The CSKT water compact and dealing with (or bypassing) ideology “Elites have spread the idea that people must be helped, but only in market-friendly ways that do not upset fundamental power equations. . . .… Read more

Droughts and wandering “Above all, don’t lie to yourself.” —Fyodr Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov I’ve been out of words recently. Lost in wondering what the point of words on pages is. I believe in stories… Read more

Jan Morris and the art of kindness “Be kind.” — Jan Morris, A Writer’s World: Travels and Reportage 1950-2000 A long time ago now, at least within the span of my own life, I was… Read more

Years ago I shared an apartment with a guy who used to take a month-long vow of silence whenever the mood struck him. He was the night cleaner at the coffee shop where I worked… Read more

In memorium “We cannot hope to create a sustainable culture with any but sustainable souls.” —Derrick Jensen quoting a friend in Endgame, volume 2 A few days ago I intentionally caused the death of another… Read more

We “Misanthropy is not the same thing as having a conscience.” —Stephen Jenkinson, Dark Roads One of the wrinkles I kept tripping up on when writing my book was the word “we”: “We as a… Read more

Wurtz Cabin, U.S. Forest Service —- I think a lot about homesteaders. The prevailing themes of my childhood were having a father from the Soviet Union, and being descended from Montana pioneers who’d homesteaded land… Read more

Ancestry and future planning “If we want to be good ancestors, we should show future generations how we cope with an age of great change and great crises.” —Jonas Salk My maternal grandmother showed up… Read more

Movement and stillness I wrote this post in my notebook early in the morning, by inadequate candlelight. In a gap through a neighbor’s larch trees and lodgepole pines, the planet Venus glowed for a while.… Read more

Love and lines This is sunrise over a range of the Rocky Mountains that marks the western edge of Glacier National Park and runs into Canada, which is ten miles from where this photo was… Read more