David Dawson

Apr 272020
 
 April 27, 2020
Finding Light On The Parkway, Monday, April 27, 2020

Hi, Folks, There’s an item that appears on my to-do list, day-after-day, that I know I need to do, but I just don’t get it done.  It seems that a common consequence of the sequestration we’re experiencing is a lack of motivation.  Much advice about how to overcome this is readily available on the internet

Apr 252020
 
 April 25, 2020
Finding Light On The Parkway, Saturday, April 25, 2020

Hi, Folks, Remembering the loud braying of these orange-faced geese on the Parkway, and considering the contents and style of much of the 24 hour cable news cycle, brought to mind the prose poem “Desiderata”*.  Written in the 1920s by Max Ehrmann, “Desiderata” was my father’s favorite poem.  Dad kept it on the wall in

Apr 242020
 
 April 24, 2020
Finding Light On The Parkway, Friday, April 24, 2020

Hi, Folks, This black-tailed mule deer wading at the edge of the American River was solitary, but seemed purposeful as he made his way through the shallows. The many deer who live on the Parkway are typically life-long residents. Unlike their cousins in the foothills, they “shelter in place” year-round and find no need to

Apr 232020
 
 April 23, 2020
Finding Light On The Parkway, Thursday, April 23, 2020

Hi, Folks, I don’t know if this was muskrat Suzie or muskrat Sam* but it did seem like a lovable little creature when it approached my family and me alongside the American River.  As we quietly observed the river, the muskrat nonchalantly nibbled its way at water’s edge and passed in front of us.  It

Apr 222020
 
 April 22, 2020
Finding Light On The Parkway, Earth Day, April 22, 2020

Hi, Folks, Tonight after dark, at the close of “Earth Day”, might be a good time to take a walk and see how the stars now shine so much more brightly.  As a result of the Governor’s “Shelter in place” order, not only does California have cleaner, clearer air, the Road Ecology Center at UC

Apr 212020
 
 April 21, 2020
Finding Light On The Parkway, Tuesday, April 21, 2020

Hi, Folks, In 1965, my parents gave me a book of poems titled “Looking For Water”* by Eric Barker.  At that time, Eric lived in and wrote often about Big Sur, a place where, in my youth, I had many wonderful experiences that still remain special to me.  Here is Barker’s reflection about a heron

Apr 202020
 
 April 20, 2020
Finding Light On The Parkway, Monday, April 20, 2020

Hi, Folks, This crested white duck wasn’t afraid of me at all. In fact, she seemed quite aggressive when she paddled up to my kayak and demanded to know when the feather salons were going to open again. She said that, if she didn’t get a cut and a style job pretty soon, she was

Apr 192020
 
 April 19, 2020
Finding Light On The Parkway, Sunday, April 19, 2020

Hi, Folks, Here we are, probably feeling confined, but still with choices to make.  I intend to give some thought to what it is, when we are free of these limitations, that I’ll stop doing, start doing, or do differently because of what we’re now experiencing.  A quote from Necole Stephens* helps to inspire that

Apr 182020
 
 April 18, 2020
Finding Light On The Parkway, Saturday, April 18, 2020

Hi, Folks, Here for this day, with appreciation to Ashley Hamrick and her sister, Heather Mathews for reminding me of it, is a poem by Wendell Berry: “The Peace of Wild Things”, by Wendell Berry* When despair for the world grows in me and I wake in the night at the least sound in fear

Apr 172020
 
 April 17, 2020
Finding Light On The Parkway, Friday, April 17, 2020

Hi, Folks, Just a simple note today.  I hope the sight of this great blue heron from the Parkway gives you a lift! Stay well! Dave Great Blue Heron Lifting Off, American River Parkway    ©David Dawson, 2020