“My Hero” by Billy Collins

It’s startling how Billy Collins pierces through the verbosity of prose to the core of an emotion. Since I discovered “The Lanyard,” poems like “Old Man Eating Alone in a Chinese Restaurant” and his new work “Cheerios” and “To My Favorite 17-Year-Old High School Girl” from Aimless Love have found their way into my scrapbook. “My Hero,” […]

Amsterdam: Biking to Ouderkerk aan de Amstel

This afternoon I regaled a coworker with stories behind my slew of Amsterdam photos, which made me realize I’ve neglected to post one of the best parts of my trip on the blog! So here it is: a bike ride from Amsterdam to Ouderkerk aan de Amstel, a village south of the city. The weather […]

50 Summer Activities We’re Nostalgic For

Come summer I still think of my San Joaquin Valley hometown and the slap-slap of rotor sprinklers watering the front lawn; the clean, cold taste of valley water fresh from the hose (William Saroyan–style); the loamy scent emanating from almond orchards being irrigated at night; the mellow sounds of crickets and frogs seemingly lethargic from […]

Happy summer solstice!

In the Northern Hemisphere, sunlight lingers the longest today, enveloping you in a balm that’s deliciously warm. (In my mind at least.) How would you like to wade through the eddies of a lazy river? I’ve always loved the way the water swirls and flows in O’Keeffe’s Chama River image, contrasted with the shades of […]

Originally posted on Grist:
Monterey Bay Aquarium A baby red octopus is small enough to sleep on your fingernail. Which explains how one managed to sneak into the Monterey Bay Aquarium on a rock or sponge and stow away there for nearly a year, secretly snacking on the aquarium’s crabs, before being found. The sneaky…

The fourth shot left me breathless. I would so love to be traversing that path!…just dawdling, taking my time to take in the colors, nowhere to be but where I am.

Originally posted on Flandrum Hill:
Whether you’re six or sixty, if you don’t already have a secret place where you can be uninterrupted by yourself, perhaps it’s time you found one. Either in nature or near it, such a place offers you the opportunity to escape from the world for a few minutes and just……