Emily Brisse

There is a man I met through his words three years ago, and ever since, I have wanted him to be a close uncle, a pull-that-chair-up-to-the-fire kind of friend. He has written twenty books, taught thousand of students, won dozens of awards, and met with important people about important things, so I know it's not only me that has felt this way. Still: I thought if I could just meet him, if I could just shake his hand, perhaps my appreciation would ring clear to him even in the wake of so much praise. This last weekend, I spent the early minutes of an 8:00 Saturday morning hiking through the north woods at the Audubon Center . I had on a too-thin coat, no gloves, and my camera slung around my neck. The air was tight with a chill I hadn't felt for half a year, and the light was brilliant with it. It streaked through the pines, caught on the maple leaves already a vibrant red. I paused and looked, kneeled, scrambled up on rocks, tilted my ears toward the sound of birds. Took deep

  What do you think: Would Henry have said the same thing about running (or biking )? That an early morning run  was a blessing over the whole day, too? For some reason, I have a hard time picturing HDT up-and-downing and huffing-and-puffing next to Walden Pond, a fine sheen coating his brow and collecting on that fine, fine beard. Still, I imagine were he with us this morning, taking in a September dawn such as this, he would have laced up his worn-in boots and greeted the day, heart pounding.

Sometimes, even though I know such phrases are cliche, I can't help myself from repeating over and over comments like, "Time flies by" and "Where has the summer gone" and "Each year, each year goes more quickly, I swear."  Perhaps these phrases are repeated so much simply because they are very, very true. In the spirit of that quickness, I thought I'd pop in here and offer up a few arguably sparse updates in lieu of my somewhat moseying style.   In case you missed my little announcement, I've had one particular little thing on my mind lately: a baby ! My husband and I are expecting our first child at the end of January. Although I'm sure bits and pieces of that journey will end up here, I plan to keep this blog mostly place-focused. I'm writing for a pregnancy blog , too, though, so if you like yourself some baby and are interested in a different kind of (more personal! more crazy?) writing, then head over here and chec