Author: Michael Smith
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Christmas Eve, at Home In the Woods
Everyone should have a home, a place where we feel like we belong. Ideally, home is a place where mostly good things happen over a long time, so that it feels comfortable and familiar. Americans move around a lot, so that long-term familiarity might not happen within the structure of one house. In my case, […]
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Winter Solstice
Good morning Weathercock: make this day bright. Put us in touch with your fair winds. Sing to us softly, hum evening’s song. Point the way to better days we can share with you. -Jethro Tull, “Weathercock,” from Heavy Horses The sun has set on the shortest day of the year; the sun is as far […]
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Endings and Renewals in the Woods
“It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.” – Bilbo Baggins My favorite way to dodge weekend chores and recharge for the coming week is to wander around in the woods somewhere, often […]
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A Walk in the November Woods
(I’m very fortunate to be able to use some photos by Meghan Cassidy in this post. The captions identify which ones are hers, but basically the way to tell is to look for the really good ones – they’re hers!) On a visit to the Lyndon B. Johnson National Grasslands in Wise County, we walked […]
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Walks in the Woods – Are You Out of Your Mind?
Three people took a walk in the woods. One of them loved being outside, but spent most of her time texting and checking Facebook. At the end of her walk, she hardly felt like she had been in the woods at all. She had been in the woods, but her mind was somewhere else. “Her […]
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Being Mindful of Oaks and Hawks at Summer’s End
It was almost two weeks into autumn, and summer’s heat held on. On October 6th, when the high temperature in Arlington reached 97ºF, a cold front was scheduled to roll through late in the day. It would be an interesting time to be at the Southwest Nature Preserve. Would the change take the form of […]
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Thankfulness on the Lost Mine Trail
On June 19 of 2018, I hiked most of the way up the Lost Mine Trail in the Chisos Mountains within Big Bend National Park, and lost myself for a while in the silence and beauty and peace of the place. I wrote the following: In one of Beethoven’s final string quartets (Op. 132), he […]
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The “Dunedain” of the Cross Timbers
All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost. J.R.R. Tolkien, Lord of the Rings Once again this year I had the privilege of teaching herpetology to an incoming group of Master Naturalists. Today […]
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Orb-Weavers and Quiet Conversation
In August, mornings are the best times to take a walk, although that advantage begins to disappear not long after 9:00am as the bright burning sun rises to a nice, hot angle overhead. Add a little overnight rain and it’s like wearing a hot, wet sweater in the sunshine. But what’s a little sweat and […]
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War and Redemption in an East Texas Forest
In honor of my wonderful friend Kelby Dupriest’s birthday today, I’m reprinting the following post that first appeared on “The Great Rattlesnake Highway.” Beautiful that war and all its deeds of carnage must in time be utterly lost, That the hands of the sisters Death and Night incessantly, softly, wash again and ever again this […]
Our Lives In Nature 