View Over Selle Valley

My home sits on the edge of a cliff 200 feet above the Selle Valley. In a ten-mile view, the Schweitzer Mountains are against the sky, revealing a huge granite bowl with a multi-faceted ski area. The world between here and there abounds with snow, the morning air is full of electricity, and the frost…

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April Deluge

When winter rains take on increasingly torrential proportions, it’s fair to assume the spring season has begun. Seasonal springs, overflow, and gush from the mountainside. Enormous icicles cleave into deeply muddied ground and evergreens dump bucketfuls of water from their thick canopy of tightly woven needles. The level ground is riddled with overflowing puddles and…

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Last Light

“Last Light,” describes that time of year when the winter solstice has almost arrived. From my home above, the valley, the fields spread out in a dimmed coat of silver and at times, it seems only Jupiter holds a beacon to guide us into a gradual rekindling of the spirit through the longer nights.

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Cold Snap

There are late autumnal mornings when the atmosphere freezes into a dry crispness. My breath crystallizes as soon as it leaves my lips. The folds in my jacket and jeans stiffen and make a light scratching sound. More importantly, the colors seem more vivid and the forms of the vegetation seem visually sharpened. My grandmother…

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