Category: Back to Nature

OCTOBER 5, 2019 – Yesterday my wife and I hiked through a boreal forest in northern Wisconsin to a precipice overlooking Lake Superior. Along the way I wondered how long I’d survive in those woods—or any northern woods—if I were equipped only with tools of early humans.  Not long, I guessed. Maybe I’d catch some …

JULY 29, 2019 – At midnight Saturday I’d just turned off the downstairs lights. The faint glow of an upstairs nightlight was all that guided my way to the steps. My wife had retired earlier and was fast asleep in the second floor bedroom overlooking the open space below where I’d been reading. Suddenly appeared …

JULY 24, 2019 – In these parts, winter can be brutally long. Some people would say brutally wrong, especially last winter, when heavy snow and cold temps slammed us repeatedly all the way into April. We took it on the chin—or wrist, rib, elbow or ankle. When spring finally arrived, it did so reluctantly. Trees, …

JULY 22, 2019 – What is Nature? Webster’s defines it broadly as “the physical world and everything in it that is not made by people.” Religionists might define it as “creation.” Spiritualists might define it as “God” (or “god”) itself. For now, I’ll go with Webster’s. But what exactly is the nature of Nature? Beautiful? …

JULY 16, 2019 – For today’s post I had several topics in mind. One was another (yawn) political diatribe against the president whose name I will not mention, because it feeds into his sole three purposes in life: 1. Publicity; 2. Publicity; and 3. Publicity. Another subject was sailing and how in a very real …

JULY 7, 2019 -I spend a lot of time in the woods around our cabin in northwest Wisconsin. Over the years, I’ve seen trees sprout, grow, get sick and recover, get sick and die, die young, die old. I’ve seen hearty trees, ailing one, lucky trees, unlucky ones; freakishly crooked, ugly trees; beautiful, towering, textbook …

JUNE 16, 2019 – Beth and I are at the lake where we go to commune with nature—when we’re not pre-occupied with projects, which is much of the time. At just past 11:00 yesterday morning, Beth was installing hostas in the garden behind the cabin, while I was working on deck repairs. Suddenly, the nature …

JUNE 8, 2019 – After a week in the rat race, we’re now enjoying the quietude of the northwoods. Here one notices the subtleties of nature and learns to appreciate the grander scheme of things. After dinner I slipped the kayak into the waters and paddled fast straight out until I was safely beyond the …