Author: Michael Stevens

I am a tea snob. I mostly use loose leaf, free from the bonds of a bag. I pay attention to brewing temperature: boiling for most black, 195 degrees for oolong, 160 -180 degrees...

Huge earthmoving equipment is tearing up the landscape, eliminating all trees, sage, rabbitbrush, and wildflowers to make way for a new road. Larger rocks are piled high in one spot to be fed into...

I am sitting in a local Thai restaurant waiting to order my noon meal. At the table next to me, three women converse about family history. The grandmother leads most of the exchange with...

I wonder if it knows it is different. It seems to act like all the other jays, hopping about, snagging a few peanuts we offer at our bird feeder. It also seems to interact...

Deep in a grotto composed of volcanic stone and weathered by hydrothermal activity, Lava Hot Springs mineral waters percolate up through a bed of natural gravels made of white quartz and beige volcanic pebbles....

A scant five miles below the surface of the earth, a chamber of hot glowing magma sits in anticipation of releasing its simmering power. The Yellowstone volcano will eventually erupt again. It is not...

The throng of visitors at Artist’s Point overlooking Yellowstone Falls is overwhelming. We choose to visit this park after school starts so as to as avoid such crowds. But, apparently, social media has popularized...

Waterfalls are glorious displays of nothingness. Water pours over rock precipices and crashes into the earth below, scattering shards of moisture and emitting a fine ethereal mist into the air. The space becomes vibrant...

Myopia. Nearsightedness. I notice with the advent of the smart phone that people have become very nearsighted. For instance, it appears they cannot see nor read the signs that say, “Give plants a chance,”...

I am looking through the window toward our back porch and see a floating apparition. It is some sort of flower seed composed of gossamer filaments radiating from a central spire—similar to spokes on...