What we share and what we keep quiet in small mountain towns.
Ana Maria Spagna
Posted inNovember 13, 2017: Solace and Perspective
What to do if you had just one day left to live
Two writers contemplate their last moments.
Posted inMarch 6, 2017: Uncomfortable Corners
Together we pause
Sometimes we need to stop — to think about the ways we wreak havoc in the world.
Posted inMarch 7, 2016: The Parks You Don't Know
The tricky allure of unpeopled places
Longing for solitude on the land, and feeling uneasy.
Posted inJanuary 25, 2016: The Forever War
The tree in the river
A writer ponders a remnant of past disaster.
Posted inSeptember 14, 2015: Close Ties in Big Landscapes
A displaced California tribe reclaims sacred land
The Mountain Maidu return to their valley, but the work of reclamation never ends.
Posted inAugust 4, 2014: Idaho's Sewer System
Summer swimming in a Washington lake
When I was a kid, I swam all summer in backyard pools and at the city park, lessons in the morning, wildness all afternoon. My bare feet grew calluses, my hair turned brittle green, my shoulders got broad, my Lycra suits disintegrated. And then I left home. I’ve lived in this mountain town for a […]
Posted inSeptember 2, 2013: Of Sparrows and Sodbusters
The story of Gimpy
An injured black bear draws sympathy from the community.
Posted inFebruary 4, 2013: Making Good on the Badlands
Love wins
On the first day marriage licenses could be issued to same-sex couples in Washington state, Laurie and I headed to our rural county courthouse.
Posted inNovember 26, 2012: Casting for Common Ground
The right tributary
Yesterday I took a long walk up a cold stream in search of bull trout. I didn’t really expect to see fish. Instead, I’d come to see redds — the gravel nests in which fish lay eggs — because I’d been trying to write a story about salmon and realized I knew nothing whatsoever about […]
Posted inWotr
A fire lookout in a wilderness speaks of our past
If monster mansions in Jackson, Wyo., or Sun Valley, Idaho, can boast million-dollar views, what’s a historic cabin in Washington’s Glacier Peak Wilderness worth? From this cabin that used to be a wildfire lookout, you can see a sea of summits, glaciers, a volcano and hidden lakes mostly surrounded by uncut forests. Green Mountain Lookout, […]
Posted inApril 18, 2011: Muddy Waters
The sign maker
When you arrive in town, anywhere in Stehekin, his signs are the first thing you see. On slabs of wood chainsaw-ripped and elegantly routed, in rustic block print or flowing cursive, Phil’s signs are never stenciled, never sloppy. They mark the post office, the school, the bakery. They mark trailheads and trail junctions. They are, […]
Posted inFebruary 1, 2010: 'The environment ... is where we live'
Drive that Hummer
Is it a car or a statement?
Posted inNovember 21, 2008: Ultimate solution?
Real work
Depending on your perspective, my partner Laurie’s resume is either impressive or disturbing. In her 20s, she worked as a wilderness ranger, hiking miles with a too-heavy pack, digging drain dips and toilet holes. In her 30s, she worked on a trail crew, chopping roots, sawing logs, clearing brush. Nowadays she works in an historic […]
Posted inMarch 3, 2008: The People of the Sea
Staying put
Lately my cat, Daisy, has me thinking about Al Gore. Daisy’s not as young as she used to be. She lazes most hours on the rug in front of the woodstove, snuggled inside the cardboard lid to a ream of paper from Office Depot. The lid is now festooned with a homemade quilt draped over […]