Waypoints
Reflections on the words and ideas that help us find our way, small places to pause, notice, and consider what presence, belonging, enough, grace, wonder, acceptance, hope, and other waypoints might mean in our everyday lives.
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The High-Top Table
The negotiations between us and the geese continue. We have provided cracked corn in tins. We have accepted that whatever the birds knock from the feeders will inevitably become part of the goose buffet. There seems to be a fairly well-established understanding around here that everyone is welcome to find something to eat. Apparently, however,… Continue reading
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Puddle Stories | The Great Birdseed Experiment
There are some mysteries Behind the Puddle that require patience, careful observation, and occasionally Brian standing underneath a maple tree rearranging bird feeders. Today, we apparently became backyard scientists. Our research question was simple: Why won’t these birds eat the expensive birdseed? We have two identical feeders hanging from different sides of the tree. One… Continue reading
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Puddle Stories | Held Gently
This morning was beautiful outside, and apparently one very small visitor agreed. A little toad came hopping out of the grass and made its way toward the house, eventually finding itself on the patio. It wasn’t invited exactly, but around here that has never seemed to stop anyone. Piper and Harper noticed immediately. They were… Continue reading
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Behind the Puddle | To Everyone Who Came to See What Was Behind the Puddle
When I began writing Puddle Stories, I wasn’t trying to create anything. I was actually feeling rather lost and isolated, and this little puddle outside my door had quietly become a place where I could sit, notice, and find pieces of myself again. Eventually, I began sharing some of what I was seeing and thinking,… Continue reading
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Evidence They Were Here
It rained lightly for most of the day today, the kind of rain that doesn’t necessarily fill the puddle but changes the rhythm of everything around it. There weren’t many neighbors stopping by where I could see them. The geese weren’t wandering through the yard, Stella and Stanley weren’t standing along the shoreline, and even… Continue reading
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Meet Pinecone
The Squirrel Behind the Puddle There are neighbors Behind the Puddle who inspire stillness. There are neighbors who make me stop what I am doing simply because their presence feels extraordinary. And then there is Pinecone. Pinecone is our squirrel. Technically, Pinecone is a squirrel, and I am fully aware that wild squirrels do not belong to… Continue reading
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Meet Stella & Stanley
The Herons Behind the Puddle There are some neighbors you come to know because they introduce themselves. And then there are others you come to know simply because you keep showing up at the same place. Stella and Stanley belong to the second kind. They are the Great Blue Herons who have become part of… Continue reading
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Puddle Stories | Too Fast for a Picture
Last night, the puddle gave us something we couldn’t photograph. We watched what I believe were two Blue Jays swooping low over the water. They would come down so close to the surface that the water moved beneath them, then quickly rise again and circle back for another pass. At first, we couldn’t figure out… Continue reading
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The Rain Brought Her Back
For the last few days, Stella has been missing. I know the wildlife that visits the puddle doesn’t belong to me. They come and go according to rhythms and reasons I don’t understand. Still, once someone becomes part of the everyday landscape, you notice when they aren’t there. And I had noticed Stella was gone.… Continue reading
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Enough for a Hummingbird
After the rain stops, one of my favorite things to do is come back outside and see what has changed. Today, there is a little more water in the puddle. Not a lot. Certainly not enough to make anyone mistake our puddle for an actual lake. But enough that some of the geese can swim… Continue reading
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