“This Arbor Day Message is Ari Rae Approved” My spring arbor order arrived April 12th. With chilled early spring temps, April’s shower spigot flooding most everything, and full-on mud season going full force, my initial plan was to let things dry out a bit before planting. 30 white pine...

A Connectivity Experience Being One with the Moment As April 8th and eclipse day approached, I found within myself a growing urge to make plans that would somehow allow me to uniquely experience totality’s moment. For a brief while, it appeared our northern New York State Watertown hacienda would...

Safely navigating multiple sclerosis & disability’s challenges while living outdoors. Multiple Sclerosis. It’s not something I talk or write about much, but after the sudden onset of symptoms, including numbness in my lower legs and feet, headaches, nausea and vomiting, a series of medical exams, an excruciating battery of...

Could the fishing legends and stories be true? Was there really a time forgotten pocket of monster pike lurking Little Weller Pond’s waters? As far back as I can remember, since my days as a lad, whispered rumors and campfire stories have abounded. Legends of a remnant population of...

Nature’s Shadowed Truth Lurks Night skies bleed dark Crisp air grips cold Frost moon reigns high North winds whisper snow Forests stand silent sentry Guarding stories untold Predators prey blood Nature’s truth reconciled Death gnaws life’s bone Rockslide scarred mountains echo Coyotes howl wild ********** Time’s relentless cycle of...

My Granddaughter Ari Rae’s 1st Pre-Spring Waterfowl Report Tuesday, February 5th, 2024: I awoke from my afternoon nap as my granddaughter Ari Rae came in from her Paw Patrol walk with her Mama, Aunt Abba, & our family’s Sheltie herd out around our main duck pond. “Tell Grampa what...

A Young Adirondack Outlaw’s Recipe for Justice Mid-seventies Saranac Lake was a magical place. It was a great time to be an Adirondack kid growing up. Kids were allowed to be kids. Cell phones and the internet had not yet been invented. Today’s crowded high peaks lakes, mountains &...

A Wood Duck Celebration in Haiku   Haiku is a traditional Japanese short verse form written to celebrate some aspect of nature or life. While it has numerous nuances and variations, in my rudimentary understanding, a Haiku basically consists of three lines of verse written in a non-rhyming pattern,...

Author’s Note: I never know when or how a story or verse will arrive. They always seem to appear out of nowhere and catch me off guard. This poem originally came to me while I was standing in my kitchen making a big pot of wild turkey soup, which...

“I SHALL LIVE OUT MY DAYS BEING TRUE TO MYSELF” ********** Until Our Trails Cross Again: ADKO...

A tale inspired by “Saranac Shelties” Author’s Note: My mom, Carol Monroe, brought home our first Shetland Sheepdog just after I graduated high school, shortly before I left for Cornell. Her name was “Lady”. She quickly adopted my father & was his faithful companion for the rest of his...

Greetings! Even after nearly fourteen years, this remains my daily prayer. Said quietly, every morning, first thing, as I mark yesterday off the calendar, put that day in my pocket to save, and prepare to take on THIS day! I was out working on my trails one day a...

Have you ever passed in a no passing zone? Ran a Red Light…. On purpose? Exceeded the speed limit….After Dark….While driving your Dad’s boat? Checked out in the “Express Lane” with too many items? Made a wake in a “NO WAKE” zone? Called in sick when you weren’t? Raise...

A Weapon So Devastatingly Deadly, It Oughta Be TOP SECRET. ********** Saranac Lake, circa 1975: Our Pine Street Gang was pretty firmly established by then, ensconced in our family’s home headquarters on Stevenson Lane. There was me, of course. I was about twelve at the time, accompanied by the...

Returning Farmland to Forest A Lifetime Investment It was not part of the plan when my wife and I purchased our home, situated on one nine-acre post bank foreclosure subdivided parcel of an old north country farm lot. It was never anything I ever initially even remotely envisioned. It...

Exploring Adirondack Artistry Using Nature’s Canvas It’s funny the little things that quietly provide inspiration, those seemingly small childhood details that stay with us through life. I always admired the engraved “artist’s conk” scene pictured above. It adorned the fireplace mantle in our Stevenson Lane home through most of...