Dark Sentiments Season 10 — Day 12: Predator and Prey

| October 12, 2019

I am the mirror the kitten doesn’t see As it stalks the other. Its efforts exhausted in reaction To only what it, itself, has done. I am the dream that makes real all that you see in me, And I remain unseen As you believe in the lies you tell yourself, Absent thought. ~ I […]

Dark Sentiments Season 10 — Day 11: Perennial Weeds

| October 11, 2019

“A label can be a physical object that, when applied to another object, conveys important information about it. What it’s made of, how to use it, how long it may be kept, and the best means of storage before use or consumption. Things like that. These sorts of labels abound in today’s world and are […]

Dark Sentiments Season 10 — Day 10: After the Apocalypse

| October 10, 2019

In keeping with the spirit of this season of Dark Sentiments, enlivened by the general air of gloom and doom casting its shadow across the land, we’ll be taking forays into an ever so special genre straddling science fiction and horror. I’m speaking, of course, of the post-apocalyptic tale, and this will be the first […]

Dark Sentiments Season 10 — Day 9: Wetiko

| October 9, 2019

I have come to know that my Esteemed Friend Master At Arms James Keating and I are joined at the spiritual hip, and so it came as no surprise when late last August he emailed me some articles on the Wetiko. If you come here often enough, you will know that I have previously written […]

Dark Sentiments Season 10 — Day 7: You Wouldn’t Know the End of the World if it Bit You in the Ass

| October 7, 2019

“In truth, most people really don’t understand the burden of responsibility they carry for their own safety and survival, and the commonalities that link every threat to life and limb. In truth, most people have accepted the idea that no matter what happens, all you need do is call “Them” and “They’ll” take care of […]

Dark Sentiments Season 10 — Day 3: We’re All Doomed

| October 3, 2019

“Every living thing in Nature, flora or fauna, has a Way that defines its ideal state of being. That balanced equation of form and function forged by generations of evolution against the anvil of environmental reality. This ideal state of being is, for each species, its own unique expression of the greater, all encompassing Way […]

Dark Sentiments Season 10 — Day 1: A Season for Conversations

| October 1, 2019

“No organism can afford to be conscious of matters with which it could deal at unconscious levels.” ~ Gregory Bateson – Steps to an Ecology of Mind Welcome back thou frayed and fraught traveller. We’ve kept your seat by the fire warm and ask that you pay no attention to the vacant ones. We live […]

Time Spent on Reconnaissance is Seldom Wasted

| June 9, 2019

The title of today’s piece is taken from Tomorrow, When the War Began by John Marsden, and I believe perfectly encapsulates the philosophy Mrs. LFM and I bring to every activity that takes us into the field. As I’ve mentioned before, where and how we live means being able to walk out the back door […]

They Started It

| May 18, 2019

Of Monsters and Guardians was a piece published here on Day 27 of Dark Sentiments Season 8. It dealt with the powerful demands and stark realities of storytelling as one of the most resounding components in child rearing. Following that ever so important school of thought, here is — They Started It By LFM As […]

Speaking As One Lady’s Man to Another

| March 24, 2019

“As I’ve gone through the grieving process myself, and watched others do the same, it has become clear to me that, in the end, the power and joy of a life well lived is not diminished by the final footnote that it came to an end. That grief is a path leading to a place […]