Student Union | Pullman, WA | June 2019
I’ve heard college has become immensely stressful. It’s competitive, expensive and just plain hard to learn amid distractions of the digital age. Yet it’s still a privilege — isn’t it? — to spend years exploring the subject that interests you most? To become an expert on, say, cell mitochondria or bridge trusses or stardust? To give your mind and morals the (more…)
Cows Grazing | Dusty, WA | June 2019
Standing in a field doing nothing has to be one of life’s most underrated activities. It’s just you and the grass — and the insects, rodents, reptiles, birds, cows, breezes, sunshine and soul of the farmer who planned and planted the whole thing. All there, relaxed in the temporal flow, waiting for nothing, pesky (more…)
Darkness Ahead | Lacrosse, WA | June 2019
This ominous road sign (blacked out by work crews) stood against a landscape veiled in wildfire smoke and seared by noonday sun. It gave me pause. If God doesn’t speak in a booming voice but instead through earthly signs and symbols, then shouldn’t I take heed? Five miles farther, farmlands dimmed under a brownish cloud of (more…)
Painted Bus | Washtucna, WA | June 2019
In retirement I’m more alert to things transformed. People and objects that have found new uses — new paths, new purposes — prove that vitality lies ahead. For decades, this derelict bus (in a field at a rural intersection) has served as a (more…)
Rodeo Rider | Coulee City, WA | May 2019
Not sure what makes a young man ease onto the back of a bronc or bull. It’s not a natural act; even cowboys should avoid bone-crushing brutes. But I like observing the get-ready routines — fitting of gloves, adjustment of ropes, setting of hat just so — although such pre-ride rituals don’t (more…)
Sign at Sunset | Coulee City, WA | May 2019
When I was a kid in Louisiana, Mom would sometimes drive us 40 miles to a Holiday Inn for comforts we lacked at home. Air conditioning, swimming pool, color TV, little soaps, drinking glasses wrapped in paper. “Honey, see if you can find some ice for this Coke,” she’d say, leaning back on pillows piled in the big double bed. I’d go padding down breezeways in search of the magic machine that made (more…)
Feral Cat | East Wenatchee, WA | May 2019
Urban Nature Series | Our neighborhood’s free-roaming felines have admirable qualities. Cleverness: They’ve trained numerous homeowners to feed them daily. Resourcefulness: They sleep in winter under the warm engines of just-parked vehicles. Hopefulness: They freeze like statues (see photo) near bird feeders to (more…)
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