I’ve just started using Scrivener, and have a section in my project for my next book that lists the books I want to read and has sections where I can make notes about what I learned from each book and quotes I could pull from. The project is set up in such a way that...

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“A living organism is not so much a substance as a concentration gradient; not so much a thing as a proportional relationship maintained through the doggedness of habit.” This line comes from the preface of Ellen Wayland-Smith’s The Science of Last Things: essays on deep time and the boundaries of the self. I had originally...

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Lately I’ve been working on an essay that is predicated on the premise of my next book: how to enjoy the outdoors with anxiety and bipolar II. The essay has distilled one strand of the book into 2500 words, and I’m thinking about how to expand on that to create a full-length book that follows...

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Two years ago, in 2022, we went to the Rockies for our 20th anniversary. We went back in December of 2022 because we enjoyed our fall trip so much, but it was the coldest December in years at -40°C! We had planned to go back in October of 2023, but due to my illness we...

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I’m working on a new book. The first book is still in the production stages: copyedits, layout, proofreading. I just have to finish the last round of copyedits and then it can move on to the next stage. In the meantime, I’ve been pondering book #2. I have a great topic, a whole pile of...

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Usually I post a book review at the end of the month, but I’ve been reading a few books lately that I waned to share with you, so this is more of a roundup than a single review. I just finished reading North Woods, by Daniel Mason. It follows each generation that occupies a cabin...

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The light is changing as we slide into autumn. It pools, viscous and gold, on the leaves of the catalpa trees that have finally grown tall above our gate. It drips over the big-leafed maples, which are already losing their leaves to drought. The dark creeps in earlier each evening, the moon lighting up the...

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Last week I injured my knee on Cobble Hill Mountain. Turns out it’s the quad muscle that attaches to the inner knee that’s the culprit. The question is, will I be okay to go hiking in the Rockies at the end of the month? I’m still fiddling with my medications due to the high I...

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I haven’t been hiking lately because I injured my knee (with me it’s always the knees that are the first to go). So I’ve been following RICE (rest, ice, compress, elevate) and thinking about how I want my life to go over the next few years. Now that I’ve finished my fifth book review in...

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Usually the last Wednesday of the month is reserved for a book review. But I’ve been reviewing so many books lately that I don’t want to do another one for this post. Instead, I want to talk about what I’ve gleaned from the books I’ve reviewed lately, and what my reaction has been. I’ve reviewed...

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