I spotted a small beechnut on the ground of a trail recently, still in its outer wrapping. I thought of the big beech trees that bears used to climb in the fall for nourishment, and recently I learned on the news that beech trees can be tapp...

Shortly after I recorded my April Fool message, thinking we has seen our first robin, a real one appeared right on cue. I wondered if the robin had heard what I was talking about or was it a pure accident that it appeared when it did. That g...

April first, a day we used to play tricks on friends and family when we were kids. In looking for signs of spring, we thought we saw our first robin on the lawn just resting in place and not moving. I decided to take a picture and saw throug...

The first of our tiny crocuses is opening to the spring sun. I am excited about a little color coming to the blah landscape, and it is a sign that more plants will be in bloom soon. In life people can add a little bit of positive color with ...

I have learned that signs of support and guidance come to me in many shapes and sizes. Many of them would easily be overlooked if I was not paying attention to the moment, like the very small heart shaped rock I recently saw on the trail to ...

I can almost hear the fuzzy pussy willow blossoms purring in the spring sun. It is one sign of a change in the season. They remind me to focus on the warm fuzzy side of life each day; the side that is filled with love and gratitude.<...

In the fall and spring when the bare ground freezes overnight, ice crystals push up through the earth looking like valuable gems waiting to be collected. To me they are of great value, filling my heart with gratitude for being witness to thi...

It has been a great maple syrup season with the sap buckets often overflowing before they are emptied. It is amazing how one drop of sap at a time can accumulate to the forty gallons necessary to make a gallon of syrup. I think of one act of...

I often imagine that I am seeing spirits in the bark of trees or other places in Nature. I choose to look for positive signs or affirmations that I do not go through life alone. I choose to believe I have a whole positive team that accompani...

When there is a little snow on the ground, I can see the twists and turns of the brook as it charts its course down the mountain. A couple of hundred years ago the flow was controlled by dams to power a millstone. When the mill was abandoned...

It is interesting to watch the smaller birds like the juncos and chickadees when they come to the feeders. They like places to escape and hide from larger predatory birds. Tightly packed bushes are favorites. It is also interesting how peopl...

As we approached the orchard, I noticed a bird sitting on top of the new birdhouse, but by the time I got the camera ready, it had flown to a nearby tree. I took a long-distance picture which confirmed that it was a bluebird. It had been my ...

The latest melt erased most of the snow, and then the weather turned cold again. In between the storms of spring, I was able to hike to the cabin and the lupine field with its incredible views. I thought about the positive things we can do i...

The mud season has begun here in the foothills, and it is time to close the parking areas to protect them from being all rutted up. One year there was a car that got stuck all the way to its frame. It was there for over a month. In life, we ...

Today I am reminded the old saying, “Hope springs eternal.” It is the first day of spring, although the weather may not seem like it. There is hope that sooner, rather than later, warmer weather will take over. My intention and hope is to wa...

Just when it looks like warmer weather, winter creates a new ice exhibit in the brook. I know it is only temporary as spring is arriving. We often hang on to things longer than we need to, whether a habit or an old wornout sweater.

Our snow-covered landscape has experienced rapid changes in the last couple of weeks, leaving the ground just about bare, with daffodils and crocus pushing up through the soil. Life can change rapidly, sometimes without warning. Trusting in ...

Today is Saint Patrick’s Day, celebrated by Irish and would-be Irish. I will lift a cup of green tea and perhaps a glass of stout in honor of this Irish saint. I am also celebrating another right of spring in a healthy and positive way with ...

This area of the country has been in a drought since last year that even the snow from winter has not erased. A fresh coating of snow over bare ground that melts into the earth is often called poor man’s fertilizer. It helps prepare the soil...

Squirrels are gnawing on the maple tree limbs to enjoy the sweet taste of sap. Sometimes the sap will freeze and form icicles that the birds like to peck at. Nature also gives us great pleasure with its eye candy that we can capture with our...

Again, just when we thought spring had chased winter away, it came back with another coating of snow. Then the forecast calls for heavy rain, so the snow will be soon melted. That might happen several times before spring takes over. It remin...

Friday the 13th has long been considered an unlucky day by the superstitious. Its origins seem to come from different times and cultures in history, from the Norse gods to the Knights Templars. Personally, I give very little thought to the d...

The recent warm weather has caused a lot of snow to disappear. That does not mean it will not return before the season is over. In life our minds often make things disappear. It is good to know what is real and what isn’t.

It has taken me a little time to adjust to daylight savings time this year, and that has reminded me that we are always making adjustments to most everything in our lives. We can resist the adjustment or make the best of them for the greater...

The beech trees are starting to release the end of last year’s growth, just in time for new buds to form. I think of people that tried to change a New Years’ habit but are still hanging on to it. Now is a wonderful time to release the old in...