Dog Toy Basket | East Wenatchee, WA | 2012
“If God made all our faces, did he laugh when he made me? / Does he sculpt us for his pleasure, for a reason I can’t (more…)
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Tractor Shed | Davenport, WA | 2018
“I’m not made for city streets. My [boots] drop soil from the field behind me, each grain of dirt like a seed revealing who I am. My heart belongs (more…)
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Poolside | Tempe, AZ | 2018
Here’s an appreciation of the palm tree you might not have considered. “Let’s view (the palm) with symbolic eyes,” write editors of the popular website whats-your-sign.com. “The erect, towering trunk representing the phallus — male power rising into action — followed by a flowering, expansive fireworks display of (more…)
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Roof | Beaumont, TX | 2018
1. “God can be realized through all paths. The important thing is to reach the roof,” said Hindu mystic Ramakrishna. “You can reach it by stone stairs or by wooden stairs or by bamboo steps or by a rope. You can also climb up by a bamboo pole.”
2. “Frisbeetarianism is the belief that (more…)
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One Poplar | Wilson Creek, WA | 2018
Sweeping vistas certainly awaken the soul. After all, who’s dismissive of the Grand Canyon? More subtle, the arid landscape of Eastern Washington offers opportunities for … well, let’s call it deep appreciation of stark and simple. A lone element against sunburnt hills captures our (more…)
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Sidewalk View | Spokane, WA |2018
What’s right in front of us isn’t always what we see. This recent view of grasses and clouds transported me to New Orleans, 1977, where I sat on a patio sipping cafe au lait and watching — through a veil of similar stems — the unfolding of a small drama. A few yards away, a shapely woman in a short, tight skirt and killer heels berated a handsome businessman in an expensive suit. “Get this straight,” the woman hissed, poking at the man’s chest with a surprisingly large finger. “Three years of waiting is long enough. If you don’t tell her” — she reached out, cupped the man’s chin and squeezed hard — “I will tell her every … little … thing.” She whipped around into morning sun that revealed (more…)
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Barn Sign | Waterville, WA | 2018
Every time Carla drives past the barn’s old-fashioned billboard, she yearns for a tonic that would cure her ills. Something packed with exotic herbs to cleanse her blood, lessen her torpor, take the edge off what quack doctors once called “female hysteria.” No lie. The pressures of work, kids, parents, and now Phillip’s lay-off have pushed her to a jittery precipice. She’s begun to chew her cuticles. Her evening glass of wine has increased to three. Nothing soothes — not the gym, not meditation, not the rosary. “I need a jolt,” Carla sighs. “I need something to …” Up ahead, she sees (more…)
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Atrium | Wenatchee, WA | 2018
Sometimes we aren’t aware of the universe swirling around us. Our families, our finances, our phones distract us from the broader, more cosmic view. Three decades ago, I stood on a westernmost point and focused intently on the giant storm waves pounding the beach at my feet. Incredible. But on turning to leave, I discovered behind me (how did I miss this?) a sheer cliff 20 stories high and roiling with (more…)
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Artifact | East Wenatchee, WA | 2017
Resting in a meadow, the big concrete block whispers when I walk past. “Why am I here?” it asks. “And how long has it been?” They’re questions I don’t really want answered because the big block’s value lies, for me, in its mysterious origin. OK, I can guess that it might be the remnant of a fruit conveyor (orchard to river) or a water-pumping station built in the 1940s (maybe). But I’d rather believe it’s an artifact from (more…)
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Dark Cloud | Twisp, WA | 2018
“Our mind is like a cloudy sky — in essence clear and pure, but overcast by clouds of delusions. Just as the thickest clouds can disperse, so too can (more…)
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