On the nearly one year anniversary of my mother’s passing, I want to share this post I wrote three days ago as I took a solitary early morning hike in the Death Valley badlands.

The most visited glacier in North America, the Athabasca, is losing 4” a day during the summer. We went onto the glacier to see what was going on.

Circles are strong, so my engineering husband tells me. The more I see of this country, the more I agree with him. I see evidence of their strength everywhere. If you’re curious about the necklace in the photo, I bought it on the Zuni reservation. This method of working with turquoise is a dying art.

A search for the site of Edward Abbey’s trailer in Arches, and a search for wonder.

As Dwayne and I have been boondocking on BLM land, we’ve discovered the gift of space. In this photo my friend Marianne and I enjoy a fire during her visit earlier this month.

As we travel deeper into the West, we begin to learn the language of this complex, fragile system that is much, much more than dirt and sun.

“One day you finally knew / what you had to do, and began” is the opening line to Mary Oliver’s, The Journey. When I heard this poem four years ago this week, I knew what I had to do. And now Dwayne and I are finally living into the spirit of this poem.

“Something there is that doesn't love a wall.” Photo of the Mexico/US wall

On this trip we are finding the most unexpected connections. This surprising connections between Puerto Peñasco, Mexico and Flagstaff, Arizona just shows how interconnected we all are.

Cultivate the sensation of joy in this guided meditation I recorded on the beach at the Sea of Cortez in Puerto Peñasco, Mexico. Be guided into a deep state of relaxation to the sounds of waves and seagulls as I paint a picture of the natural life on the beach.

The desert crushes the Pacific Northwest on sunsets and sunrises.

This meditation, I recorded in the Arizona desert near Saguaro National Park, is for you. Listen to immerse yourself in the evening desert landscape and to explore and connect to your own internal spirit of perseverance and grounding.

Kayaking on Verde River in Cottonwood, AZ

Hovenweep National Monument in Cortez, Utah includes six prehistoric villages built between A.D. 1200 and 1300

Hovenweep National Monument was one of our favorite places and was both geographically and philosophically central to this section.

Moments of wonder in the Grand Tetons

Alvord Desert Hot Springs

Owyhee Canyon, a gem in Oregon we’d never seen before. Named after Hawaii (say what?) and a place that would look in place in the Southwest.

The source of the Columbia River