i am enjoying photos of my beloved lake. soon, it will be blue again. i was hoping there would be green grass and tulips by my birthday but i suspect it is unlikely. on the bright side, it is 40 degrees today. i could wear shorts and a t-shirt, but the reflection of the sun on the snow would turn my white legs red. also, i am thinking of others; the glare of the sun on my white legs might blind oncoming traffic. when i was young, i would lie on the front porch on days like this (in my swimsuit, no less) to get a head start on my tan.

there was a box in the basement labeled “joe’s bones”. joe is my (very much alive) brother, so i am still giggling at the label. maybe it’s just me. anyway, the box was full of skulls and bones that joe and my dad found over the years, including the most beautiful deer antler. it took some begging, but the deer antler is now mine. it makes a gorgeous paperweight and constantly delights me. soon, atlas and i will hunt for our own shed antlers. antlers are sold as higher-priced dog chews, so these will really be for atlas. (he was more intrigued by this antler than he ever was by the ones in the store; maybe it still has the scent of the wild.)

my lips no longer need moisturizer! i am quite delighted by this. i used to (need to) apply it a million times a day. when my lip moisturizer ran out this winter, i was only driving on blue sky days so couldn’t replenish it immediately. while i was waiting for good weather, i started to wonder if not using it was actually more normal than using it, so i decided not to buy any more. there was a horrible period of withdrawal but eventually my lips normalized. if i want to use something now, i use ghee. (atlas loves this. he licks his lips whenever i put it on.) apparently there are products in most lip moisturizers that strip the lips of their protective coating. also, did you know that petroleum jelly and petrolatum are oil byproducts. i put them on my lips! i find this both fascinating + disturbing.

there is room for three more people to receive postcards from atlas. if you were thinking about it ~ for yourself, for an elderly house-bound relative, for a beloved child who would love their very own mail ~ now is the time to join in! it is going to be full of joy.

i just read the loveliest post from photographer~writer~soul-searcher fiona on catching the small joys and letting them radiate out into life.

it inspired me to begin a new journal, and aligns with what i think about when i think about beauty.

for now, some recent moments of joy + beauty.

shared + tear-filled laughter.

spotting a snow rabbit with twig-whiskers on top of a giant snowbank.

peeling apples for crumble and watching the long curly red apple peels fall into the garbage.

the pale-pink sky at sunrise.

the way atlas appropriates the process of towel-drying for his own pleasure by sticking his head into the towel over and over so i’ll continue to rub his head.

an unexpected + delightful voicemail.

handing a pile of colorful + cheerful postcards to the mailman.

do you want to capture your own small moments of joy?

if you feel inspired to share, i would so love to receive them.

the snow is finally beginning to melt, so i thought i would share some winter photos. these were taken earlier this winter, on a snowshoe hike around calumet lake with my dad.

because i am in a matchmaking mood, i am sharing them in the form of an ode to john burroughs.

“[W]hat a severe yet master artist old Winter is… No longer the canvas and the pigments, but the marble and the chisel.”

~ John Burroughs, The Snow-Walkers

“What a wild winter sound, — wild and weird, up among the ghostly hills… I get up in the middle of the night to hear it. It is refreshing to the ear, and one delights to know that such wild creatures are among us. At this season Nature makes the most of every throb of life that can withstand her severity.”

~ John Burroughs, The Snow-Walkers

“It is a spur that one feels at this season more than at any other. How nimbly you step forth! The woods roar, the waters shine, and the hills look invitingly near. You do not miss the flowers and the songsters, or wish the trees or fields any different, or heavens any nearer. Every object pleases… the straight light-gray trunks of the trees… how curious they look, and as if surprised in undress.”

~ John Burroughs, Winter Sunshine

“If the October days were a cordial like the sub-acids of fruit, these are a tonic like the wine of iron. Drink deep or be careful how you taste this December vintage. The first sip may chill, but a full draught warms and invigorates.”

~ John Burroughs, Winter Sunshine

atlas here.

i am a pup with a biiiiiiiigggggggg mission.

my mission: to brighten your day.

because i am my person’s pup, i know just how to do it.

i am going to spread joy through postcards.

wouldn’t you love to find a postcard from me in your mailbox?

imagine your surprise.

imagine your delight.

i know i can make you smile!

this is going to be so much fun. won’t you join me?

you know you want to!

you can find all the details right here.

the postcards will start in april.

i come from the far north,
where the wolves howl,
trees stand straight & tall,
and winter snow blankets the earth in silence.

i come from the great lake,
where sturgeon swim in crystal-clear water,
waves tickle the shoreline,
and the horizon stretches to infinity.

i come from the wild,
where dancing streams turn into cascading waterfalls,
bears devour tiny berries,
and autumn blazes a trail across the land like wildfire.

i come from the night,
where the aurora dances,
the milky way beckons,
and the ink-black sky glitters with stars.

The wild (upper peninsula of michigan). my heart. my home.

{sending heart-felt appreciation to the soulful + poetic liz lamoreux for the prompt: i come from. try it!}

on saturday, atlas turned 11, so i thought it would be fun to wander through his life in pictures.

and so it begins.

2003: i have a new puppy! this is a year that includes surgery (for me), parvo (for him), and the love + fun + adventure + growing pains of our new life together.

2004: this is a year that includes training, daily adventures, trips to sheep dung estates & san diego, and a move from sacramento to folsom.

2005: this is a year that includes more training, more daily adventures, and the pleasure + pain of both a jackrabbit chase & a squirrel catch.

2006: this is a year that includes a move to oregon, a road trip to seattle, camping, hikes, time at the oregon coast, and the beginning of an annual corn maze tradition.

2007: this is a year that includes a road trip to seattle, a road trip to michigan, an adventure in colorado, and fun dog + person classes.

2008: this is a year that includes lots of time at the oregon coast, an autumn trip to detroit lake, the first kitty-friend for a kitty-obsessed puppy, and many more daily adventures.

2009: this is a year that includes the call of the wild dog camp, lots of hiking, more fun dog + person classes, and more daily adventures.

2010: this is a year that includes a new dog-friendly work environment (meaning: i leave my job to be my own employer) and a road trip to the central oregon coast.

2011: this is a year that includes a road trip to the olympic peninsula and many many many daily adventures.

2012: this is a year that includes hikes, adventures, and three months on the couch due to a fractured puppy toe.

2013: this is a year that includes a move to michigan, an adventure in north dakota, a hike up a mountain, encounters with deer + bear poop + foxes + partridge, an arctic-like winter, a household that always seems to have meat + gravy, and many many daily adventures.

happy birthday, atlas!

i love you more than all the stars in the sky & all the fish in the sea, and i am beyond grateful for every single one of our years together.

i renewed my web hosting and i have a heart full of love & appreciation.

for me, for having the courage to be vulnerable.
for you, for your support, appreciation & heart-felt presence.
for life, for the way it encourages me to soften & grow.

a spring thaw allowed my stir-crazy pup to run & smell & explore to his heart’s content. as i watched him, my smile was wide and my heart was full.

he so needed this.

my parting thought today is one of love.

all we really have is this moment.

life is fleeting.
love is forever.
even if it changes in form.

this past weekend, my hometown hosted a sled-dog race, the copperdog 150, so the keweenaw peninsula was full of mushers and their pups.

my sister and i were crossing guards on friday night.

she had wanted to be a timer or a dog handler, but i thought that sounded like too much responsibility so i signed us up for the crossing guard shift.

i thought we’d be stopping cars, easy peasy. when i learned that we didn’t have the authority to stop cars – we’d be stopping sleds + dogs if necessary – i was so nervous. i felt like the life of 200+ dogs had been placed in my very sweaty hands. plus, i had just spent a week at death’s door (by which i mean the world’s most miserable cold) so i was not at peak strength.

fortunately, when our shift started, it was late at night and below zero and a quiet road, so we just turned our arms and legs into a silent blockade and watched forty-some teams of sled-dogs race by under a starry sky.

on sunday, i went to watch the finish.

i wanted to see the pups in the light of day and take some pictures.

i left the house later than planned and was worried i wouldn’t get a clear photo spot. imagine my surprise to find an empty street when i arrived. apparently when it’s ten degrees below zero, people aren’t in a rush to stand outside.

i was glad i went; the dogs exuded glee.

do you see the pup in the red sled? i’m so disappointed i didn’t notice him/her until the sled was right next to me – i was focused on the running dogs – because it was pretty much the cutest thing ever.

totally worth my frozen fingers and toes. wouldn’t you agree?

{this photo makes me so happy, even though i don’t know why.}

i stumbled upon a list of inuit words for snow.

the words have meanings like this:

still snow, remembered snow, our children’s snow;
snow that falls in large wet flakes, snow that falls slowly, snow in beards;
blowing snow, baked snow, deep fried snow;
snow at dawn, snow that never reaches the ground, snow that has drifted indoors;
the idea of snow, the snows of yesteryear, quickly accumulating snow;
snow that blinds you, snow that hides the whole village, snow mixed with breath;
partially melted snow, good building snow, blowing snow;
snow sparkling with starlight, snow melting in the spring rain, snow that has been marked by wolves.

snow in the mouth,
snow in the south.

snow, snow, snow.

with that, the ordinary becomes extraordinary.

i will never look at snow in the same way.

there, in the words, lies wonder + magic.

once upon a time, in the wild of northern michigan, there lived a very large puppy named atlas.

one morning, atlas went outside to find the whole world covered in white. he shivered a little. the white was wet and cold on his paws. for a moment, he wondered what had happened to his green grass. but then he saw his bush and went about his business and, when he went back inside, he forgot all about it.

every day, the white seemed to grow until soon, it was taller than atlas.

one day, atlas was taking his person for a walk when he smelled something under the white.

it smelled furry.

atlas dug in the white with one paw.

nothing.

he dug in the white with two paws.

nothing.

atlas dug more deeply, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, both paws moving as fast as they could go, until there was a large hole in front of him.

he stuck his nose in the hole. oh, the smell of fur was strong now!

atlas dug again, furiously, until all of a sudden, the ground collapsed and he fell nose-first into a large dry tunnel.

{to be continued in the story club}