Author Archives: janishaag

This old dog loves to learnnew tricks, squirelling awaynewly acquired facts like, well, you know,not caring about mixingmetaphors or other annoying rules. Like today,reminded by my favoritebug writer/photographer friend writing aboutValley carpenter bees,aka teddy bear bees, that, in the words … Continue reading →

Good night, sweet ones,as you head into the dark. Oyasuminasai—wishingyou restful sleep, as theysay in Japan. Buenas noches to youryawn, to your mindcurling around itselfreadying for rest. Buonanotte, whisperItalians, as yourlashes kiss each otherand settle into sleep. Oíche mhaith,they say … Continue reading →

Some people like to build boats in the basement. I like to do things to food.—Julia Child Bless me, Julia, for I have steppedagain into the kitchen where I havefew natural gifts, and though I am not tackling anyof your … Continue reading →

All this light on Easter,as so many wish forand don’t have, along with warmthand tenderness andblossoming things. But hope, even undera waning gibbous moon, 🌖is also given this day, every day, really,to all beings everywhere,not least, dear one, from me … Continue reading →

Did I ignore the wordsstarting to ticker tapetheir way across my brain,imagining that I couldcollect them later? When, in fact, they would rollaway like spilled jellybeans, and,needing to walk onto the next thingand the next, and the next,I could not … Continue reading →

To pay attention, this is our endless and proper work.—Mary Oliver This is my work in the world—walking where spring has greenedthe many waist-high grasses and thickened the bracken andsent up the tall spiky milk thistleand the propeller-like wild radish. … Continue reading →

Needing the waterbut far from the ocean,I take myself to the river closest to me,the same one that turns into a lakeby the house where I grew up,then is strained through the teethof a great dam and released to flow40 … Continue reading →

(for Dickie) Forgive me as I take againthe sacrament of avocado, which I know you finddistasteful, its texture lining your mouth likemushy wax. Even I object to an unripespecimen’s chalky taste, and if they go bad, theygo bad, baby. So … Continue reading →

Deep pink ones pop like over-inflated balloonsall over my front yard, as they do everywhere these days of floral abundance springing into action.I did not plant each geranium—my next-door garden goddess did from sprigs of her own plants—though the newbies … Continue reading →

(for Mom and Ashley, with love) The same Monday afternoon I cruiseplants in a nursery, I walk by a largeheart sculpture on an outside wall,and think, Nice, about to walk on. But something stops me, and Ibackstep to peer closely, … Continue reading →