The Story Continues
February 22, 2026

Friends, it’s 11:45 AM on Saturday, and I still have no idea what to write today! I do have lots of photos with their own story to tell, so today I’m going to add just a little and otherwise let the photos do the talking. I used to try and write every Sunday, but more and more I’m realizing I dont need to force anything. A story is a story, regardless of the balance between words and images. And I’ve gotten that backlog down to 7000 photos, so I’m making progress!
I miss having the ducks up close! The goldeneyes are still in a large pack in the middle of the lake, so let’s celebrate them with a video. It’s really intriguing to watch them dive as a pack. It reminds me of a popcorn machine. If you are counting goldeneyes, how many you count depends on when you look!
If you’ve been here long, you know how much I love American Coots, whom I affectionately refer to as cooties. All that time we spent avoiding “cooties” as a kid, and it turns out these squeaky water chickens with giant, green, dinosaur feet seem about as sweet as could be. Here is one of my cootie friends taking a walk across the ice in front of me:

We interrupt the duck parade with a song sparrow who just wants you to know there are little birds here in the cold, too.



I’ve seen so much talk about the “Fire Horse,” most of it unsurprisingly taking a very masculine view of the horse. In my quiet space, I’m feeling her very differently. I’m feeling how connected horses are to everything, how attuned they are to the truth, how they sometimes sense our emotions better than we do. I’m seeing the fire horse as an energetically sensitive and aware being, full of life. Perhaps that is the version of the fire horse I hope to embody this year.
May the week ahead be full of golden stardust sprinkles for everyone.



















Thanks for your insight into the Fire Horse year. It's a whole new perception of the energy & my being a "pony" not a galloping horse. Carry on with what you do best at your own speed & in your own way. Beauty heals. 🫶🏻
Nice photo of my once ten year old son, Coot, and his enormous feet!
The photo of Mrs. Common Merganser doing a high speed turn and burn was as epic as anything Maverick ever did.
Thank you Karen.