Priscilla Stuckey

Reconnecting people with nature through writing and spirituality

Nature Spirit

Nature :: Spirit

the blog of Priscilla Stuckey

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Cracks of possibility

Happy Solstice and blessed holidays to all, whatever special days you celebrate! As the sun sets over these short days, I sink into a cushion of gratefulness that Tim and I made a big change this year and moved to the tropics, where there are nearly eleven hours of daylight every day—even this week, during…  Read More…

What about that cheatgrass?

So my friend Jeannie, who works in land conservation, reminded me last week: A long time ago, you and I had a conversation about cheatgrass. I maintained that it was noxious and provided no nourishment while depleting scarce water resources and taking over where native plants would have thrived. You said that all plants have…  Read More…

Summer bounty for broken hearts

The tide was exceptionally low, exposing a rock face usually submerged. And there on the rock clung a purple (or ochre) sea star, the first I’d seen. Locals here on Lopez Island were excited to hear about it; sea stars in the Salish Sea have been scarce since they suffered a species-wide viral disease in…  Read More…

To be a bay

We arrived on Lopez Island in August to a cabin nestled under towering firs. Our house sits in a forest, yet crack the door and the air is fecund with salt and kelp. We are near the sea! A few doors away, an old waterlogged stairway leads down the cliff to a small shallow bay….  Read More…

Shedding possessions

We’re moving again! The life under the sea is calling, and I hope to start exploring it soon. Scuba diving is in my future! But New Mexico lies nearly a thousand miles from an ocean, and since moving stuff across a continent is expensive, we’re shedding possessions. You’d think after moving eight times in under…  Read More…

Finding our place in nature

I was raised a Mennonite, taught from a young age to pray and to reflect on faith in everyday life. So I was happy when Ann Hostetler, professor of English at my alma mater, Goshen College, posed a few questions to me after Tamed by a Bear came out. It gave me a chance to…  Read More…