Few things titillate our senses more poignantly than the classic change of seasons.  The crisp colored coolness of early autumn, the brisk sunny breezes of early spring, the first big winter snow and the first warm summer rain--all these bring balance and meaning to our lives.  But autumn this year is waiting . . . and much of the West is burning.  Seasons are changing all right, but they are stretching the limits of time frames, extremes, and intensities.  And we are learning to adapt.
     I've devoted much of my life to helping preserve nature and keep as much balance in our world as possible.  At age 62, I still commute on bicycle.  Deb and I choose our sports of choice as non-motorized.  And we garden, and we pray for life-giving rains.  But we know that as humanity grows and consumes with the ferocity of an ecological wildfire, the Eremocene (as dubbed by E. O. Wilson) is indeed upon us.
     So we celebrate every bird, every mammal, every bee and bug, and all the rest of life that remains when we see it.  Each butterfly might be our last, each bear, each cat, each moose, each heron, eagle, falcon, hawk.  Even each little precious bee.  But while they remain, we remain filled with hope, and we know that Nature will always prevail.  She may retreat into a dark hibernation for eons, but what is time to Nature?  
     It is easier to say goodbye when one knows that someday in the far distant future, every creature will return.  It is important to us that we treasure every memory and every moment with even the most tenuous connection to the "wild" world around us.  As long as those of us who believe in Mother Earth and Nature keep hope alive, Nature will survive.

     Today we harvested the first chives from the garden, and the crocuses and daffodils are in bloom.  Even the apricot tree joined in the festivities--a celebration of spring.   Spring has bloomed on our planet for eons, and it will continue long after humans recede from the rocky shores of their tenuous island of castles and walls.  That's what we need to remember right now.  Spring is nature, life, hope, the future--all of these.  
     There are some rare flowers of humanity that bloom in the spring, and with luck, they will continue to bloom just like the other flowers of spring.  Perhaps fire and storm will eradicate the noxious weeds of greed, wealth, political ambition, and selfishness--we shall see.  But as the Tao teaches, good and evil go hand in hand.  Light and dark, night and day, happy and sad.  
       All I can do now is wake up each day and revel in the return of spring.  The rain drenched air, the melting snow, the scent of rejuvenated evergreens, the smell of sage and fruit blossoms--these are what count.  I am wealthier than anyone in the world when I behold seven golden daffodils blooming in my yard.  And I carry that wealth in my heart.  
       As the raindrops fall, I pray that my students will take time to smell the rain, feel the moisture-laden air, and know that there are great gifts still waiting for all of us to open and enjoy.

Happy Vernal Equinox    (Yesterday)   Happy first full day of spring (Today)   And may you find happiness tomorrow as well.

     As the summer solstice approaches, Creativity, Teaching, and Natural Inspiration is just one month published, and Walking Natural Pathways just over one year published.  I hope fervently that enough people will read these, especially CTNI, and help the spirit of the works grow.  There are stories, messages, nuances, and even philosophical moments within these books that need to be shared, need to be enjoyed.
     My wife and I continue to buy and read remarkable books by tremendous new writers and thinkers as we expand our knowledge and horizons.  But now, it is time for others to experience my work.   I am miles away from making any money on either book, even from breaking even.  But if we can all water the seeds of creation here, I believe that the bloom will be savory and scintillating for both author and audience!   How's that for a plea to purchase a book?
     Meanwhile, we continue to make stories happen by spending as much time as possible out there somewhere in the silence, the storm, the wind sky and sun.   Happy Summer Solstice everyone!!

​Mark

       Between now and the Summer Solstice, my newest work Creatiity, Teaching, and Natural Inspiration will come out in paperback through Unsolicited Press.  It's a book about adventure, magical moments, and yes, it's about teaching as well.  I've written it as a series of stories--all true--that link my passion for the outdoors and nature to my life working in the profession of education.
       There is nothing else like this book out there.  It is unique.  Added to that, each chapter of the book can easily stand alone, not unlike a series of wonderful short stories.  Yet each story (memoir, personal essay, vignette) is linked by a common thread woven into the fabric of creative impulse.
       Anyone who loves the outdoors, anyone who fondly remembers a moment from their own schooling, anyone who enjoys poetic, creative, and sometimes quirky prose, anyone who loves reading lighthearted stories--all of these people will find something to make them smile and think and laugh and nod in agreement while reading this book.
        My hope is that this creative nonfiction work will help to keep creative thought alive and full of promise, just like the young minds that all of humanity look toward for leading us into our future.  My hope is that by sharing this work with as many people as I can, the great alpenhorn of the mountains will echo from peak to peak, canyon to canyon, spreading the belief that the world is still full of magic and hope and positive energy despite seemingly overwhelming evidence to the  contrary.  
        This book is all about being contrary.  Read my stories and join me in the belief that hope still resides in young minds and in, well, creativity, teaching, and natural inspiration!

Mark A. Doherty
Vernal Equinox  2019

     Ahh, here comes Winter!  And yet here comes the light.  By May, Creativity, Teaching, and Natural Inspiration (CTNI) will be published, and my new journey--our journey for those who join me--will begin.  I look forward to the Winter Solstice on many levels.  I love the cold and snow that regenerates our world and puts the seasons into such striking perspective, and I love the returning light.  Each season has its wonders, its beauty, its stories.  CTNI is indeed a celebration of the seasons, the stories, the songs, as well as the triumphs and trials of a well-lived life working a challenging yet rewarding profession. 
     The book, however, doesn't read like a straight memoir.  Nor does it read like a volume of essays.  And it's certainly not a fictional novel, although I am preparing to write the third installment in the Jack Carment Novella Series.  If anything, CTNI reads like a big old volume of short stories.  Any chapter can stand on its own and can be read or enjoyed separately from the others.  And the chapters move from season to season, equinox to equinox, solstice to solstice, as they are driven by Natural Inspiration.  Some chapters engage several season.
      Yet there's more.  I've chosen to incorporate poems and songs, dialogue and digressions, pedagogy and philosophy--all sprinkled throughout the book like one sprinkles well-chosen spices to flavor a home-cooked feast.  If it's still possible to "bend" genres in the modern publishing world, I've reached for that possibility.  I sense that you will like it, maybe even love it, and hopefully be willing to pass the word, for as much as I love teaching, in the crazy world of urban public education, I'm ready to move forward.  CTNI  is for me a stepping stone.  Support from my readers will make it strong and secure.
         Meanwhile I'm grateful for a 13 day break from school this solsticy season so that Deb and I can wander on skis and snowshoes through some interstices out there in our own peripatetic world with the wildcats, coyotes, bears, fox, elk, moose, deer, eagles and hawks, and maybe even a distant call of a wolf.  Here's to imagining wilderness and living for moments when our ordinary world takes on the feel of being wild.  I believe that someday, all things again shall be wild.

Hi Everyone!   There are many poems and songs that didn't get published in Walking Natural Pathways.  One of them is a poem/song that I wrote while working in Yellowstone National Park and training for firefighting.  In the context of what is happening today, I sense that this poem is important to share.  While training in 1993, wildland fire instruction included a list of "Fire Orders" which everyone needed to memorize, learn, and adhere to.  I'll admit, I'm many years now removed from that time, and I don't know if these same orders stand, or if there have been changes.  But when I first was introduced to these orders, I immediately realized their significance, and knew that I must commit them to memory.  After class, while waiting to sleep for a few hours in the camper shell of my old Ford Ranger pickup truck, I wrote this poem/song.  The orders themselves are simple:  Fight aggressively, Initiate expected actions, Recognize weather, Ensure instructions, Obtain all information, Remain in communication, Determine safe escape, Establish lookouts, Remain in control, Stay alert.    Following is how the chorus of the song evolved:      
     Fight with all your might, be aggressive yet be safe,
     Initiate your actions, expectation based,
     Recognize the changing weather, watch the winds and skies,
     Ensure you know instructions, how what when where and whys,
     Obtain all information, the status of the fire,
      Remain in communication, most all of the time,
     Determine where you will escape, all places that are safe,
     Establish watchful lookouts, to scan the entire place,
     Remain in full control, do not cry, panic, or run,
     Stay alert, think clearly, as if you carry a loaded gun .
This song, now posted on YouTube   https://youtu.be/xKAPRbJpczA  was my own personal method of memorizing the fire orders as well as my tribute to the many firefighters who have died in the line of service.  I can think of no better time than now for sharing this song/poem.  Pass it on, share it with others.  Let's work together to support our firefighters in any way we can.  In the wildly unlikely event that this little video earns me ANY money, I will donate every penny to firefighting or to those whose homes have been lost.   (So how do you make any money from a YouTube video?  I just don't know!!)
Mark Doherty