Chop Wood, Carry Water
A Zen Boat Journey Seeking Escape from the Doldrums ********** I’ve found myself in a bit of the doldrums of late. Not due to any particular life circumstance. It’s simply a place I find myself wandering into occasionally. It may be due to fatigue, both mental and physical, or...
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Adirondack Artifacts
A Pre-Civil War Bean Pot & Mysteries Surrounding an Early 1800’s Ale Bottle Researching a Pair of Early Adirondack Artifacts My Ongoing Quest for “Before” ********** “Before” That’s a powerful word. The desire to discover it is in large part what drives me. I just love finding old bottles....
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Tracking Trails to Noah
A 2024 Wildlife Trail Camera Chronology When thirty-four years ago I began my overgrown farm lot reclamation endeavor, I never in my wildest dreams imagined that what I was in fact doing was creating my own private wildlife area. I have previously penned pieces detailing those efforts and how...
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Kaleidoscope Zen
An Anniversary Day Trip Celebration of September’s Early Fall Colors ********** As August’s Summer Sunset Slowly Fades September’s Sunrise Ascends Mountain Marsh Paintbrush Horizons Hint Fall’s First Bright Splashes of Red Morning Sun’s Misted Dewdrop Rays Glisten Falling Leaves Drift the Winds Mother Earth’s Arboreal Timepiece Autumn’s Onset Portends...
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Camp Coffee
There’s a spot on the deacon’s log Near the end of the lean-to Where I like to sit Soaking in the rising sun’s first warming rays Listening to our propane fueled pot percolate As I watch morning coffee’s slow drip Contemplating today’s yesterdays and tomorrows Breathing in that fresh...
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Enter “The Warden”
When Planet Earth Needs a Superhero Patrolling Swamp, Meadow & Forest ********** August 19, 2024 Somewhere Deep in The Adirondack Mountains It materialized as if out of nowhere. A spinning disk-shaped object, sitting low over moonlit mountain lake water, emitting not even the slightest whisper of sound as it...
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RELENTLESS
A True Story ********** This story is dedicated to my father. Dad, whether you knew it or not, I was always watching, listening, and learning. ********** Prelude “Into the Forever Wild” The Adirondack High Peaks Region, mid-July, circa 1978: An olive-green station wagon eased its way through the gate...
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First Night
There’s always something magical about that first night in camp. Our family’s first foray into camp came a bit later than usual this year. That was in large part due to the upper locks rebuild, but also in part simply because of how our effort to make camp reservations...
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A Treasured Island
The Robert Louis Stevenson Memorial Cottage My Cottage Caretaker Guided Photography Tour Followed by a Presentation on the Renowned Author’s Life & Works Hosted by the folks at Historic Saranac Lake ********** I grew up in the shadows of the Robert Louis Stevenson Memorial Cottage. We called it the...
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Is There a Knife in Your Pocket?
Whether folks call them jackknives, penknives or pocketknives, there was a time not too far past when any Adirondack Outlaw worth his salt didn’t consider himself fully dressed in the morning without one. How many folks out there still carry a pocketknife? I grew up with a knife in...
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