Causeries are what most people would call blog posts: informal, conversational thoughts or short essays. Recent posts are listed below. Or click above on the title of this post to browse by categories of topics.
Causeries
Warren Angus Ferris, Yellowstone’s first tourist
Warren Angus Ferris visited Yellowstone in 1834 as the first tourist to experience the thermal features, and the first person known to use the Icelandic word “geyser” to describe them.
A challenge comes to its successful but inglorious end: daily post 105 of 105
This is the end of my writing challenge, but not completing the exercise does not in any way feel like failure.
Canary in the coal mine: national parks and the future of the earth
As the parks go, so goes the future of the earth. The sad state of national parks predicts an ominous outlook for the earth and the communities that rely on it.
Looking for a place of rest on a winter night
This excerpt from an epic retelling of the Christian biblical narrative offers a poetic interpretation of the traditional Christmas advent story.
The first day of winter
Watching the nearly full moon set, we felt the first hints of morning light following the solstice. Slowly the first day of the new year cut through the night’s frost to brighten a new season.
Tourists all the time
To the extent that we have all become consumers in every facet of our modern lives, we live in the touristic ethos of consumerism. All of us are tourists all of the time.