ME | 2014 We hiked a trail that ran alongside the seashore through thick woods. About two miles from the parking lot, we came upon a freestanding section of picket fence. Nearly new and about 15 feet long, it stood by itself exactly parallel to the trail. It kept nothing in, nothing…
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Clouds | Moses Coulee, WA | 2014 I bounded up the mercantile’s steps out of the blazing sun. The store owner sat in the cool shade of the building’s front porch and cuddled his sleeping granddaughter in his arms. “Jilly here just made 18 months,” he whispered, beaming with pride. “She’s a cloud baby.” I’d…
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6 Graves | Douglas, WA | 2014 Determining the location of a cemetery must involve all sorts of factors: Acreage, availability, irrigation, soil type and, of course, a dramatic terrestrial view for all those lingering souls. In fact, I thought for decades that’s why graveyards were sited in pretty places, where the beauty of grassy…
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Farmhouse | Twisp, WA | 2014 Time flutters on the overgrown trail behind the old farmhouse. The county road and parallel power lines are hidden. The whoosh of the state highway is muffled. Sounds of cattle bellowing for dinner could be from the 1890s. Pasture grass rustles on the evening breeze, but otherwise all’s quiet…
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Leaping Poodle | East Wenatchee, WA | 2014 The good dog Joey hesitated before jumping the creek, but not for long. Everything important to him — fetch ball, doggie treats, loving master — were on the other side and moving on down the trail. Although capable of easily bounding the narrow sluice, Joey clearly wasn’t
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Gaps | Hartline, WA | 2014 A space between objects has inexplicable allure. It represents opportunity, possibility or — for you poets — infinity. It sits surrounded, framed and isolated, and beckons us
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Perspective | Withrow, WA | 2014 Shifts in perspective bring new understanding. A boss bans dogs from the office because (we later learn) she was attacked as a child by a Doberman. Farmers realize too late that grasshoppers
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