Writing

There’s a special place east of Atlanta, filled with rich natural, cultural and spiritual history: the Arabia Mountain National Heritage Area. My essay about the annual butterfly count at Panola Mountain and the Monastery of the Holy Spirit recently won Arabia Alliance's first Field Note writing contest! Learn more about soft-spoken yet inspiring land conservationists and pollinator advocates Francis Michael Stiteler and Susan Meyers in this meditation on life-long commitment

I showed up knowing little about the writing workshop other than its title, “Reading Nature.” To my surprise, we revisited the basic process of learning how to read, then applied this crucial skill to our immediate surroundings: an unassuming classroom overlooking an old-growth forest. Ultimately, I felt deeply welcomed into the room, swept into the story of a unique and celebrated community center. . . Every fluorescent flicker, leaf flutter and squeak of a shoe was food for

Our shared life has been an exchange. When we feel a wind of interest, a creative image unleashed, an extra dose of energy to try again, it is a friendly, good-natured echo of you. . . You left behind an orange tree heavy-laden with fragrant fruit every spring, an avocado tree stretching into the sky, a passionfruit vine tangled and strong, a hibiscus plant as thick as a curtain. You leave behind us.