I’ll be away from my computer for some days, so here’s another trip down memory lane — the fantastic, rugged coast of the Cinque Terre in Italy, where Thor and Hiked the ancient trail along the cliffs in 2008. The Sentiero Azzurro (Blue Path) along the rugged coast, linking the isolated five villages of the
A Rambling Writer Rerun: Hiking Cinque Terre’s Sentiero Azzurro in Italy Read More »
It’s the waning time of the year. We’ve been harvesting, processing, storing, and eating what we sowed back in May. We’ve had considerable successes, notable failures, questionable results, and object lessons and now is the time to consider all of them and get ready for next year. Now, just to be clear, the harvest isn’t
State of the Farm, October 2026 Read More »
There’s been a fair bit of “life” lately, so today I’m revisiting an earlier hike on the skirts of Mt. Shuksan in the Mt. Baker Wilderness not far from our Pacific Northwest home. From September 2022: Our all-too-brief Pacific Northwest summer and mountain hiking are drawing to a close, and due to our various surgeries
A Rambling Writer Rerun: Hiking the Lake Ann Trail at Mt. Shuksan Read More »
Once more, Thor, Reo dog, and I seized the day for a perfect end of summer bike ride and swim at nearby Lake Whatcom. After another challenging health year, things are looking up and strength returning, and I’m very happy to get on my bike again for some easy rides. This week, we had the
The Rambling Writer: Carpe Diem at Lake Whatcom Read More »
This wonderful 2012 BBC documentary is a must-view for hummingbird admirers – and fans of the inimitable David Attenborough. Thor and I were enchanted by this gorgeous documentary – the hummingbirds like living jewels in all colors. As always, genial host David Attenborough guides us through exotic lands, explaining the behavior and evolution of different
The Rambling Writer Review: David Attenborough’s “Hummingbirds, Jewelled Messengers” Read More »
It’s hard to justify going to an exotic place (like L. A.) for world con. I know that many of my friends make this as a sort of pilgrimage. I don’t have that desire. To me, WorldCon, while fun, is part of the business. I don’t say I don’t enjoy it. I say that travelling
Los Angeles World Con, 2026, Part 1 Read More »
In which Thor concludes his skull-collecting and cleaning misadventures. Like typical philosopher/scientists of the 19th century, Thor and I have a curio cabinet full of specimens, travel mementos, and stories. Continuing from last week, take it away, Thor: PLAN C: I needed a way to clean skeletons that would be discreet and relatively odorless. I knew
Sara and Thor’s Cabinet of Curiosities, episode 4c: Thor’s final skull solution Read More »
In which Thor continues his skull-collecting and rotting misadventures. Like typical philosopher/scientists of the 19th century, Thor and I have a curio cabinet full of specimens, travel mementos, and stories. Thor continues from last week: Plan B. It became apparent that boiling skulls in the kitchen and storing body parts in the sink was not
In which Thor explains his educational skull collection and his rot box Like typical philosopher/scientists of the 19th century, Thor and I have a curio cabinet full of specimens, travel mementos, and stories. Take it away, Thor: We have several skulls in our curio cabinet and bigger skulls strewn about the house, from local and
In which Thor, Reo dog, and I seize the day once more to celebrate being alive in our beautiful Pacific Northwest, with a hike to Bagley Lake in the Mt. Baker Wilderness. If I have learned anything from the last six years of dealing with recurrent never-smoker lung cancer, it’s that we never know what
The Rambling Writer: Carpe Diem in the Mountains Read More »
My turn to share a story of the antique bottles I found while diving on a sunken ship in the St. Thomas Harbor, Virgin Islands. Like typical philosopher/scientists of the 19th century, Thor and I have a curio cabinet full of specimens, travel mementos, and stories. Shortly after arriving in St. Thomas in the U.S.
Sara and Thor’s Cabinet of Curiosities, episode 3: Treasure Diving in the Virgin Islands Read More »
In which Thor finishes his tale of leading a geology field trip in remote Mexico to the amazing giant-crystal mine of Naica and the village of Mapimi, on the track of selenite and adamite crystals. (Yes, that is an actual photo, with a man standing on a giant selenite crystal in the Naica cave.) Like
The Rambling Writer: Sara and Thor’s Cabinet of Curiosities, episode 2b Read More »
Well, it’s that time of the year where we look at the garden and decide what worked and what didn’t. First, let’s talk about the compost we used as a levelling agent. Recall that back in May we terraced the farm using compost. In June, we planted and I had some misgivings regarding the compost.
State of the Farm, July 2026 Read More »
