Welcome to For the Love of Nature!

My most enduring relationship is with nature. My earliest memories are of being at a park, by a pond, and in the northern Wisconsin woods. As a teenager, I fell in love through photos with mountains and moved to Alaska for my first year out of high school. A magical place of wide open spaces, illness sent me back to my mom’s home in Wisconsin. I’ve lived in urban Colorado, the humid coast of southeast Texas, the desert valley of Arizona, the maritime side of Washington State, and now I live on the eastern side of the Cascade Mountain foothills. Each of those places instilled a sense of wonder and curiosity about the landscapes, flora, and fauna.

I thank the hormonal howls of menopause that insisted I listen deeply to myself and act accordingly. In 2009, at the age of 50, I traded my career, conventional suburban life, and safe, predictable lifestyle—the American Dream/Myth—for a modern mini-homestead lifestyle. I live on five acres, 30 minutes from a small village, where I grow vegetables, fruit, herbs, and a few flowers (deer love flowers as much as I do).

My writing delves into the world of nature and our complex relationship with it. I firmly believe that nature should be the most essential relationship in our lives.

• Wild Stories: Flora, Fauna, Landscapes, Natural Phenomena

• Creating a Relationship with Nature, Place, & Home

• Building Resilience & Sovereignty: Seasonal Living, Self-Reliance, & Preparedness

• Practicing the Ethics and Principles of Permaculture

• Growing Food and Herbal Medicine

You can view my indexed list of articles here.

Artificial Intelligence Policy: All of my writing is original and created by me.

—David Attenborough

Benefits for subscribers:

You can expect a newsletter 3-4 times a month that will offer writing about:

• Profiles of plants, animals, and landscapes

• The emotional and mental benefits of connecting with nature

• Building emotional and communal resilience

• Supporting physical and emotional wellness through food & herbs

• Encouraging awe and wonder while honoring nature

Additional benefit for paid subscribers:

A monthly curated virtual Creative Gift that will include four items from this list:

• Quotes (by people wiser than me), my reflections on them

• Recommendations & Short Reviews: books, documentaries, movies, multimedia, & podcasts

• Seasonal Recipes: favorite dishes, preservation for winter, herbal teas, and remedies

• Seasonal Homestead Updates (text & photos): the garden, wildcrafting, the animals

• Favorite and Seasonal Poems

• Photos and Artwork

• My Flash Writing - short essays (less than 500 words) that describe a moment, an event, an observation, etc.

• Short Plant Profiles

• Whatever Shiny New Object catches my eye…I am easily distracted!

  You can preview the first Creative Gift content here.

  It is never too late to pursue happiness and joy. Our lives are like a book: we create stories that become chapters in our lives. We pursue journeys that contribute to our stories.

Here’s a little about me:

I am a late bloomer, taking up writing in my 50s. I worked as an academic adviser and adjunct instructor at a community college for 20 years, mastering the dull, often voiceless writing expected in professional communication. At the age of 50, I abandoned my conventional suburban life and moved to a five-acre property in the eastern foothills of the Cascade Mountains in Washington State.

I live simply, a modern homesteader of sorts, growing and preserving vegetables, fruit, and medicinal herbs from my 4000 sq ft garden. I chase wildflowers and hike during the spring and summer, and read and knit during the winter. I worked as a freelance writer from 2013 to 2020, writing about gardening, local food economies, herbal medicine, permaculture, and the magic of plants.

My partner, Guy, and I care for Stache the Cat, Beau, and Ryder. I complain about their fur shedding all over, their occasional retchings of organic matter, and the 16-hour door service expected from us, but I couldn’t imagine our lives without them.