Original anecdotes, commentary, rumination, and occasional pontification.
SEPTEMBER 12, 2026 – After reading several articles on AI and considering myself a complete expert, I was fully prepared to dash off a comprehensive pontificating post on the subject. You know—something extolling the oft-repeated far-flung benefits of AI, then turning a sharp corner and joining the fire drill over the hack of Hugging Face …
SEPTEMBER 6, 2026 – (Cont.) Among the top 10 maintenance challenges of a lake cabin owner, I must now include “preventing damage to young white pine from rutting deer.” For days now, I’ve been searching online for advice, insights, information on how to deter deer from rutting white pine saplings: what techniques work and which …
SEPTEMBER 5, 2026 – The doggone deer in these parts have transformed me into a character. No, not the sort with a bow or rifle out to shoot the deer, but as a self-styled arborist and protector of pinus strobus, the white pine that are the signature tree on our land on the shore of …
AUGUST 31, 2026 – The other day while our son’s family was visiting from out of town, my son, grandson and I were left to our own devices. I was about to suggest an outing to Como Zoo and Conservatory, but Byron beat me to it. “Dad, how ’bout we go to the zoo?” he …
AUGUST 29, 2026 – (Cont.) The pinnacle of my fishing career, as it were, occurred during my Grand Odyssey around the globe in 1981—a journey on which I was fishing for an answer to the ultimate question in life: What should I be when I grow up? One of my side trips took me to …
AUGUST 28, 2026 – (Cont.) To replace the broken handle, a whole new rod had to be purchased. What would have to suffice was an inexpensive, one-piece yellow rod with an attached handle. We bought it at the local Erickson gas station back in Anoka. As far as I was concerned, this substitute rod was …
AUGUST 27, 2026 – (Cont.) Finally, the big day arrived. We were up at the cabin, and after blowing out the candles on the birthday cake that my grandmother had baked for the celebration after supper, Dad presented the two boxes that I’d espied earlier on the hat shelf in his closet back home. First, …
AUGUST 26, 2026 – (Cont.) During the next summer was my second fishing expedition on Round Lake. Coincidentally, the trip didn’t involve the Roeckers but the Ridges, who had been the previous residents of the house where Roeckers now lived. Ridges had moved to St. Cloud, then Minneapolis, but remained friends of our family and …
AUGUST 25, 2026 – (Cont.) My earliest memory of fishing dates back to the Franklin Elementary School annual carnival. I wasn’t yet in school, but my two older sisters were, and they knew their way around the highlights of the carnival—the cake walk, the ring toss, the balloon darts, and . . . the fish …
AUGUST 24, 2026 – As I begin this post, the sun is sliding toward the horizon with a landing spot just under a month shy of the equinox. I’m seated at the end of the dock in the company of spouse and half of our company, admiring a sky filled with pastels in search of …
AUGUST 21, 2026 – Today at 10:00 I was left in sole charge of our three-year-old grandson . . . at the Red Cabin. “Will you be home before lunch?” I asked, as my wife, daughter-in-law and infant granddaughter exited the back of the cabin to head for town. (Byron had departed yesterday to ferry …
AUGUST 20, 2026 – (Cont.) A few miles north of Bayfield we entered the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indian Reservation. The first notable sight is the Legendary Waters Resort and Casino right on the shore of Lake Superior. Having hit the jackpot with the weather, however, we proceeded past this establishment several …
AUGUST 19, 2026 – Yesterday I joined the plan to take our visitors north to Bayfield, WI on the south shore of Lake Superior, a 90-minute drive from the Red Cabin. We left Grindstone Lake at 9:30 in the morning and returned 10 hours later after a magnificent outing. Among Twin Citians, Bayfield enjoys a …
AUGUST 17, 2026 – Yesterday at midnight, after everyone else was sound asleep and Byron himself was about to head off to Nod, I said, “I’m going out to the dock to check out the stars.” “I’ll join you,” he said. I was glad he wanted to—without having to be invited. Together we strolled out …
AUGUST 15, 2026 – Anyone who grew up with a family cabin or camp or cottage tradition knows the principal features—a lake, trees, a hammock, watercraft, swimming, fishing, s’mores, three family generations, sunsets, moonrises and star-gazing . . . and, of course, a cabin or cottage. Did I miss something? Oh, yeah. Wildlife. This morning …
AUGUST 10, 2026 – I know that most people share my awe, fear, disbelief, and anxiety over the complex uncertainties of life in our era. Where is the country headed? What will happen come November? Will the Strait of Hormuz open before the global economy crashes? What’s with all the wildfires—are they a sign of …
AUGUST 5, 2026 – One of the many things I appreciate about nature in all its moods, shapes, sounds, sizes, odors and colors, is that while we humans strut around, pushing and shoving one another in this direction and that, scaling snowy mountain peaks, taking deep dives into the sea, scampering around in our towns …
JULY 28, 2026 – Today the waters parted long enough to allow for painting the “sails,” tiller, splashboard and hull trim of another vessel of my model sailboat-from-wood-scraps fleet. This one was particularly tricky—it’s dual colored (for a husband-and-wife crew among the guests we’ll be hosting at the Red Cabin in August) and required an …
JULY 26, 2026 – Atmospheric conditions at the lake today reflected nature’s many moods in this neck of the woods. Well into daylight, I slipped out of bed and peered out the windows. A dense fog had descended over the woods, and I knew that a good many “photo ops” were to be had. I …
JULY 25, 2026 – It was an easy choice between reading beyond the morning headlines or reveling in nature’s magical majesty here in the lacustrine woodlands of northwestern Wisconsin. While Beth lounged in bed here at the Red Cabin, I stole downstairs, charged up the coffee apparatus, and fixed my usual breakfast. Soon I was …
JULY 23, 2026 – Much of this beautiful day was given over to a birthday party; first in rehearsing some music for which I’d been recruited to perform at the party, and later, in attending and playing at the party itself. The occasion was the surprise party for a loyal fan of our decades-long “Fidder …
JULY 11, 2026 – Today I experienced little bits o’ heaven. It all started with church. Not church church, but at the Mennonite Church on County Road K a half mile or so south of the south shore of Grindstone Lake. The occasion was the joint annual meetings of the Grindstone Lake Association and the …
MAY 27, 2026 – It is in our nature, I guess, that when the Northwind blows, forcing us to pull our collars up and walk with folded arms to trap more body heat, we complain about the cold. Yet, when the tables are turned and the Southwind sends its hot and humid breath across the …
MAY 25, 2026 – This morning after breakfast and Java, I sat at the log dining table at the Red Cabin, pecking away at correspondence on my laptop. Facing the lake exactly 75 feet from the windows, I periodically looked up to check on the scenery. A splendid breeze frolicked across the two-mile fetch from …
MAY 16, 2026 – A year ago, I worked myself to exhaustion planting Norway pine and white spruce seedlings, mostly in the tree garden of Björnholm. As is the case this spring, the ground then was so dry, a walk through the woods mimicked the Kellogg’s Rice Krispies jingle—snap, crackle, pop. After planting the seedlings, …