*In the Columbia Gorge, balsamroot and lupine are spring’s best collaboration. Photo by Drew Myron.*

Ask the world to reveal its quietude —

not the silence of machines when they are still,

but the true quiet by which birdsongs,

trees, bellworts, snails, clouds, storms

become what they are, and are nothing else.

— Wendell Berry, excerpt from Sabbaths 2001

I would add balsamroot to that list of quiets, but maybe Wendell, a Kentucky fellow, doesn’t know the joy of Oregon’s unofficial sunflower.

The spring is rich with abundance: everything blooming. My mind is full of flowers and other delightful odds, ends, and unexpecteds.

May I share a few?

Good Views:
In the cracks and creeks, in the breaking asphalt and the wide-sky fields, every place has its bit of beauty. Where I live, the slopes are now jeweled with robust clusters of balsamroot and lupine, a glorious combination of sunny yellow and vibrant purple. Their season is short and every year I say, “this is the most beautiful turnout ever.” And it always is. Nature reminds us of the power of paying attention.

Good Reading:
I was browsing Bart’s Books — my favorite outdoor bookshop — and found a book I’ve always wanted but have never managed to acquire: Given: Poems by Wendell Berry. I wasn’t on the hunt for anything in particular but simply enjoying my favorite things: sunshine and books, when there it was, just waiting for me! Given is a beautiful collection of quietude and reverence.

You’ve heard me sing the praises of Alejandro Jimenez, an award-winning performance poet from Colima, Mexico who grew up in Oregon’s Hood River Valley. His first full-length collection just came out, and it is powerful. There will be days, Brown boy is protest and song, celebration and sorrow, hero and heart. You can support grassroots poetry — and get a signed book — from Alejandro’s website.

Twenty years ago, Central Avenue, a small literary journal based in New Mexico, was the first publication to give my poems a home. Over time, the journal featured 180 poets and published more than 1,000 poems. In commemoration, editor Dale Harris with Merimee Moffitt, have published Central Avenue: Then & Now, a retrospective featuring original poems paired with new work from these same poets. I’m delighted to be included in this collection, along with good poet-people I’ve gratefully gotten to know along the way: Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, Gary Glazner, Judyth Hill, and more.

Good Watching:
Why are so many nail salons run by Vietnamese families? If you get manicures or pedicures, or have seen the proliferation of strip mall salons, you have likely wondered about the genesis of this multi-billion dollar industry.

Nailed It, a documentary that aired in 2019 on PBS’s America Reframed series, answers this question. Filmmaker Adele Free Pham, from Portland, Oregon, digs deep into personal and cultural past and present to explore the inspiring impact of immigrant entrepreneurs. Watch the fascinating one-hour documentary here.

Your Turn:
Are your senses alive this spring? What are you seeing, smelling, tasting, touching, learning? What scenes and sights have stretched your attention? Books and movies, songs and stillness — what feels alive to you today?