The country is vast, from dry rain-shadow plains desert like to alpine meadows and lakes and across to fog-shrouded coast where tidal flats teem with sea life all under a bright blue sky suffused with the sweetest air and fragrance of pine, spruce, hemlock, and fir.
Spring; babies everywhere, nesters and fledglings, pond floaters bobbing on the water trailing behind a vigilant mother and two cute owls motionless hugging the tree in a remote canyon where Prairie Falcon soared along the high cliffs.
Flowers, beautiful wildflowers in profusion, thrown upon the hillsides and onto the meadows in a grand display of yellows and blues, lavender and reds lining the forest path leading us in–magical!
And above it all, appearing as we top a rise, the mountain, the majestic white mountain.
The joy of a wilderness found, the angst of leaving.
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Traveling Companions
Early morning standing on the running board reaching over to shine the glass
dew still heavy and slanting rays of blue and orange in the thin air
Warm memories of a conversation shared as sunset unfolded in glory
and a bird on a wire sang to the evenings waning
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Questions We Ask
He arrives quickly, stealth perfected, entering the cavity to feed
Foraging, survival in the balance, back and forth he goes
This is not the beginning, no that was long back when he was chosen
what was it that caught her eye, song, color, style?
They paired, shelter built together, then nights of waiting and warming
Taking turns, making ends meet, young ones growing and stretching their wings
They come near the entrance now, a little braver, curious eyes looking out
searching and calling, unaware of the toll exacted
Eyeglasses upon them the scientist studies: how often, how much, how many
In wonder, at times, perhaps alone he asks why
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Civilized Blues
Riding in the back seat with the side window view
taking awhile to realize just when I lost it
Could have been when the two lane hit six
and the concrete beat out the forest two to one
It came on hard, surprised me, I just knew it was gone
That sun backlighting the wildflowers early morning
in the meadow, the deep greens of tree and fern and
the dry brown of the lovely canyon
Snow clinging to the side of steep peaks melting
in waterfall to a turquoise blue alpine lake silence
like the unspoken love among friends walking slowly
along a forest path enchanted by the songs
Too soon we left it, too hard to let it go
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The joy of wildness found
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