web so beautiful - blog posts with soul

I’m always a bit reluctant to share too much about my personal life, so when big things happen it sometimes takes me a little while to tell y’all. But this one is so big there is no rea…

The Cab Ride I'll Never Forget There was a time in my life twenty years ago when I was driving a cab for a living. It was a cowboy’s life, a gambler’s lif

I don’t really know Mr. Levi. He’s a correctional officer at the prison where I spent 9 months of my incarcerated journey but he was never assigned to my particular units or zones.  I g…

Relax. This is just a blog post. You’ve posted before. Over a thousand times, actually. You’re a little rusty, sure.  It’s been over 400 days since you so much as glimpsed the int…

Fifty-eight steps to the fourth floor, down the hall to the right, lives my office in James H. Zumberge Hall on Grand Valley State University’s Allendale Campus. On days when I’m not out taking photos of events, research or campus life, I sit at my computer editing photos in my square room with a view that looks towards Lake Superior Hall and the water tower that dons a large blue "GV."It’s not long before I hear the clack, clack, clack of skateboarders as they cross the divides in the sidewalk or the steady muffled roar of the lawn mowers in summer. In the fall, the Laker Marching Band can be heard playing the Fight Song and Star-Spangled Banner in repetitive starts and stops. When the temperatures start to wane, the shifts from hot to cold bring pops and creaks from the expansion and contraction of the structure's architecture. I hear laughter from students, the pitter-patter of raindrops, the squeegee of window washers and the scraping of snowplows.The sun eventually finds the sliver between the shades and sill and forms a golden line on my wall and that’s usually when I can’t help but pull open my blinds to see what I’m missing. I find long shadows, lovely views of clouds and vibrant sunsets. There are students battling the elements with grace and dancing snowflakes that hover at my window.Even when busy at work, the light and noises find me and pull me back outdoors...

Michael falls asleep at about half past seven. I doze and wake and doze and wake. I'm pretty sure I heard a ghost at one point but it was probably the wind. I wonder whether I'd feel comfortable staying in a bothy alone. I'm unsure. I'll stay in the van alone, I'll camp alone, I'll bivvy alone. But part of me wonders whether staying in a bothy alone would be too much for me. Ghosts or no ghosts.

It seemed like Judson Conway’s fingers should have been frozen by then, but he still had the dexterity to tie on what he thought the fish might bite—a rubber-legged hares ear followed by a tungsten zebra midge.He’d been wading upstream on the New River, which was frozen solid in parts. Those parts were so well frozen that he and his son, Colter, 19, were able to take breaks from the arctic stream by standing on the sheets of ice.

We wrap up our visit to the Alpine Loop with two iconic passes: Black Bear Pass and Imogene Pass. They are spectacular, and I'll show them to you!

As we descended down the South Kaibab Trail tight switchbacks in the dark, the sunrise slowly revealed the world around us.

This is an adventure report of a long awaited adventure across the sea, amongst the ancient castles and majestic mountains of the Scottish highlands and our quest to get to the very tip of the notoriously beautiful cliffs of Brothers Points. You can expect great cycling, mind boggling views, off-season tourist tips and a guide to make your next trip to the highlands an instant success!

Many of us on the path of nature spirituality grow close to trees–so very close.  What happens when a tree that you love dearly, who is a good friend and mentor–tells you that it is tim…

Teaching and learning from preschoolers

The BESIDERS | Portrait

Since as far as I can remember I have been feeling lonely. I was so lonely that for long periods of my life it was tempting to believe I was an alien abandoned and forgotten by her mothership. This sense of loneliness – that I was all alone in this world with nothing for me...

A New Narrative by Catherine Bernier

Ever since I was a young boy, my heart has belonged outdoors. Camping, canoeing, hiking, accompanying my parents for a hearty volksmarsch during our time in Germany--the less time I could spend inside, the better. In fact, being kept inside was a hefty and effective punishment for me. As I got older, I began to venture out on my own, sometimes disappearing for days or weeks at a time to wander through the weald at my leisure. This was where I longed to be, far away from the cacophonous crowds of the city.In this series, I want to take you on a journey through the snowy backcountry of my home province, Manitoba, and show the world the natural beauty of the Keyhole to the West.

One my favorite pastimes is aimlessly wandering a beach looking for seashells or interesting objects washed ashore. On recent day such a walk at an Arcata, CA, beach near a jetty revealed some amaz…

And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soulJohn Muir Grief is a journey, like anything else. Finding my strength, resilience, compassion, and love has been the greatest gift I could …

Memories to wash away the pain…

Cry out your want. I want my last will and testament to be filled with the people I love and to give everyone I love a weekend stay at the Hotel MacDonald with the fluffy robes and room service and the dog to pet in the lobby. I want to be unfathomable and mysterious. I want the perfect cardigan,

This morning I went outside, onto the back parking deck where the view of the sky is most unobstructed.  I took library books to the car, bu...

One year of widowhood. I don’t have any answers.

For a time, in my teens, I would experiment with the compass from my trigonometry kit. When I had mastered some control over my power, I used it to my advantage. I’d etch cross-hatched eyes and a w…

About a year ago I stumbled upon this photo by adventure photographer Jonah Moose. I was immediately obsessed with not only the photo, but also the location. Photographers in the PNW (including me) have a tendency to keep locations private, because we're dealing with a lot of overcrowding of trails. So it took me a while (approximately a year) to figure out where this magical lake was located.

Aleuts, Unangan, Umnak, Aleutian Islands, Alaska, Unalaska, Dutch Harbor, Vsevidof, Okmok, Nikolski, Bering Sea, Ravn air, Pacific, USA, Russia, geyser, hot spring, Recheshnoi, whale, Fur seal, puffin

My first tryst with the continent took place in a movie theatre called Liberty Talkies. I was nine years old when my father and I went there to watch a movie titled African Safari. Back then we watched quite a few safari movies. Tarzan movies were my favorite. These movie trips were precious gifts. When I was 13, my uncle sent me a subscription of the National Geographic magazine. The images in the magazine – especially of wildlife – opened a new world. Thus, I became aware of an idea: Africa. Real, but only in an imagined way. That is, until I went to see for myself.I made my first trip to Kenya and Tanzania in 1996 with a dear college friend. It was during that trip that I understood, for the first time, the meaning of the word, “wonder.”23 years later I went to Tanzania; this time with my wife and daughter. We visited the Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater and Lake Manyara National Park. Images in this gallery are from photos taken during that trip.Most people return mesmerized from their trips to Africa, wondering what took them so long to go. It was no different for me. During the Covid-19 slowdown I was fortunate to dedicate time to reading about Africa – which enhanced my lived experience and informed this gallery. This is a montage of what I saw and experienced. I hope you enjoy it.Welcome to Wonder!

Aisulu Sadykova is a woodcarver from a family of artisans in the ancient city of Turkestan, Kazakhstan. Aisulu has been creating traditional handicrafts - felt dolls, yurts, wooden camel figurines - for more than 18 years. But her main medium is wood and her woodcarving art is intermeshed with the history and identity of this city that once lay along the Great Silk Road.