Original anecdotes, commentary, rumination, and occasional pontification.
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 …
NOVEMBER 22, 2020 – With our world in turmoil (besides this being the anniversary of JFK’s assassination), there’s no dearth of topics for today’s post. For respite, therefore, I turn to something out of this world. I spent the past several days (and nights) at the Red Cabin. Whenever I’m there I see one wonder …
NOVEMBER 20, 2020 – (Cont.) Dad liked shattering clay pigeons, but neither that experience nor the shooting of the woodchuck turned him into a gun person; certainly not a hunter. Dad was counter-culture. I didn’t know a single boy (I didn’t ask the girls) in my class who didn’t hunt with his dad. During duck- …
NOVEMBER 19, 2020 – Dad wasn’t a hunter or a gun owner, but a day arrived when he needed to borrow a gun. A short while later arrived the day when he fired the gun. I wasn’t directly on hand when he pulled the trigger. I was nine years old and riding my oversized bike …
NOVEMBER 16, 2020 – Jeff Oppenheim, my close friend and college roommate, and I share many common interests—history, politics, travel, worldview, lawyering, community service, the great outdoors, and . . . Appalachia. I don’t mean to offend readers who possess prideful attachment to the aforesaid region of our great land. Appalachia is replete with natural …
NOVEMBER 7, 2020 – I woke just before the sun, slipped outside, and walked along the shoreline of Björnholm. Weather was splendid—perfect for posting trail signs in the “tree garden.” Biden’s ahead by the thinnest of margins. Will he prevail? That won’t end the drama. Consider Trump’s tirade Wednesday night—one so departed from truth, several …
NOVEMBER 5, 2020 – I was angry all day yesterday, despite Biden’s chance of winning by a hair, or more precisely, because of his chance of winning only by a hair. With effort I assumed a happy face for our five-year old granddaughter, who was happily oblivious to the impact that the election will have …
OCTOBER 20, 2020 – Yesterday I launched my annual “bud-cap” operation in the tree garden. The work protects pine sapling leaders from foraging deer once the snow flies. The bud-caps are 4 x 6 paper folded over the leader and stapled in place. Conditions were perfect, and I bud-capped 292 trees. The operation continues today—before …
OCTOBER 15 2020 – A few days ago I wrote about the art of the stencil. Yesterday, I moved on to the science of the stencil; that is, I took paint to stencil and boards on which I’d intended to make two dozen trail and landmark signs for my tree garden. The “art” part was …
OCTOBER 11, 2020 – For some weeks I’ve been planning signage for my tree garden—trail signs and markers designating regions where I’ve planted white pine seedlings. The project is a wonderful diversion from the discouraging plight of our country. The signage has multiple facets: size, design, colors, materials, and most important, names and directional arrows. …
OCTOBER 7, 2020 – Last Sunday I explored the land beyond my “tree garden” up at the lake. I was charting a route from the ravine I call Djurgården—“the deer garden,” in Swedish—up a steep, wooded slope to a glade of oaks and beyond that, a trail I call “Nor – Way”—a play on words …
OCTOBER 4, 2020 – Yesterday I spent all day in my “tree garden” in the back woods of our family’s lakeside retreat in northwestern Wisconsin. With the advance of fall, countless pine seedlings are now visible across the acreage that was logged several years ago. For months I’ve been trimming brush and poplar shoots around …
SEPTEMBER 20, 2020 – Recently, a good friend of mine, whose sails had been below my horizons for all too long, emailed me an essay by E. B. White: The Sea and the Wind that Blows. White is the writer’s writer (Sea—I mean see—The Elements of Style). I didn’t know that the Man of Style …