ashleylodatoFeb 267 minBaby catcherappeared in Bluebird Grain Farms 2.24.2022 photos courtesy of James Austin A childhood spent on a farm normalized the mammalian birth...
ashleylodatoJan 203 minLivin' the dreamAppeared in the Methow Valley News, 1.12.2022 When the universe (or at least the troposphere) presents us with an opportunity to revel in...
ashleylodatoDec 11, 20214 minOh Tannenbaum*appeared in Methow Valley News 12.8.2021 *photos from days of yore When I volunteered to write about venturing back into the woods to...
ashleylodatoNov 25, 20215 minEnumeration: 12 full moons * an excerpt from this post appears in the Methow Valley News, Valley Life 11.24.2021 On Halloween Eve 2020, some friends and I went for...
ashleylodatoSep 14, 20213 minBut at leastappeared in Methow Valley News Valley Life 8.25.2021 When assessing something, I like to rely on scientific data when it’s available, and...
ashleylodatoAug 20, 20214 minGiddyupappeared in Methow Valley News 8.4.2021 It’s the stuff of legend: local gal wearing only a bikini and sandals jumps on a horse and rides...
ashleylodatoMay 9, 20213 minCircle upSpring came back around as it always does, not a milestone but an inevitability. We celebrated not just the longer and warmer days, but...
ashleylodatoMar 5, 20212 minDriven Snowappears in Stanford Magazine, March. 2021 A gleaming hulk of a thing, smacking of horsepower, the PistenBully is all brawny elegance....
ashleylodatoJan 25, 20212 minThreadsIn the fall of 1939, my paternal grandmother boarded a train in Gleichen, Alberta headed south, across the US-Canada border, and on to...
ashleylodatoDec 25, 20205 minEnumeration: 4 elements whispered in gratitude1. EARTH The mountains welcomed me back last summer as they have every summer, with neither preferential nor prejudicial treatment. COVID...
ashleylodatoDec 20, 20202 minFiltersMy best college friends and I may not have been the brightest bulbs in the box, but I assure you that we were far from the dimmest. And...
ashleylodatoDec 13, 20206 minCarl Miller: Trailblazerappears in Methow Trails Magazine 2020-2021 photos by Jason Paulsen, Methow Conservancy Carl Miller: March 29, 1939 - December 12, 2020...
ashleylodatoOct 30, 20203 minSugar coatedValley Life, Methow Valley News 10.28.2020 Due to the scarring effects of Halloween 1976, I’m probably not the best person to sympathize...
ashleylodatoOct 1, 20203 minTough enough to make the differenceWhen I arrived at Stanford in the fall of 1987, I had no organized sports experience under my belt, other than a brief foray into...
ashleylodatoSep 23, 20203 minAndromedaAt a recent gathering of women {outdoors, socially distanced—do we keep needing to add those disclaimers?}, we discussed the universe. We...
ashleylodatoSep 19, 20202 minThe sweet spotThe best part of the honey house is the smell. Joke all you want about "honey house," as a euphemism, but this is the real deal--the true...
ashleylodatoAug 2, 20202 minBaby stepsWhile running on a familiar trail near my home a few weeks ago, I started noticing baby footprints in the dust. Not just a single...
ashleylodatoJul 9, 20203 minHabitsWhen I was 20, I spent a semester in school with a nun. For a girl who grew up in rural central Washington, everything about Perugia,...
ashleylodatoJun 22, 20205 minAlways above LavaFormed by a debris fan at the base of Prospect Canyon at river mile 179 on the Colorado River, Lava Falls looms as arguably the most...
ashleylodatoMay 9, 20201 minThe edgeOne of my favorite trail runs is one of my hardest. Starting out in a pine forest, it climbs up through aspen stands, past old...