On the Molalla
Fluted basalt columns wound into a nautilus turquoise water moss covered trees rain-licked ferns slick-capped mushrooms feeding on rich black soil the scent of origin and rot -Naseem Rakha, 2/4/16
Everything is Temporary
Walking along the Colorado River, RM 179.5 in the Grand Canyon, I see a twisted outcrop of columnar basalt. Pillars of hardened lava protrude right then left, up then down, a stark contrast to the basalt on its sides, tall and vertical columns—sentries guarding a renegade piece of the past…. Read More
After the Oregon standoff: can lost goodwill be recaptured?
As the standoff in the Oregon desert draws close to a very American end—a barricade, a shoot out, one dead cowboy, several arrests—the conflict over western lands is far from over. During the first week of the three-and-a-half week standoff, things were fairly amicable between the militants and local authorities…. Read More
A Year Goes By
This was Elijah and I on January 1, 2014 hiking Abiqua Falls. So much has changed since then—Dad is gone, Elijah is soon turning 16, Chuck is moving his office to Portland, and I am a disillusioned writer with little interest in the publishing world and all the calisthenics writers… Read More
First Anniversary
Dad, last Christmas Last year on New Year’s Eve, Dad took Shameem, Chuck and I to his doctor so that we could hear a sobering truth: Dad was running out of time. Shameem, Chuck and I listened as Dad pressed the man to talk numbers. Dad wanted us to understand… Read More
The Benefits of Discomfort
“Direct experience is out best teacher, but it is exactly what we are most bent on obliterating, because it is often so painful. We grow more comfortable at the price of knowing the world and therefore ourselves.” Joe Kane, Running the Amazon. We are not meant to live our… Read More
Sun Worship
Kwagunt RM 56.5 – naseem rakha In winter, in the canyon, you worship the sun—seek it out like a moth to its flame. There it is—around the next bend, in that eddy, up that cliff. Once in its rays, you shed layers, and your face lifts and your hands are… Read More
Grand Canyon Moon
For a month we lived under the sky—no ceilings, no walls, just skin and sun and water. Just stone and ice. And as we moved down river the moon followed, growing each night, lighting paths for night time walks, staring down, stark and white, big then bigger, rising later and… Read More
Living Beyond Walls
A storm has just moved in. The wind is gusting, leaves are cartwheeling across the grass. Trees arch, bend, dance. There goes my watering can. A cushion. A puppy… Okay, not a puppy. Maybe it was a squirrel. Maybe, just a brown bag. The thing is, I’m watching all this… Read More
Grand Canyon River Trip – A Winter Adventure
“Adventure is putting yourself out on the edge…finding that border line between your comfort zone and where you are a little bit uncomfortable. and then, hopefully, finding your way through.” Curt Joyce, Kayaker — 1983-2014 On November 18, I will join a group of fourteen people for a one… Read More