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March 24, 2019
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Northern Lights

A blog about the wonders and challenges of living in Homer, Alaska, by Miranda Weiss, the author of Tide, Feather, Snow: A Life in Alaska.

Previous posts

Looking Ahead

And saying goodbye

by Miranda Weiss | Thursday, October 27, 2016

First Snow

Early delights of the season

by Miranda Weiss | Thursday, October 20, 2016

Heading to Nanwalek

And hoping for a smooth approach

by Miranda Weiss | Thursday, October 13, 2016

Election Day

The more things change?

by Miranda Weiss | Thursday, October 06, 2016

Playing at Survival

Learning to forage, 4,000 miles from here

by Miranda Weiss | Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Outbreak

Evergreens gone brown

by Miranda Weiss | Thursday, September 22, 2016

Closing Up and Putting Away

The summer is gone; so too are the crowds

by Miranda Weiss | Thursday, September 15, 2016

Walking in the Dark

Sometimes you don’t want to look straight ahead

by Miranda Weiss | Thursday, September 08, 2016

Thinking Locally

If you dream it, you can do it

by Miranda Weiss | Thursday, September 01, 2016

A Good Day Fishing

From the bountiful bay

by Miranda Weiss | Thursday, August 25, 2016
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Newsletter

THIS WEEK’S ARCHIVE PICK

Remembering W. S. Merwin

by John Kaag

W. S. Merwin, one of the most celebrated and prolific poets of his generation, died last Friday at the age of 91. A former U.S. poet laureate and the winner of two Pulitzer Prizes, Merwin was also known for his work as a conservationist. After moving to Hawaii in the 1970s, he began the decades-long project of restoring different plant species to the former pineapple plantation where he lived. Merwin was notoriously difficult to contact, but in the fall of last year, John Kaag managed to interview him over the phone. Merwin, he reports, repeated the same lines throughout their conversation: “The time of wisdom cannot be measured, and, for me, wisdom is the garden. There is no time in the garden.” In an essay for the Scholar, Kaag explores this relationship between gardening and the passage of time, and how it is reflected in Merwin’s life and poetry.