February is the wink of a many-seasoned grandmother. Winter can feel, weaving darkness into most of our waking hours, day after cold dark day, as if it will not end. We are left to journey on the vitality of the thinnest thread of light. It is not easy holding the vision of seeing beyond the [...]

Nature: Winter river storm: Learning to speak coyote

Our forest cottage sits on terraced property a few hundred feet from the river. Two seasons a year in an ancient tradition of migration, the river serves as a super waterway for salmon returning from the sea to their point of origin.
Arriving at the mouth of the river, the salmon will spawn a new [...]

Read more here →

National English Toffee Day: How to make toffee candy

January 8th is National English Toffee Day.
Toffee is a traditional candy, made from sugar and butter. Making toffee is easy.
Following are simple step-by-step directions for making toffee.

Read more here →

Fidnemed Tea: Herbal tea remedy for stress and insomnia

Taking into consideration the real possibility friends and family suffered more than the usual amount of economic-induced stress and insomnia throughout 2008, I chose to give an herbal tea legendary for its relaxing properties as Christmas gifts.
Fidnemed is a blend of seven calming herbs in equal measure:

Read more here →

National Hot Tea Month: How to brew tea facts

January is National Hot Tea Month.
The most popular types of tea are white, green, oolong, and black. All of these teas are leaves from the same plant, the Camellia sinensis, but are processed in different ways.

Read more here →

Nature: Days of January: The ground we walk is frozen

The days of January bring truth to the saying, “You do not know what you have until it is gone”. Ice and snow separate us from the warming embrace and nurturing green of an earth that sustains our physical life. There is nothing external to comfort us, to provide for us, to sustain us. The [...]

Read more here →

Nature: Days of December: Miracles metaphorical and true

Snow is the moment of magic when rain becomes most enchanted by the mystery of miracles season. In a time when we will experience the longest night and in unison of that event, witness the return of light, snow blankets our world with its own unique brightness, in what might otherwise be too dark a [...]

Read more here →

The Daily Coyote: Life and love in Wyoming

For the trip home to New York City from San Francisco, Shreve Stockton chose to travel the highways and byways on a Vespa.
On the road, the wide open spaces, red dirt,  cowboy culture and Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming stayed with her.
Even though she did complete her cross country journey to New York, Wyoming [...]

Read more here →