Original anecdotes, commentary, rumination, and occasional pontification.
MAY 7, 2021 – Before heading for the Red Cabin yesterday, I decided to give the yard a quick haircut. As I pushed the mower to the front, a lawn service guy hired by the next-door neighbors approached along the boundary. I greeted him, and he responded in kind. After a couple of rows of …
MAY 6, 2021 – I know most people are disgusted by ticks. I too wish ticks weren’t part of nature, though I know they’re part of the “grand tapestry” of life on earth. But . . . a little past midnight one night, a wood tick caused uncontrollable laughter. When our kids were very young, …
MAY 4, 2021 – Yesterday on my hike inside “Little Switzerland,” I cut a beeline off the bend of a border street, down a steep slope, and across the eighth tee. Recent rains had brought out “a bunch of ants”—my pre-ant education terminology—as revealed by multiple, unmistakable “ant foxholes” dotting the tee—as it were. As …
MAY 2, 2021 – Yesterday brought the annual spring plague of gnats at the Red Cabin—not tiny gnats but mosquito-pretenders, with long fuselages, and noisy propellers. In swarm formations, they sound like the entire Luftwaffe re-enacting the Battle for Britain. These ugly critters assemble in hovering clouds, first next to the bench swing where you’d …
APRIL 30, 2021 – Yesterday morning I hit the road for the Red Cabin. Beth arrives tomorrow, when local temps are forecast to hit 79F. I fled early to stake out planting areas for the several dozen, two- and three-year birch, balsam, and hemlock seedings I have on order—more trees to join the hundreds of …
APRIL 18, 2021 – Most “lake people” nowadays have a light-weight aluminum dock installed by easy-to-manage sections or by its own big wheels mounted under the front. In either case, most lacustrian dwellers hire out the task to a friendly, local service for a not-so-friendly fee. I don’t know of any research into the possible …
APRIL 17, 2021 – Yesterday, as my wife and I headed out of town for the Red Cabin, she read aloud from her newsfeed. This fueled an intense discussion about The Trial and The Latest Shooting. We speculated about reaction to next week’s verdict in The Trial. Will Minneapolis—the central part of which is already …
APRIL 12, 2021 – Sunday here in the Twin Cities was 53F, heavily overcast, with a north gust now and again. When I reached Little Switzerland for my daily routine of “hill climbs,” the place was crawling with golfers. My first reaction was, “What in the world?! Do they think this is some kind of …
APRIL 6, 2021 – I’d planned to resume writing about The Trial, but yesterday I stumbled into a large pile of scrap lumber. (See yesterday’s blog post.) More precisely, I encountered thousands of dollars’ worth of weathered but still perfectly serviceable cedar in the form of a grand “treehouse” in our small town. At the …
APRIL 3, 2021 – For today’s post I’d prepared a commentary on the world’s woes; another feverish snarl, drooling with invective, and reverberating with righteous indignation. It was all set to go, ready to cut, paste, and publish. But then a morning stroll disrupted my plans. Before breakfast I slipped outside to inspect the morning—morning …
MARCH 29, 2021 – In the spring of second grade my teacher told us to look out for signs that the interminable winter wasn’t so. Every Monday, first thing, she’d ask us to cite the most recent harbingers of a more hospitable season. There were the usual things—disappearing snowbanks, green blades of grass, a robin …
MARCH 23, 2021 – Forty years ago this month I embarked on a solo trek around the world. Traveling alone, I was never lonely. Without today’s technology, I navigated via guidebooks, paper maps, and total strangers, whom I learned to size-up quickly by their eyes, posture, and corners of the mouth. Though I chose destinations—such …
MARCH 21, 2021 – On the first day of spring, I skied my 88th day of the 2020-2021 season (northern hemisphere). In 28 years of record-keeping, that’s nine days above average; three days above median. In the process, I set three records: 1. Skiing every day of January; 2. Every day of February; and 3. …
FEBRUARY 7, 2021 – It happened once when I was in college—so much snow fell, my skiing buddies and I couldn’t get to the ski area where we’d planned to play hooky. This was doubly ironic given that our school mascot was a polar bear. Yesterday, I faced another winter irony—air too cold for skiing. …
FEBRUARY 4, 2021 – If for no other reason, this blog serves as a mental exercise—for the writer, as well as the reader. Each day I must think of a topic, assemble thoughts about it, organize those them into sentences, then pare them down to 500 words. You the reader must then exercise your mind …
JANUARY 27, 2021 – Yesterday was crowded with work-related demands, routines of daily existence, and more “breaking news.” I couldn’t enjoy the sun-filled outdoors until it was no longer sun-filled. Not until 9:30 in the evening did I grab skis and escape. In the dark, the “banana-peel” ice on alley and sidewalks was too treacherous …
JANUARY 3, 2021 – An essential trait for survival is adaptability. At the bank where I worked years ago, we were told, “Adapt or die.” I wasn’t sure if that was a dictate or an observation, but either way, I figured the outcome would be the same. I tried to adapt. I quit thinking like …
JANUARY 1, 2021 – This morning I took an early walk through the “tree garden” in the woods adjacent to the Red Cabin. My wife, our son and daughter-in-law remained back at the cabin—lounging, making coffee and waiting for the outside temperature to rise from 12F to a level more conducive to going . . …
DECEMBER 15, 2020 – The overnight low reached a low for this season thus far: 11F. That’s officially . . . cold. Growing up in Minnesota I had plenty of exposure to extreme cold. I didn’t mind it, mainly because it was always a precursor to hot chocolate, which I loved—and still do. In seventh …
DECEMBER 14, 2020 – Christmas trees are now the shortage item that T.P. was in March. The local Lions Club, which has a large stock (trees, not T.P.) right through Big Star Day, had already closed two weeks ago. The nearby University of Minnesota Forestry Club had never opened in the first place. The Men’s …
DECEMBER 10, 2020 – As I dig deeper into my “tree garden” project, I’m reminded of my reaction to Black Lives Matter. How in the world could these two matters—trees and racial justice—be connected? Read on. As revealed in prior posts, our older son’s community activism prompted my wife and me to learn more about …
DECEMBER 9, 2020 – As I departed city life for country life, my wife said, “Be sure you always have your phone and that it’s charged.” She knows I spend lots of time working in the woods, where there are a million ways to get into trouble, many exceedingly dumb. In addition to taking the …
DECEMBER 6, 2020 – Here in the Northwoods, nature’s beauty of longest duration is mostly visual. Extended periods of silence, however, can be just as edifying as the scenery. When I mention our surrounding quietude, my wife reminds me that these parts aren’t as quiet as they seem. She reminds me of the time on …
DECEMBER 5, 2020 – Yesterday afternoon I split town for the Red Cabin to take advantage of some unusually mild weather over the next several days. Because of the pandemic, I’ve spent more time in the woods this year than ever before. I call it—the woods, not the pandemic—“imagination paradise,” a place where nature stirs …
DECEMBER 2, 2020 – Recently, I launched a new project: studying Korean. I’m working from a beginner’s book given to me by our younger son’s birth mother, whom we’ve gotten to know quite well. So far, I’ve tackled, if not mastered, the letters (Hangul)—10 vowels, 14 consonants. This effort is akin to that of an …