Category: Nature
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Amazing Trees
I’ve recently become a bit obsessed with how amazing trees are. From a tiny seed grows a massive organism that feeds itself with water and nutrients from the earth, absorbs the energy of the sun directly, then provides food and shelter for many other organisms, including us. Trees produce approximately 20% of the oxygen on…
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The Moments We Live For
Life is a series of moments laid out on a long, undulating film strip, each individual strip intersecting with those of others, sometimes merging, and although some people’s moments are in the same time and place, each perspective is unique. There are highs and lows where the focus is perfect and the details are crystal…
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Sounds
I just spent the last two hours in my backyard enjoying the day, enjoying the sights and sounds, the smells and the sensations. For thirty minutes I lay in the grass on my back, eyes closed, listening to everything I could hear. Many species of birds chirped and cawed and sang, and I was able…
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Morning
The first trace of day appears on the horizon, a dim, surreal pink conflating with the dark blues of the atmosphere, breeding an ephemeral tinge of beauty. A low-hanging cloud begins to glow a slowly brightening red, then orange, from its edges to its heart, and a white-throated sparrow awakens from his slumber, whistling his…
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My Pyramid House
Sometimes I’ll daydream about what kind of house I’d build if money were no object. My favorite one is as described below, my pyramid house. It’s a large pyramid, each of the four sides constructed of a special, high-tech glass. With a remote control, you can change the color and tint from completely opaque to…
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Chauncey Peak at Crescent Lake
One of my favorite local hikes is Chauncey Peak at Crescent lake. It’s a loop trail that’s only a couple miles long. The beginning is a steep ascent (very steep – you need to be in good shape to hike the first part) to Chauncey Peak, then you walk along the ridge with Crescent Lake…
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Amadahy and the Raindrop
The rainstorm was a welcome break from the midsummer heat, but as suddenly as it had come, so did it vanish, leaving a thick dampness which caught on their skin. Quickly evaporating from the earth under the brilliant sun, the fallen rain misted and rose in billowing columns, creating a surreal landscape in which the…
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My First Earned Meal
My two best friends and I ripped along the rippled water at fifty miles-per-hour, trying to outrun the black mass a quarter mile to our left. Anyone familiar with Biscayne Bay or the surrounding ocean in South Florida has seen the wall before. It’s a dark gray wall beneath a thunderhead, a distinct wall of…
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What’s the Point, He Thought
He lay on the grass watching the invisible sky, comfortable, not feeling much of anything. There he was, a conscious human, aware of the fact that his consciousness was pondering its own existence, aware of the beauty surrounding him, although it didn’t touch him like he thought maybe it should. It was just there, as…
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The Symphony of Life
He sat with his back to the tree, eyes closed, listening. There was only the music of the forest, the summer breeze tickling the leaves which shimmered back and forth, waving at their guest below, welcoming him to their protective canopy. The songbirds chirped from the swaying treetops, and in the distance a woodpecker battered…