Onward

Following November’s election, it was tempting to tuck myself into a cocoon of comfortable retirement—after all, I am in my 70s. But I cannot find peace in that decision. God gifted me the ability to think, to write, to observe and photograph the beauty of this planet and share my art with others.

I am not ready to retire. 

As if to nudge me onward, I recently received an email from Ria VanderKlok, outdoor educator for the Ottawa County Parks and Recreation Department. She heard my presentation, “A Bench, a Tree and a Flower,” given to the Holland Academy of Senior Professionals in the autumn of 2023. She wanted me to know that she shared what she learned with the staff and the decision was made to add more benches to the Ottawa Sands County Park so as to make nature more accessible to all. 

One never knows when and where a seed may germinate. My work is to keep planting ideas about how we might care for our planet, each other, ourselves. As a result, in 2025, look for: 

• A new, interactive website (thanks to Darin Philport of Phusion Digital).
• The reintroduction of the Listening to the Voices of Water YouTube channel to include interviews with Great Lakes artists, spiritual leaders, those advocating for our lakes, rivers, and groundwater, and those making the natural resources of our state accessible.
• Poems and photographs reflecting life in this Great Lakes Region.

I will be posting on Mondays at least once or twice a month. You enrich the journey when you share your thoughts—either by responding privately to my emails, or publicly on the new Journey page of my website or Facebook page. 

I’m ending the year with a mantra—taken from my poem “After the Election.” It could not be more perfect.

heel to toe

heel to toe

heel to toe