Eastward toward an undercast sky from Hangingstone Hill, 603 metres There is an inherent tousle between the solid and the indistinct on the moor. I’m never entirely sure what will be underfoot with my next step, where the faint trail I follow will branch out and meander, diffuse into fescue and bent. This is a … Continue reading Headwaters and wonder
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Moving Over Imagined Ground
On the undulating gravel highlands between Iceland’s Vatnajokull and Hofsjokull icecaps and, nearer by, the Hágönglón and Kvislarvatn lakes swollen in summers with pale blue-gray meltwater, is the low, rounded gravel summit of Skrokksalda. The summit plateau is home to one of Iceland’s many GPS monitoring site. This one, SKRO, has measured some of the … Continue reading Moving Over Imagined Ground
Contemplating Dartmoor
I woke ten minutes before the alarm I had set for 3:30 this morning to the sound of clearing winds pushing the last of the night’s rains to the east. By the time I clipped into my pedals an hour later, the sky was clear and the stars guided me westward toward the moor. It … Continue reading Contemplating Dartmoor
A single step
In the 14th century, German theologian and mystic, Meister Eckhardt, wrote, “What we plant in the soil of contemplation we shall reap in the harvest of action.” What are these things we plant? Often I find that in the planting is both an anticipation of action as well as a synthesis of all that’s come … Continue reading A single step
The dance of self and place
I awoke this morning missing mountains. It seems strange that after a longer outing yesterday that took me up and down nearly 8,000 feet over 100 kilometres of cycling I would miss the mountains, but I think that yesterday’s adventure kindled a sense of self I have missed these past months — the feeling of … Continue reading The dance of self and place
Hedgerow Constancy
Since the start of March, when I moved here to Broadhempston from my temporary perch at Schumacher College, I have been exploring my neighbourhood in ever-more circuitous peregrinations -- and since the national COVID19 lockdown here in the UK, my running and cycling have all been based from home; day by day my GPS layers … Continue reading Hedgerow Constancy
lessons from the moor
Down Tor with Lowery Tor, Leather Tor, and Sharpitor in the distance Finding wildness depends not just upon where you look, but how you learn to see. Last weekend, I took train and bus to the far western edge of Dartmoor. A drizzly jog of three miles between sharply squared hedgerows took me from Yelverton … Continue reading lessons from the moor
Limits
It was getting warm. We were running a little low on water, and the slope was unrelentingly down and down and down -- from the top of one of Vermont's highest peaks to a mere 350 ft above sea level on the banks of the Winooski River. This past Tuesday, the 7th day of this … Continue reading Limits
Vermont Climate Run off and running!!
Starting Wednesday morning, June 20th at around 4:30 (EST)!! Follow along at https://share.garmin.com/climaterun ...and check Facebook and/or Instagram for updates. -P
every step
I'm procrastinating a little. It's day two of our January thaw. It's 48 degrees and raining, which has glazed the 4th-class gravel road in front of our house with a sheen of mottled gray ice. So, I'm less excited to get out there and put in the miles today, but I know I need them … Continue reading every step