The Haleakalā crater in daylight is a swirling abstraction of grays and tans, ochers, and chocolates. In late afternoon, fog typically creeps up the mountainside and peeks over the rim, casting fantastic shadows, ready to pour into the crater and flood it entirely at the end of the day. Haleakalā is “the house of the…  Read More…

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…

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…

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…