Spring and fall have been my favorite seasons for most of my life, yet I am seeing spring emerge with fresh eyes this year. As many of us have slowed our pace, verdant spring races ahead. I find myself acutely aware of its brisk transitions, and
Read more →Appreciation of Nature
Did you know that being grateful is good for your health? There is ongoing research that links gratitude with improved self-esteem, resiliency, and improved overall satisfaction with life. Grateful people are better able to build new friendships and to strengthen relationships that already exist. Research also
Read more →There’s a stark beauty to winter trees. I’m fascinated by the intricacy of the branches that begin with thick, central trunks. They branch and soar and branch again, until there are thousands of delicate twigs pricking the chilled sky that surrounds them. The anatomist in
Read more →I want to introduce you to Darius, the dragonfly who suddenly appeared one clear spring morning in 2011. You’ve seen his picture on the opening page of my website. He landed effortlessly on the tip of a slender reed growing in a Koi pond that was
Read more →“Who has seen the wind? Neither you nor I; but when the trees bow down their heads the wind is passing by.” Christina Rossetti On a rigorous climb to Máméan in Connemara, Ireland last summer, a hearty band of us passed a lone scrub tree, clinging to
Read more →“Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out going to the mountains is going home; that wilderness is a necessity.” -John Muir In capturing the essence of nature’s power to heal and restore us, poets have gotten it right for centuries. In the early 1800s,
Read more →“–then on the shore Of the wide world I stand alone, and think Till Love and Fame to nothingness do sink.” John Keats Poets are forever extolling the power of nature, and a week at the seashore certainly rejuvenated me. On a chilly and blustery first day
Read more →“The more sand that has escaped from the hourglass of our life, the clearer we should see through it.” Jean-Paul Sartre (1905–1980) Another glorious fall is here–transitioning us from muggy summer days to the crisp chill of autumn. Each year, when this season evolves, I reflect on
Read more →“Life is a series of sensations connected to different states of consciousness” Remy De Gourmont (1858–1915) French critic and novelist One of the most aesthetically appealing alternative therapies is Aromatherapy. Do you have powerful memories evoked by certain smells? A whiff of fragrant boxwoods transports me immediately
Read more →“As a cure for the cold, take your toddy to bed, put one bowler hat at the foot, and drink until you see two.” Sir Robert Lockhart (1886–1970) British author and diplomat Though a hot toddy has frequently been suggested as a home remedy for colds, alcohol
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