by kimqi | Oct 24, 2020 | Fall Hiking
I typed “I have a lot of words to share,” which autocorrected to “I have a lot of words to shed.” I caught my breath and stopped to consider this perspective, this flicker of an idea sparked by autocorrect. Share, by definition, requires more than one person. Usually,...
by kimqi | Sep 20, 2020 | all posts, Moon
Shortly after I took this picture of the setting sun, I looked higher in the sky to see a fine silver sliver bending halfway around the speckled and darkened orb of the Moon. I knew better than to reach for my camera to try to capture that image. The Moon is slippery...
by kimqi | May 24, 2020 | YinYang, Seasons
Twenty-five years ago, I lived in a small town in northern Japan. I used to stroll through the neighborhood, learning what I could about the place I called home for three years. One sweltering summer afternoon, I walked by a preschool, and all the kids were running...
by kimqi | May 18, 2020 | YinYang, Seasons
The following was written while we were locked down in May of 2020. I walked an average of 5.5 miles a day that May. I think the casual pace and the routine of spending a lot of time outside seep around each word and through the entire story. Maybe some loneliness...
by kimqi | Apr 26, 2020 | Big Rock, Illinois
Purple cornfields in Big Rock. Yeah, that’s me parked on the side of the road with my hazards flashing as if something is wrong. I can’t help it. Sometimes I lay on the ground to take pictures, too. One time a young woman walked by and whispered loudly to her guy,...
by kimqi | Mar 19, 2020 | Covid
Today is the Spring Equinox. Day and night are equal. The Equinox is about balance and the tension between light & dark, life & death. I’ll tell you a secret: light & life always win in the Spring. I hold tight to this idea in these confusing times. I’ll...
by kimqi | Mar 8, 2020 | Spring Hiking, Starved Rock
I am still sharing the trail with lots of people rather than trying desperately to avoid them. It is going well, mostly. I won’t do it forever, but for now, it works. It feels safe. Today was busy because the weather was BEAUTIFUL. By early afternoon, crowds grew,...
by kimqi | Mar 1, 2020 | Spring Hiking, Starved Rock
The trails got busy midafternoon at Starved Rock. It was 60 degrees and sunny on March 1. It was a perfect day. I smiled at a couple sitting on a bench watching three kids play. The oldest was balancing, heel-toe heel-toe with airplane arms, on the trunk of a fallen...
by kimqi | Dec 30, 2019 | Michigan, North Country Trail, Winter Hiking, YinYang, Seasons
Yesterday I was hiking in Northern Michigan. Without the magic of a blanket of snow, the forest seemed dead. Dead. Bleak. And beat up. Visiting the forest was like showing up unannounced at a friend’s house on Sunday morning after the friend had been on a weekend...
by kimqi | Nov 14, 2019 | YinYang, Seasons
Tuesday night, I headed east with the full moon acting as my guide. My goal was clear. This wasn’t a solo hike. It was a quest of sorts, a mission. There was a schedule. There were specific parameters to work within. I intended to release an idea by speaking words...
