Category Archives: Nature

Good Measure

In the strong stir of southern wind,
the long, slender limbs of locust
bend to the north in sweeping crescents
of graceful submission, Continue reading

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An Ancient Art

My third son, Daniel, has been the premier outdoorsman of the family since his youth. His dedication has cultivated a skill level that rivals that of anyone I’ve ever met. Although we have fished together since he was a kid, this is the first time we’ve ever been on a hunt together. Continue reading

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Extenuating Circumstances

Imagine a twenty-ton dandelion, sixty-to-seventy feet tall and with branches extending thirty feet in every direction. That’s what the cottonwood tree is like during its month-long spawn.
Continue reading

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A Preparation of Peace

I step out the back door into the pleasant air of morning. A dark blue edge shows in the sky, high and to the east, tracing the form of the passing storm front. The horses look up from the low edge of the paddock. They swing around and head toward me, heads bobbing in fast walk. Continue reading

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A Closer Witness

There is no sense of sky this morning,
just a low-lying grayness that closes in,
shutting off the sense of anything
beyond the near bluffs and hills
just past the creek. Continue reading

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Reflecting on Fifty Years of Change in Societal Beliefs

Some folks say “it’s only weather”
and I’d say that most days
it is sort of trivial conversation
but then again, I guess tsunamis and hurricanes
are weather, too.
Continue reading

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A Hard Spring

And in that returning, I believe her celebration will sound a stronger chorus, resonating with the bark and blooms of the Appalachians, a full resounding with all that God has made and done. Continue reading

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An Ill Wind

After several minutes of encroaching claps of thunder, the strength of the storm erupted in the early hours of our Sunday morning in Kansas. Continue reading

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Spring Morning

In the ebbing darkness of an April night,
the bright circle of the moon
holds full and warm
above the ridge. Continue reading

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A Whisper of Faith

ool air eases in through the window,
something less than a breeze,
just a soft flowing of the night. Continue reading

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