Living and writing, learning and dreaming in Juneau, Alaska.
Filigrees of frost — then sun, between pleats of cloud, a softness that is somehow loud.
“I think dogs are the most amazing creatures. They give unconditional love. For me they are the role model for being alive.” – Gilda Radner Starting a new story demands hours and hours of mulling, pacing, muttering, stopping and starting. My wonderful Writer Elkhound keeps pace with me, listens with interest to my various howls… Read More
The drift of blossoms create a flat bouquet. Rain drenched colors and a sun break lure the rapid curiosity of a hummingbird. An optical fluke forms as I open the car door. Sunlight, glass and concrete conspire to form a heart.… Read More
The Writer Elkhound and I take a walk. Thora reminds me to keep an eye out for movement and to pause by aromatic patches of spring. The forest is complex, nuanced by dust, new growth, squirrel middens and the rapid strokes of feathers as birds oar through the heavy air. I sense rain. Today is,… Read More
It is the season of unfurling leaves. It is the time when eagles circle back to their aeries and the red tailed hawks ride a thermal into the deepest of blues. I dust off old books and peruse albums that are brittle with age and yet still vibrant, redolent of earlier springs and distant adventures.… Read More
As I grapple with ideas for a developing story my Norwegian Elkhound pup, Thora, gnaws on a non-rawhide chew and occasionally gives chase to a new idea. Elkhounds are an ancient breed with fur the color of spilled ink: black, gray, silver and white. Thora will be a year old at the end of May.… Read More
I listen to rain plopping down from the eaves and am soothed by the slow cloudy unfurling of the season. Buds pop out here and there and the entire world has a shimmer to it. The weather and meadows and woods speak in a vast collection of voices while our current day-to-day world of politics-… Read More
journal jl Sensory Index Are you a list maker? Is it a compulsion? A passion? A way to keep track of all those pesky tasks that have to be done, sooner or later? Whatever the motivation, rows of words have a way of capturing information in a very compact way. A lineup of ingredients.… Read More
Arctic Fort – family album The ink of memory As I write my way into Lou’s world I revisit the rituals of fort building. Snow fortresses involved battle strategy. Any structure constructed in winter was short-lived, prone to cave-ins and conquest, subject to warming trends carried on the balmy currents of a Chinook. Most of… Read More
A Portable Feast wilderness storytelling – family album My parents were story tellers. And they both loved books. Stories are as portable as brains. I am reminded of Ernest Hemingway’s A Moveable Feast. Whether you’re camping in the high country or hunkered down for a long winter’s night: a story is always available. And yet,… Read More
The Unexpected Consequences of Revision I struggle with pages. My goal is to align the dense symbolic icons of words with the vivid image of the story I need to tell. This is a deep revision. Deeper than I thought it would be. Parts of the story have transformed beneath my fingertips: tap tap… Read More