Author Archives: Heather
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Bonfires in the soul
Last week, as Martin and I flew into Denver on our way to the Aspen Summer Words literary festival, we could see giant billows of smoke from the High Park fire outside Fort Collins, about sixty-five miles to the north. … Continue reading
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Tagged alternative medicine, Aspen, Aspen Writers Foundation, Colorado, curanderismo, fire, Luis Urrea, medicine, Orion, T. S. Eliot
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Take me to the river
Last week I started rowing again after an eight-month hiatus. It has been pure pleasure, despite the inevitable price of blisters on my baby-soft hands. First, the pleasure of seeing my friends at the dock, including the ducks and C.J. … Continue reading
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Tagged Bible, books, cancer, Colorado River, marriage, rowing, sex, Wendell Berry
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Submission guidelines
The cliff swallows have returned to Madroño Ranch. They’ve expanded their housing development under the western eave of the Main House to several eastern eaves, one of which we can see from inside the house. We watched them build their … Continue reading
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Tagged Big Bend National Park, birds, cliff swallows, Lajitas, love, Terlingua
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A father’s legacy
Heather’s father Henry E. Catto Jr. died on December 18, 2011. The following is an adaptation of remarks she delivered at his memorial service at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in San Antonio on January 7. My friend Mimi Swartz wrote … Continue reading
Angels in the dark
Jesus said to them… “But in those days, after that suffering, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be … Continue reading
Field notes from inside my head: connecting art and commerce
Point One: When we attended the Alliance for Artist Communities conference in Chicago several weeks ago, I found myself eagerly awaiting the start of a session entitled “Earned Revenue and Artist Residencies.” Point Two: The other day, as Martin and … Continue reading
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Tagged Alliance of Artists Communities, chickens, economics, farming, LEED, Madroño Ranch, Occupy Wall Street, Slow Money
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Edsels and the Enlightenment: the downside of corporate personhood
A headline in Monday’s Austin American-Statesman reported that the Texas Senate is poised for a political shift as four veteran conservative Republican senators step down before the 2012 election cycle. According to the article, those seats could easily go to … Continue reading
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Tagged Austin American-Statesman, corporations, Enlightenment, Ford Edsel, George Will, liberalism, Rick Perry, The New Yorker
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Re-wilding the monocultural self
While reading the recently published Rambunctious Garden: Saving Nature in a Post-Wild World, by Emma Marris, I found myself simultaneously cheering and exclaiming with a steely squint: Hey! Real conservationists can’t think this! You’re just giving ammunition for them to … Continue reading
Posted in Nature
Tagged agribusiness, climate change, environmentalism, farming, Madroño Ranch, nature, nineteenth century
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A furry flurry of fully furrowed brows: my beef with Freeman Dyson, part II
My previous post revealed the furry fury of the fully furrowed Kohout brow, especially when a flurry of furry brows furrow in unison. I’m a Kohout by marriage, not birth, and therefore, perhaps, I do not wield the full power … Continue reading
Posted in Nature
Tagged Dorian Gray, Ellen Davis, environmentalism, Freeman Dyson, religion, Roger Shattuck, science
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