To the extent I fancy myself a nature photographer, I don’t usually organize my time in the field to make a record of things that move through and above the fields. This is partly to shield my psyche from the frustration of trying to outsmart animals, and partly a grudging acceptance that I’m better equipped to photograph subjects that aren’t purposely trying to avoid me.

And still… I’m out there. Mule deer pop their heads above the sagebrush. Northern harriers, with their owl-like faces and low, swooping glides, capture my gaze. And the next thing you know, I’m trying to take their pictures. To be sure, rocks are better behaved. But critters have more charisma. A sample…

My office and kitchen are littered with stones.

On the sill behind my desk is the heaviest of them: a 20-pound lump of palagonite from the Deep Creek ravine west of Spokane. It is a dense, crystalized and discolored chunk of basalt—the result of the Grande Ronde lava flow interacting with water some 16 million years ago. The palagonite ranges in color from the glassy black of obsidian to a rough, yellowish-orange crust. Continue reading Songs from the Range →