The tree in front of my house is changing its leaves from green to a rich, red-brown. It is a chokecherry–at least I think it is. It doesn’t fruit. I don’t know if that’s because it’s a variety bred to be ornamental or if it’s just a Flagstaff thing. Even the trees meant to be fruit bearers tend to struggle here. This tree...
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On the first day this year that truly felt like spring, I spent hours outside. I watered the plants and sowed new seeds while enjoying the beautiful temperate weather. It was even a little overcast, so I didn’t have to hide from the harsh sun. I didn’t realize until that moment how much I had missed putting my hands in soil. Most of what I’ve...
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I thought the last snowstorm we got might be the last. Actually, I felt like the last storm might be the last, but how I feel and what the weather does are two different things entirely. Maybe it is more accurate to say that I hoped the last storm would be the last, that we were on the road to spring, that I could finally get on with moving forward and...
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Every morning when I get dressed, I walk to my dresser, take two steps to the left, and dig through baskets, bins, and piles of laundry to find the clothes I will wear for the day. Some of it is clean, gathered into a basket to be banished to the corner of the bedroom for a few cycles of laundry until I finally get a wild spurt of motivation and put stuff...
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As I walk down my snow covered driveway to retrieve a package left by our gate, I am met by the dotted lines of cat tracks. One meets my path near our garage door, beelines east toward the fence, then abruptly changes direction when it becomes apparent this route will collide with a patch of weeds. The path reminds me of an animated transcription of a...
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I’ve been wrestling with the idea of what it means to be cool. When I was in high school, I looked for cool in unconventional places—not among the “popular” students, but among those who were openly counter-cultural. Even though I didn’t talk to them overly much, I was interested in the goth kids. They seemed kind and interesting, and I liked the aesthetic...
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I’ve been thinking lately about spirals. They are used in media to represent instability—the dizzy spells of injured cartoon characters or dysfunctional people who are “spiraling” out of control. Spirals stand in opposition to their cousin, the circle, which in western metaphors is typically stable, eternal, and complete. We are taught to pursue the...
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I never think of the ocean. Even after having lived near one for a year, I’m such a desert dweller at heart that the idea of an ocean never really crosses my mind. Instead, I think of rivers. I think of western flowing water that hides at the bottoms of canyons as they cut across the arid landscapes. Water is such a powerful and persistent force. It can...
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I love to cook. Taking ingredients and making them into a flavorful, nutritious meal is incredibly engaging for me. It requires me to sync my creativity, my problem-solving skills, and my ability to learn new things in order to produce something great. When I’m at my best, the thing produced is not only delicious, but also useful—combining homegrown foods,...
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This morning, the ground was still soaked with rain water from the previous night’s storm when I went outside to let my goats and chickens out of their enclosures and into their respective yards. The weeds (mostly kochia, an invasive species in this area) have grown tall and hearty with the onset of the seasonal rains, and many plants—now close to my...
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I set myself a goal this year to complete two related projects. The first is building a “kitchen garden” in a fenced area of the yard used by previous owners as a dog run, but never used by us for anything. The second is creating a multi-paddocked chicken run in the space where our primary garden used to be. Although these projects are part of...
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There is something meditative about hanging out with chickens. When my husband and I started farming, I thought it would be the goats that I would spend the most time with. Cute, energetic, weird eyes—what’s not to love about goats? Certainly we would be best buds. It turns out that when I am in the mood to spend time outside with the animals, what most...
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