Spring is appearing in various guises all over the northern hemisphere. Here in southern Arizona, various cacti are blooming spectacularly. It’s difficult for me to choose which route to walk each morning, because I want to check in on various plants that are showing...
Happy New Year! On New Year’s Eve, I listened to a couple of different video events marking the occasion. The first included a reflection from Union Seminary President Serene Jones. She spoke in part about the many months of social upheaval across America, and the...
The year 2020 is almost over. I can imagine everyone around the world heaving a deep sigh of relief. It’s been a tumultuous year on so many levels. As it draws to a close, I’m reflecting on my own life in this year and drawing out a few themes that have been woven...
The harvest season is here. The majority of humans now live in cities (55% in 2018), so we tend to be more out of touch with the seasonal rhythms of planting and harvesting (unless, like me, you have a garden!). We might put pumpkins on our porches, but few of us grow...
One week ago, on my morning walk, I discovered that this huge old cottonwood tree had been cut down. It stood out in a field, on the edge of former farmland (I think there once was a house nearby, as there’s a covered wellhead). That field has been awaiting the chance...
There’s a gorgeous and bountiful fig tree in my neighborhood. It’s in the back corner of a yard that backs onto a public footpath, and the tree’s branches hang over the fence on two sides. I discovered it last year, in the height of the fig season, when birds, bees,...