I am fascinated by the concept of creating a space of words, ideas, and reflections -- a place that does not exist, but is accessible to anyone.

I am a former teacher and a fellow of the South Coast Writing Project. I have tried to gather some thoughts about teaching and life, and the logical next step is to share them.  Why not here?

Over the course of several years, I have been involved in an ongoing oral history project in which my students and I have interviewed many remarkable people. These include ranchers and elders of our community, Chumash descendents, inspiring teachers, a physician who founded a health care clinic along the Amazon, even a world-famous musician and songwriter. Everyone lives a story. The interviews are contained within.

I am also a member of the Gaviota Writing Group, friends who meet each month to share their writing, who sit in the dappled sunlight beneath arbors and oak trees, or sometimes in a lamp-lit room on a rainy night, reading aloud to each other as though it were 1890.  And so I have included some of the stories I’ve written during my years with these good friends.

One of my favorite poets, Naomi Shihab-Nye, said this of poetry: “Our words and images, land to land, era to era, shed light on one another. Our words dissolve the shadows we imagine fall between.”I think it’s true of writing in general, if we write from our hearts.

Long after I created this website, I started a blog, Still Amazed, to post more regular reflections. There's a link here to the blog.

So maybe Zacate Canyon is a place to feel less lonely. It’s a walk into morning. It’s the voices in the wind. It’s a thousand sounds and silences, and a thousand kinds of light.

If any of these signals touch you, please send your comments and responses.