Coyote Crossing

In the Shoshone Range

One of my favorite photos of me ever. Taken about a dozen years ago by Sharon Leach as we hiked in the Shoshone Range, central Nevada.

There’s just something about pinyon and juniper that makes me utterly content. It might just be my favorite

You know what’s weird?

...when you’re doing research on climate stuff and you see a thumbnail of a video of one of your dearest friends, and it’s the first time you’ve seen it and it’s almost a year out of date.

Not bad for lacking a teleprompter. Nice work, … (continues)

That was a good day

Photo by Sharon Leach, taken May 1996

We slept out on the open desert the night before, after driving from the Bay Area through Reno and up the east shore of Pyramid Lake. We took the road as far as the truck would let us. The four of us walked

Taos 3

Coyotes sing just outside my window. I awake. It isn’t a dream. The dogs take off after them, singing joyous outrage. The sheep must be protected. Hazel the little goat has broken her leg somehow, and my host will cart her down to the vet in an

Taos 2

The rough wood deck feels good against my thighs, sun-warmed in afternoon. A yellow leaf from a cottonwood lands on my knee. I let it stay. My old workboots look good against the duff. There’s motion across the toe of the left one: an elongated

Taos 1

There were two trees here, once; twin and slender boles straining together toward the light, leaves feeding on sun and their branches broadening. Each bole bore a canopy of heart-shaped leaves brilliant yellow in October. Each canopy turned a

Letters from the desert: Back

...and then off again, heading south to watch election coverage with The Raven. But I wanted to report that my Taos pal got great news: no sign of metastasis and expectation of full recovery. Go Team Us! More soon, and thanks to all of you who

Letters from the desert: While I’m in New Mexico

Heading to Santa Fe tomorrow to accompany my pal to doctor’s appointments and such. My feeling for this place is surprisingly intense. I will be distilling said feeling into writing over the next couple days. Until I do so, take a look at this

Letters from the desert: A quick note or two

I’ll be doing a bit of writing here over the next days, but it’s not ready yet, and I want to push that layout-breaking photo off the front page. (The monitor-breaking photo at top left of the front page stays. Sorry.)

Item: I’m sitting in the

Cargo Cult logic

“You know,” I said to my old friend, “I’ve been thinking.” She was in a better mood than the last time we’d talked. The news had sunk in, I guess, for bad and good, and she was chuckling again, and we were chatting more or less happily. Eight years