nature – The Debutante Ball

Interview with Lois Ruskai Melina, author of THE GRAMMAR OF UNTOLD STORIES

Wednesday, October 21, 2020

This week’s interview is with Lois Ruskai Melina, whose book THE GRAMMAR OF UNTOLD STORIES is a collection of sixteen stories that connect the personal to the political by considering question such as How do we heal? and How do we know when we are home? Read below about Lois’s regular first reader, her close connection to the outdoors, and her favorite time of day. ABOUT LOIS Educated as…

Interview with Guest Author DJ Lee

Saturday, March 28, 2020

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When her friend vanishes in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness of Idaho and Montana, DJ Lee travels there to find answers. The journey ends her fifteen-year quest to uncover her family’s troubled history in this remote place. In Finding Home in the Bitterroots (Oregon State University Press), Lee struggles with wild animal encounters, dangerous river crossings, bush plane flights in fog, and strange characters who come to the mountains to seek or…

Where do I find the most inspiration?

Thursday, February 20, 2020

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I am so very into being inspired. I love being exposed to new experiences, ideas, art, stories, sounds, tastes. I used to feel I could only be inspired by things when I felt safe. I felt like I needed to shut out others to find inspiration from within. While this is still true, as I can find inspiration in quiet contemplation, I’ve also found I can be very inspired when…

Things I Never Regret

Monday, May 30, 2016

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Our theme this week is regrets, but here is the thing–i’m not big on regret. We are all human and we all make choices both good and not so good and we learn from them. I am a firm believer that every experience in your life has made you who you are now. So, instead, i’ve decided to share a few things I never regret doing: hanging out with friends and family eating…

Creativity and Going Back to Nature

Friday, June 13, 2014

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As luck would have it, this week’s Deb Ball topic coincided with my life quite well. I just returned from a mini-writers retreat on the Oregon coast. I’m pretty relaxed right now, so I’m not full of deep thoughts. That said (I’m such a liar!), here’s what I think: I think modern life can deplete us. It can sap our inner resources, including our creativity. We are so busy, we sometimes…

Wild, wild life by Deb Meredith

Unlike Lydia McKenzie in Posed for Murder, I was raised in the country. Wildlife in general doesn’t scare me. At least I’m not usually freaked out by the kind of wildlife that lives in Virginia. But that doesn’t mean I haven’t had my share of frightening animal encounters. I really hate snakes, and have no desire to pet one or–God forbid–keep one as a pet. Once I picked up what…

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

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The Lesson of the Red Pine by Deb Kristy

We’ve been smelling smoke for weeks down here in South Florida. Too long of a dry season has turned our brush to tinder, and lightning strikes, for which we are a world leader, seem to prove that Mother Nature is a pyro at heart when they don’t come along with the typical afternoon showers. Hundreds of acres have blackened, and homes have been destroyed. We are lucky enough that we…

Saturday, June 9, 2007

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The Great Outdoors by Deb Eileen

I like the idea of gardening. I imagine myself (in a sort of Disney princess style) singing to animated woodland creatures while collecting a bounty of fresh veggies and flowers. Reality is a bit different. First of all, for those of you who may not know, earth is made of dirt. Dirt which often contains things like worms and those bugs that have been exposed to nuclear radiation because they…

Friday, June 1, 2007

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Bear with me by Deb Eileen

I would like to start this harrowing tale of animal encounters by saying that I live in North Vancouver. This area is about 15 minutes from the downtown core of Vancouver. However, our home is about half way up a mountain, a mountain that we share with several woodland creatures. We have two dogs, they are approximately the size of two jumbo Kleenex boxes. Their true size in no way…

Friday, March 30, 2007

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A Cry For Help by Deb Jennifer

For several years, my partner Drea and I lived way out in the woods. I have many strange and wonderful animal stories from these days, but this is my favorite. It was summer. Mid-afternoon. Drea and I were in the clearing where our house stood, building a door which was up on sawhorses. I had a hammer in my hand. The radio was cranked up on an oldies station. The…

Wednesday, March 28, 2007

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