Hi and welcome to my online home!

I’m a writer, tracker, and ethnographic historian with a yen for deserts and their denizens, social justice, and all earth’s beings (bar none). 

As a latecomer to social media and blogging, I’m still feeling my way in these virtual spaces, trying to figure out how to contribute in meaningful ways. I so admire those whose work re-quickens our senses of community and belonging, and I find this daily among members of my own species and a slew of others. So many of our encounters are brief, yes, made solely in passing or on the outright fly, and never to be repeated. This is good, I believe, and valuable. The bodies we are in aren’t made for permanence, so we probably need the practice in letting go. Again and again ad infinitum. I’ve gotten to the point now where I can sometimes celebrate even the losses. (Being half a century plus five years helps with that.) But I also still long for connections that become deep and sustaining and prove themselves capable of outlasting any single member of the group.

In the non-v world, such enduring relations are common and run the course of a life. I am lucky to have pitched up in several that nurture my soul and spirit in utterly necessary ways. These deeper connections are fed by there being as much time to listen as to speak (or sing!), however, and finding a way to get that to happen here is trickier than it is in ‘real’ life, or so it seems to me. What is the equivalent in the v-world of handwritten letters or handmade gifts? The old-fashioned phone calls and potlucks and parties? The long talks and walks and working together that we all do to build community? Surely there is something of more substance than counting ‘likes’ or treating visitors like customers, no? Surely there is a way for people to feel welcome enough in a space like this one that they, too, can speak and share, and thus ensure that we will all see a little further than would otherwise have been possible?

I have few answers for that at present, so am just casting my small narrative crumbs on these waters, in hopes that some of you will feel welcome enough to join in. I appreciate you taking the time to visit and hope that you will find something useful here. And, my yes, I would be delighted to hear from you!

For more on my work or history, see my bio and bookshelf or connect with me on Facebook.

Note: All comments are moderated, which means they won’t show up immediately after you make them. I do this in an effort to protect readers from spam and marketing posts, and thank you for your patience for the delay between your comment and its appearance on the website (and my response!).

hnw