Tag: Soul Friend

  • On Darkness and Chains

    At dusk, we gather at the trailhead, deep in Kanawha State Forest. We wear headlamps. Carry flashlights and walking sticks. As daylight slips away, our leader calls us together. We count off—14 hikers in all. “Let’s go!” she finally says.  And we are off, boots crunching on the rocky path.

    A night time sky full of stars and the milky way. There are shades of yellow and pink in the distance at the horizon. There are silhouettes of trees and a paved walkway or road in the foreground.
  • Murmuration

    “A swooping, soaring, diving, winding, everchanging, synchronous aerial dance of thousands— sometimes even hundreds of thousands—of birds, that fills the sky for long moments, like a flittering fireworks finale.”

  • Deep Summer

    Oh … deep summer. Day after day the sun beats down, as temperatures creep into the nineties. Though there is little rain, the air is thick with moisture. Going outside is like donning a soggy jacket. “Like walking through soup,” one friend says. There is nothing to do but retreat indoors.

    A bright purple flower with petals that look like cotton balls.
  • Birth and Death: Nature’s Way

    In my last blog post, I described my glee while watching baby birds in my yard, especially a pair of fledgling Northern cardinals. I hoped hard that these babies would live. They were the third brood this season of a cardinal couple that nests annually in my yard. The second brood did not survive.

  • A West Virginia Paradise

    Tucked away, on the outskirts of Morgantown, is a paradise of colorful gardens, wooded trails, grassy wetlands, and quiet streams. Here, you will lose yourself amid countless blooms, tall oaks and hemlocks, songbirds, butterflies, and dragonflies.

    Sheila reading from her book while standing in front several people who are seated.