by Natalie Ogbourne | | Navigate by Faith, Pondering Life Outside
A few Saturdays ago, I woke to thunder and began to pray that it wouldn’t rain. Seconds later, I realized that it was 6:30 a.m., the time when my post The Best Thing One Can Do was scheduled to land in inboxes, mine included. I wasn’t...
by Natalie Ogbourne | | Pondering Life Outside
Dad and I went to Yellowstone about a year ago—just the two of us, to the Lamar Buffalo Ranch, for a nature writing class—and we did some hiking and camping along the way. Most of the time, the end-of-August days delighted us with warm sun and cool air, but the...
by Natalie Ogbourne | | Pondering Life Outside
Gary Smalley, founder of the Smalley Relationship Center, says that the secret to a “close-knit relationship is shared experiences that turn into shared trials.” He mentions camping as one source for shared trials and a potential relationship-building...
by Natalie Ogbourne | | Pondering Life Outside
Some summers my nephew and niece visit us. The kids picnic and put on puppet shows; they fish and swim and sleep outside and get bit up. They stay busy–all on their own–and they love it. One year, my daughter was recovering from a cracked elbow. She had a...
by Natalie Ogbourne | | Pondering Life Outside
I wrote this last winter but I couldn’t bear to post one more piece about snow. Winter had been too long and too deep. Summer always brings a day, usually in August, when I step outdoors and know that I will again be ready for snow. This is not that day. This...
by Natalie Ogbourne | | Pondering Life Outside
Morning is quiet again. Sort of. The distant whine is gone and when I step out on my deck, birds are all I hear. The cicadas started early this summer–not the usual ones, not the dog day ones, not the ones that make me sad. These were the Magicicada Brood III,...