I make an effort to not pay too much attention to the numbers; 108, 111, 118, 120…. It’s all just dam hot. In Arizona, it is easy to be discouraged with the summer; the unforgiving heat manages to drain motivation and oppress the excitement that summer is supposed to bring. I often wish my kids […]

At a distance, creeping along the horizon I heard a curious hum of the Cicada chorus steadily approach like a wave in the full belly of the sea.  As the vibration grew closer it intensified like a like a flash flood breaking through the forest…the high pitched buzzing and unavoidable magnitude of their song echoed […]

My ritual practices for closing out this year began on the Winter Solstice.  I find it no coincidence that on that very morning, nature as she often does, gifted me with a most magnificent and symbolic spectacle.  I was lying in bed and contemplating the nature of birds, my healing, my feelings of oppression.  I […]

Recently my boys and I decided to create art from nature found objects.  We made little paintbrushes from dried, stripped and frayed yucca leaves, paste from ground mesquite beans, and textures from leaves, fibers and dirt.  We smashed up and grinded flower petals, seeds, cacti and pomegranate fruit to make rich colors and we painted […]

One day I decided to give the boys some home lessons on American plants and animals that are endangered and on the brink extinction.  We learned about the American chestnut tee (and its revival), the Texas Golden Gladecress, the Crimson Hawaiian Damselfyl, The Grey Wolf, American Bison, the West Indian Manatee, we even discovered the […]