Original anecdotes, commentary, rumination, and occasional pontification.
AUGUST 4, 2025 – In the thick of this morning’s Canadian smoke, I continued my work on the Pergola-on-a-Platform. Each phase of the project brings new challenges, as is often the case when putting theory into practice. I started by hiking over to Rustic John’s compound to help myself to a couple of five-gallon pails …
AUGUST 3, 2025 – Yesterday, our nearest neighbor, “Rustic John,” and his next door neighbor on the other side, “Arbor Steve,” paid me a visit. They arrived on one of John’s dozen (it seems, but who’s counting?) workhorse vehicles; in this case, his EV “Club Car” with a “workbox” behind the two open seats. The …
AUGUST 1, 2025 – Today I found amusement by being in two worlds at once on my way to the woods. Let me explain . . . Last week I’d arranged to meet with a Wisconsin DNR forester for an extended site visit of Björnholm, or at least a portion of it, to gain some …
JULY 28, 2025 – Late last summer, a tree along the shoreline in front of the Red Cabin got tired of standing—years after it had died. In fact, it had been dead so long that its identification might be difficult to someone unfamiliar with local arboreal species. It was a white pine. I knew this …
JULY 26, 2025 – For the record, everything I know about the lurid tale of Jeffrey Epstein is derived from very cursory familiarity with reporting in mainstream media. This hardly qualifies me as an expert on the subject, but given the information I have encountered—correct, incorrect, and everything in between—I have no desire to be …
JULY 24, 2025 – At my wife’s instigation, I went off campus today for the first time in more than a week. Since she was the one to suggest a field trip, she went too—wink, wink. She navigated; I drove. Our excursion took us from the Red Cabin on the weather-bound shores of Grindstone Lake, …
JULY 23, 2025 – This morning right up to noon, darkening clouds marched overhead to the command of Notus, Greek god of the south wind. The air was so laden with humidity, a heavy sweat covered the stepping stones along the pathway arching from our porch door around to the lake. Such conditions were the …
JULY 21, 2025 – Yesterday I watched a pair of loons while they fished in waters just off our shore. I was impressed by their familiar search for nourishment. Showing their distinctive profile, they trolled quietly and with an economy of motion. Occasionally, one or the other would dip its head into the water for …
JULY 20, 2025 – “Our lake” is unusually quiet, despite its being in the middle of lacustrine cabin country[1] in northwest Wisconsin. Wide open with dimensions described in miles, Grindstone Lake has remarkably little boat traffic, even on the Fourth of July and Labor Day. This phenomenon is especially surprising given the number of serious …
JULY 16, 2025 – Yesterday, as I drove down our winding drive and drew closer to the lake, the stiff breeze played whirlybird with every single leaf in the dense vegetation along my way. At first the fluttering leaves looked as if they were hanging on for dear life, but then I began to see …
JULY 8, 2025 – I’ve written before about the “zen of cabin projects”—dock installation (and re-installation), for instance, and other endeavors involving a degree of design and engineering and requiring use of a variety of tools that can easily become dangerous if mishandled. Anyone who owns a cabin and likes DIY construction knows what I’m …
JULY 6, 2025 – My good friend Jeffrey Oppenheim. was among the small group that founded the Falmouth [MA] Jewish Congregation in that vibrant Cape Cod community. Today 300 households are among the membership of what has become a robust, dynamic organization, with an impressively educated and experienced staff, a broad palette of educational programs …
JULY 4, 2025 – (Cont.) On Sunday, our last full day in Connecticut for this third annual June sojourn, we awoke to a short downpour. In the aftermath, the lingering mist over the cove teased our imaginations and distracted us quite effectively from the artificiality of the “real world” that dominates the news. Once we’d …
JUNE 22, 2025 – On Friday we drove from our base of operations in Connecticut to Lenox, Massachusetts in the heart of the Berkshires. Our ultimate destination was yesterday evening’s performance of A Prairie Home Companion at nearby Tanglewood. The scenery in this part of the country is exquisite, featuring, of course, “the Berkshires.” If …
JUNE 19, 2025 – Today our crew—four adults, one kid, one toddler—headed for Connecticut’s best and biggest beach, the main but by no means only attraction at the sprawling Hamomasset State Park halfway between Old Saybrook and New Haven. In tow were four chairs, a beach mat, a beach umbrella (with stand), two hefty coolers …
MAY 27, 2025 – Today I engaged in my usual routine when at the Red Cabin—I took a long hike up and down the trails of the Björnholm “tree garden,” trimming encroaching vegetation as I proceeded, and checking the latest growth displayed by the hundreds, nay thousands, of young pine. With the pittance of snow …
MAY 25, 2025 – (Cont.) The hoarder’s grip as it pertains to lumber afflicted my dad in the same two-handed fashion that it applies to me. There was naturally and habitually, the whole matter of frugality. When other people observed this trait in Dad, they’d attribute it straight away to his having grown up during …
MAY 14, 2025 – I might have one more tree-planting session this spring, but if I don’t I’m satisfied with this season’s effort: 190 trees, including 25 hemlocks, 30 Norway pines, and 135 white spruce. Moreover, I lugged over 30 gallons of water deep into the woods and up to the heights of Björnholm to …
MAY 6, 2025 – (Cont.) For the reader discouraged by the regular reminders of our collective dysfunctionality, I recommend planting a few conifer seedlings . . . or a few hundred if you’d like to contribute to the mission of this aging arborist. The reality of the matter is that it’s hard labor, at least …
MAY 5, 2025 – (Cont.) I started this season’s planting in the areas that last week Jeff Oppenheim had helped me clear of what I call “riff raff”—the variety of small bushes, the names of which I’ve never bothered to learn, since I’m way too focused on the overstory, namely the trees. These first sections …
MAY 4, 2025 – Everyone who knows our younger son Byron is familiar with his thoughtfulness. This attribute is manifest in all avenues of his life, but it’s most predictable on occasions accompanied by gift-giving. For Christmas last year, for example, he gave me a professional forester’s planting carrier. Coincidentally, in a YouTube forestry video …
MAY 3, 2025 – THE PADDLEBOAT (Cont.) Wednesday at noon, I told Jeff we’d need to start packing up no later than three o’clock. The plan was to arrive home in time for a late supper, visit with Beth and my sister Jenny for a while, then retire by ten or eleven o’clock. We’d set …
MAY 2, 2025 THE POT (Cont.) As we rounded the corner of the back deck off the cabin, Jeff called my attention to several rotting planks and the fact that the feet of the 20-ton (for effect, I exaggerate, but only slightly) cauldron repurposed as a planter and sitting on the corner of the deck …
APRIL 30, 2025 – Over the years we’ve had many guests at the Red Cabin. Very nearly all have been model visitors, who are good sports about most things and contribute admirably to the common welfare. Above and beyond these social conventions, a significant number of people have shown surprising initiative regarding various cabin projects. …
APRIL 29, 2025 – Today was a red-letter day. By sun-up, yesterday’s disagreeable weather was a distant memory, as was the dock salvage operation conducted on the cusp of nightfall. The only downside to the morning was the temperature at a stubborn 39°F. The relatively chilly air, however, was calm, and as I remarked to …