This year, Let’s not stop with casting Bread onto the water, Our stale old sins Confessed and forgotten. This year, Let’s cast the water, too, Cast it so far the river sinks Beneath the dusty earth, So far the sand Bakes into clay and shatters. So far, To parched lands where Thirsty travelers pray, Not […]
One person walks up to another in a local coffeeshop. “Are you ———?””Yes, I am.””I’m ———. Twenty years ago you saved my life.””Well. I’m glad you’re still here.” The first person proceeds to share photos of his daughter, who is now starting college, with the second. I know no more than that. Well, no more
How you know you live in the desert: when your child sees frost on the car in the morning and proclaims, “Snow!” In other news, what decidious leaves we have are falling from the trees. A good December to you all, whatever your own seasonal signs may be.
And so we come to December Read More »
This weekend is the next Tucson Festival of Books! After six years, it’s hard to believe this event hasn’t been part of Tucson forever. I’ll be there this Sunday, signing with Mostly Books from 12-12:45 p.m. (booth #148), and then moderating Ally Carter and Sarah Mlynowski’s Twitter and Trailers: Using Social Media to Promote Your
Tucson Festival of Books! Read More »
I remember, not long after moving to the desert, coming upon a broad, sandy dry gully that was labelled a “river.” I believe, at the time, that I laughed. After two decades of living in the desert, I don’t laugh anymore. The desert may save her rivers for special occasions, but when they come out
Desert storms wake desert rivers Read More »
Speaker 1: “I hear it might to snow on Mount Lemmon [this week].” Speaker 2: “Really? What will it be like here?” Speaker 1: “Low 40s.” Speaker 3: “We can wear our sweaters. Finally!” Speaker 2: “Time to pull out the socks.” Speaker 1 (agreeing): “Sock weather!”
Season change, Tucson style Read More »
This weekend we headed to the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum for the start of this year’s free flight program. It’s a twice-daily program where the birds are flown unconstrained outdoors, and in between the morning (chihuahuan raven, great-horned owl, prairie falcon, ferriginous hawk, red-tailed hawk) and afternoon (barn owl, Harris hawk family) flights, we wandered
Hanging with the smaller corvids Read More »
Sometimes, you need to leave the city behind and spend the day reading beneath the mountain pines. The rain waited until right as I finished the book I’d brought with me.* Then it fell, not lightly, but not pelting either, a cool rain with sun lighting the drops that made sitting out there, letting it
A mountain, a book, and a summer day Read More »
Been watching videos of turkey vultures between drafts (next pass should be the final one) of the raven book. As one does. “Turkey vultures have a lot of really cool natural behaviors and adaptations or … disgusting habits … depending on how you look at it”: Socially awkward adaptations or not, naming your turkey vulture
Hanging with the (turkey) vultures Read More »