“Lost Lake” Ramble

Posted on July 23, 2011 by Mark Zeiger

Yesterday, for Aly’s birthday, she and I indulged in one of our favorite activities: rambling. We had the day to ourselves with Michelle filling in for a coworker on her part-time job, so we threw a lunch, some water, and a canister of bear spray in a day pack, and headed up the ridge along the “moose highway”.

In 2009, a friend and I hiked up there scouting for moose before the season opened. We saw two things on that hike that Aly and I have been searching for, off and on, ever since: a small lake or large pond (which my friend had seen before) and a really nice little cave (which my friend had not seen before). We’ve never been able to find either again, including yesterday, but we have a lot of fun trying.

natural gully

Aly checks out the gully on the ridge (Photo: Mark Zeiger).

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Turning Some Corner

Posted on July 22, 2011 by Mark Zeiger

If you’re reading Mary Oliver’s Twelve Moons as a lunar calendar with me this year, it’s the last quarter moon in my time zone, possibly tomorrow in yours. Time to read Dreams.

This is one of the first Mary Oliver poems I ever read. It’s included in her New and Selected Poems, Volume One (paid link) (check your local independent bookstore). Someone I care about very much brought it to my attention, although I don’t remember who; possibly my sister-in-law, Anke. I do remember that we were both touched by the last lines:

I think they became healthy as animals, and rich
as their dreams
Before they turned some corner and became
Two graves under the leaves.

Melancholy, thought-provoking, and beautiful, like much of Oliver’s work.

Perhaps, for me, more so on this day than others. It’s July 22nd. My little girl becomes a woman today. Continue reading →

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