The wind blew all night. It rushed in from the northeast, breaking over the peaks and hollows of the Province Lands. It kept me awake with that quality of sound […]
ON THE LANDSCAPE
The Leafhopper’s Leap of Faith
A bug provides perspective on a world of possible soft landings
It was a lie-in-the-grass type of day, so I listened and lay in the grass. If a day has this feeling, and you have a moment, it’s a good thing […]
SURFING
To Learn to Surf, Leave the Board on the Beach
Watch for currents, feel the waves, and start your relationship with the ocean
Surfing is, in essence, being in a relationship with the sea. Before you learn to surf, you must learn to be close to the water. A learner soon finds that […]
ON THE LANDSCAPE
The Astonishing Fact That Trees Flower
Wondering at blossoms on winter-hardened wood
I sit in front of the window to write. A small desk is built into its frame, made from an old slab of maple that was milled with a chain […]
ON THE LANDSCAPE
On Pine Needle Paths
In the canopy, and on the ground, pine needles blanket our world
WELLFLEET — Moving down the path that runs along the southern edge of Dyer Pond, I felt the cold northeast air move over the pond and chill my windward side. […]
ON THE LANDSCAPE
The Evanescence of a Spring Frost
On the lawn, meltwater awakens new growth
Snow dusted the grass only a few times this winter, and the birdbath stayed full of water, not ice, for most of the season. There were, however, morning frosts, hard […]
On the Landscape
The Foxes Watch Back
On feeling mutual curiosity in an animal’s gaze
I was driving up a sandy road on the ocean side the other day. I had been surfing in the early morning at a little sandbar. I was salty and […]
ON THE LANDSCAPE
A Gardener’s Fire
Hauling fallen brush into the flames is a ritual that makes way for new growth
When the fires of late winter and spring are lighted, they awaken old memories. All through my childhood, my brothers and I, alongside our parents, would rake and burn for […]
ON THE LANDSCAPE
The Perennial Surprise of the Crocuses
Pushing up from under mounds of snow, these flowers believe in spring
In the early days of February, little shoots of yellow-green began emerging from the soil in my gardens, pushing up along pathways and around the roots of trees in the […]
ON THE LANDSCAPE
Stepping Into the Moonlight
On winter nights, when all that exists is shape and form
When I was 12 years old, I moved into a cabin in my parents’ Wellfleet yard. It was down by the chicken coop, 10 feet by 12, made of pine […]
ON THE LANDSCAPE
Ode to a Nor’easter
In the aftermath of a proper storm, its formative power is felt
A sou’easter blew the tide into Provincetown in December. Then, this past Saturday, a piece of the polar vortex swept by, stunningly cold. These strange storms have me remembering our […]
ON THE LANDSCAPE
In Winter Buds, an Offering
Swaddled on sleeping branches, the gift of next season’s green
Imagine for a moment the view outside your window a few months from now. The sun moves higher across the sky. The trees are waking up. Delicate creased forms break […]
ON THE LANDSCAPE
The Remarkable Life of One Dead Tree
In a cascade of decay, a churning, living system is awakened
On a walk in the Wellfleet woods a few days back I came upon a sort of ghost forest. At the trail’s edge and as far out into the underbrush […]
ON THE LANDSCAPE
A Painter’s Eyes on Nature’s Winter Palette
Against the gray are rare hues best seen up close
Driving north on Route 6 toward Provincetown on a midwinter day some years ago with my radio tuned in to an interview, I heard a painter talking about how she […]
ON THE LANDSCAPE
The Hour of the Pearl
In the moments before nightfall, there is magic in the air
John Steinbeck described it as “the hour of the pearl.” For him it was a magical interlude just before dawn: “The interval between day and night when time stops and […]
