mountains

Salt water, stone walls

September 28, 2019 Uncategorized

Two weeks in the central valley, and I’ve pretty much spent it elsewhere. A recap: I. Floating in a sway of kelp forest, I come to find the lineup is shared with a sea lion lurking under my frozen toes. I wouldn’t be out at this break if Daniel hadn’t led us down the stairs from West Cliff Drive past the dead surfers’ memorial to the high tide line crashing on algae-covered rocks. But he slipped and jumped in, so,Read More

These days, well-lived

July 5, 2016 Uncategorized

Part I: Airplane Mode [listen: Morning, Tom Rosenthal] In the trickling down of glacial rivers you can hear secrets of a life well-lived: an afternoon spent eavesdropping on hummingbirds, leaning against the trunk of a whitebark pine. Last night we watched the sun go down for hours — stood in silence to watch a coming tide of sun-seared clouds roll, tuck under, twist, and scatter as they hurled themselves upon the stonewall of our volcano fortress for the night; sleptRead More

Spring cleaning

May 6, 2016 Uncategorized

I have one toe smeared on nothing and the other, where my shoe is starting to wear through, is mashed down on a paper-clip-thin nubbin–a hope and a prayer, really, are all they are while I contemplate my options: Traverse diagonally right, up the sloping ledge upon which my hands are struggling for a better grip, and sink my fingers into the vertical crack until I figure out what to do next, or fall. Fall far, on a red X4,Read More