The Season’s Cycle: Endings and Returnings
As I settle in for our much-needed rainy season, I reflect on a busy, rewarding, (and hot) summer/early fall.
Where Science Meets Art
Have you ever been transfixed by the beauty of a spider web, heavy with jewels of morning dew? Or hypnotized by a multi-layered lenticular cloud, floating over Tahoma? Of course, you have!
The Wonderland Trail: One Ounce and One Step at a Time
Valerie always feared that Big Blue would be the death of me. She worried that the gargantuan pack would make her a widow, afraid that she’d come around a bend in the trail to find me squashed like an ant, arms and legs splayed outward under the massive beast. It never happened, but I learned a few things along the way.
People Ask the Best Questions!
It’s been a year since the publication of Tahoma and Its People, and my first book talk via Zoom. Since then, I’ve given over 30 talks for about 2,000 people. I LOVE the Q and A sessions that follow. They keep me on my toes, give me a chance to admit I don’t know something, or make something up (just kidding). To honor a great first year for Tahoma, here’s a rundown of some of my favorite questions.
The Backstory on Those Notebooks
When the company’s marketing director caught sight of my collection of field notebooks, he said, “Oh my—we’ve never seen anything like this before.”
2020: What a Wild Year!
When we look back on 2020, most will probably remember it as the year that lasted a decade. The COVID-19 pandemic. Record-breaking unemployment. A reckoning for racial justice. Devastating fires and storms resulting from climate change. Murder hornets! A contested presidential election. A second surge in the virus, worse than the first. You might ask, […]
A Second Edition of Tahoma and Its People? Already?
Also bound for Tahoma’s second edition is the proposed upgrade to Mount Rainier’s lahar detection system. The U.S. Geological Survey plans to install 17 lahar monitoring stations that will improve the agency’s volcano monitoring and lahar detection capacity. With 1.2 million people and over $40 billion of property values in the river valleys leading away from Mount Rainier, there’s much at stake.
Does the Bear S**T in the Woods?
Valerie and I marked Day 50 of Governor Inslee’s “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” order by staying hunkered down and hanging in there. Here are a few of my recent street-side posts, my humble attempt to bring a little light to the world: What a long, strange trip it’s been- The Grateful Dead I’m picking up […]
In These Uncertain Times
Years ago, I took students to 6th grade camp for a week. We hiked and worked on science and craft projects during the day, had campfire programs after dinner, and slept in cabins at night. On the second or third night, a camper’s blood curdling screams pierced my peaceful sleep. “HELP! HELP! Jeff, help me! […]
Books on My Doorstep, Mud on the Highway
From the kitchen table, I caught a glimpse of a FedEx truck driving away. Yikes—maybe they’re here! Sure enough, the first 40 copies of Tahoma and Its People were on the front doorstep. I had arranged for family and a few friends to gather for a “book reveal,” but the books had come sooner than […]