Not much of a poet either, but know I should spend more time at it, so I thank you for the opportunity. Poetry is a direct route between words and the soul...and soul is of the earth, while spirit is of the sky.

Over the past ten years or so I'm disturbed by how few birds there are. They use to fly in flocks and roost by the hundreds in one particular tree, but now they're so rare that I really notice when I hear a bird song. Of course this is a logging paradise, so the forests fall much faster than they rise. There's also an unprecedented building boom going on, and logging companies are selling land developers without public debate. In my lifetime, the south shore of Vancouver Island will probably have urban sprawl. I'm contemplating a move further into the outback.

Autumn came as if Someone had turned the dimmer switch down and the heat off. It seems to happen more suddenly instead of the gradual shifting of leaf colours when I was growing up. Last week I got home late, and was thrilled to see deer a few steps from my door. They were completely unafraid and kept grazing while I unlocked my door and went inside. It's been a long time since that happened.