It started with Goblin Valley. The name caught my attention, of course, and when I looked it up to see what it was like, I was even more intrigued. Then Chad told me that there was a place not too far from here that was similar, with strange, fragile rock formations. Fantasy Canyon, the place…
Mountain Yoga
It was time for another adventure, and since our previous hike had been in a desert location, I suggested we go to the mountains this time. On a previous trip we’d driven around Elk Horn Loop and I’d told Kristina that I wanted to come back to one particular part of the loop – the…
Bear Hike At Pole Creek Canyon
For our latest weekly adventure, Chad took me up to a place called Pole Creek Canyon. We started our hike off-trail through some lovely Aspen forest, Chad pointing out bear claw marks on trees, and rocks overturned by bears looking for ants. Being pretty new to this type of hiking, that is, hiking in territory…
Travel: Going West
Around a year ago I went to the airport to meet in person, for the first time, a man who I’d met online and had been writing to for a little over two months. Our letters to each other made me feel like I’d found the friend I’d always longed for and the romantic partner…
Hikes: Desert Hike in the Uintah Basin
For labor day we decided to go for a hike in one of Chad’s favorite desert canyons. He’d been telling me about this place, but I’d been slightly put off from getting excited about it because of a big stretch of power lines that were near the entrance. His enthusiasm for the location, however, convinced…
Hikes: Larva Lake
One of the ways Chad and I like to keep our relationship strong and let ourselves relax is by going on some type of adventure once a week. Chad took me up to another of his favorite spots in the Uintah Mountains. We hiked through the Ashley National Forest on our way to a small…
Travel: Cool Night in Mancos
Waking up in Chaco was hot, really hot, so it was a relief to finish out the day in the cool evergreen forest at Mancos State Park, Colorado. The next day before we hit the road we had a fun time doing some yoga, taking photos and relaxing. As ready as I was to get…
Travel: Drive through Southern Utah
As we made our tired way along the last leg of our 2016 cross-country odyssey (day 10!), I was thrilled to snap photos of the amazing scenery in Southeastern Utah. These landscapes always make me feel that I should be seeing big cats roam along them, as if they belong in Africa or southeast Asia….
Travel: Chaco National Heritage Park, New Mexico
The road to get there was 21 miles of washboard purgatory (why not hell? well, we didn’t know if we would ever arrive…), but the arrival was cool moonlight silhouettes of astounding buttes. Coyotes howled all night and the burning sun woke us in the morning. This was my first real experience of the desert.
Travel: Oasis State Park, New Mexico
I got some good driving time in on the RV going from southwest Oklahoma to northeast New Mexico. The roads were nice and straight, which made for smoother sailing in the RV (which over 55mph often felt like a boat rocking on a troubled sea), and I started to relax a bit driving such a behemoth….
Travel: Wichita Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma
The Wichita Wildlife Refuge was one of the few destinations that were on our original travel plan that we actually made it to. It was exciting to be arriving just around sunset and to have a wide choice of campsites to pick from. Also, we were finally out of the humid forests of the Southeast…
Travel: Tishimingo Morning
Arriving at Tishomingo State Park in Mississippi late on the second day of our cross-country honeymoon trip was exciting because I was out of known territory. The camp sites were nestled in around a lake, and we drove around in the dark trying to pick the best one (ie, the one that was both close…
Travel: Late Arrival at Victoria Bryant State Park
Our first stop on our cross-country trip was Victoria Bryant State Park. This was not where we had planned to stay, but once we got on the road, we quickly realized we weren’t going to make the 10pm gate closing at Fort Mountain State Park in Georgia. (Note to fellow travelers, 10pm seems to be…
Travel: Charlotte NC to Utah, the Southern Route
After making the big decision to get married and move me across the country, we had to decide what route we would take getting there. Earlier that June we had driven a quick, direct line from Utah to NC passing through Kansas. This time we wanted more parks to stay in on our trip. Our…
Health: Questioning the Logic of the “Nocebo effect”
If you aren’t familiar with the term, while a placebo is an inert source (such as a pill) that causes a positive health outcome, the term “nocebo” is often used to describe an “inert” source that produces a negative health outcome. In other words, it’s all in your head. The nocebo effect is sometimes used to…
Fermentation and Your Fantastic Gut: Why Fermented Foods Help
If you haven’t heard about the importance of gut bacteria to your health, well, where have you been? It’s been everywhere! Research on gut bacteria and health has taken a giant leap thanks to DNA research. This research has made us aware that our body is not just human cells – we have tiny microbial…
Homekeeping: What Does “Home” Mean to You?
Home is not just the place that you live, it has a singular meaning and emotional status for us – it may conjure up smells, feelings, and specific memories. As a country, we Amercians tend to have a strange relationship with “home.” Part of the American dream seems to have come to include constantly upgrading…
Wildlife: How to Attract Birds to Your Backyard
Last weekend I took a class on birds. It was a great crash course in ornithology and I was delighted to learn all sorts of interesting things about our feathery friends. The main purpose of the class though was to learn how to attract birds to our backyards with native plants. Because I love to share, here…
Homekeeping: What’s “Toxic Black Mold”? Is it Dangerous?
Earlier this week a friend asked me about “toxic black mold.” As with many health subjects, there is a lot of confusion as to whether mold is truly dangerous, or if this is all just hype perpetuated by mold remediation companies.
Homekeeping: The Affordable Organic Sofa
If you’re interested in creating a healthy, healing natural environment in your home, don’t overlook the sofa. Conventional sofas are made with petroleum-based foam and have added flame retardants. It may be somewhat easier to find a conventional sofa without adding flame retardants now (Ikea carries some), but a sofa made with only natural ingredients…
Tips: How to Sleep Better at Night
If you’ve spent any time at all watching TV in the past several years you know one thing, Americans don’t sleep well and big pharma has plenty of little pills for that! Rather than turn to medication to fight insomnia or sleep disturbances, why not try preventing the causes of the problem in the first…
Cure for gluten sensitivity: Let them eat sourdough?
Gluten-free eating may seem to be just the latest diet trend… Yet, I seriously doubt that the many people buying gluten-free products are doing it for insincere reasons. I don’t usually buy or look for gluten-free labels when doing my grocery shopping even though I am conducting my own private gluten-free eating experiment. After noticing…
Health: Death of a Hairdresser
Yesterday I learned that a dear friend died during surgery for tracheal cancer. The death of this friend was a rude and rough reminder of mortality, and engulfed me in a tsunami of regret. As I looked at Jacques’ memorial photo, what rose to the surface was how incongruous were the word “cancer” and the mischievous smile…
Sweet sleep: Earthing
Last night I slept on my earthing sheet for the first time. As I lay in bed with the lower part of my legs on the earthing sheet, wondering how I would feel in the morning, I noticed some slight tingling in my legs. Not unpleasant at all, and very subtle. And that is all…
Hearthwilde 