Category: Essays & Stories

Author’s Note: This story was published in The Adirondack Almanack’s December 21, 2021 online edition. **********      We  moved to Saranac Lake from Lake Placid in the summer of ’73.  I had just finished 4th grade.               My brother Ray (“Raymond” then) & I explored the river, rode bikes,...

Author’s Note: A little over a year after debuting as my blog’s all time most viewed post, this story was published in The Adirondack Almanack’s November 26, 2021 online edition. ********** “Saranac Lake Redskins” “This Here Is Monk” Saranac Lake High School. Varsity practice field – July, 1978:      ...

Author’s Note: This story appeared in the September 25, 2021 online edition of the Adirondack Almanack in a slightly modified version under the title “Outlaw Duck Hunters”. “Regular Ducks” **********  My first brush with the law came in ’74. I was 10.  Fresh out of 5th Grade, I still...

“A year Round Treat” ********** “Outlaw Santa & His Posse” “Just Bagged Some Grinches”      So you’ve been doing some hunting – managed to bag a few Grinches!  Congratulations!  So….Now What??      Well, I wanted to take a moment and offer some suggestions and an easy original Grinch recipe...

A Brief Outlaw Note:      Ahead of this story, as a map check, I wish to share a few thoughts.      My goal for this blogging adventure remains simple:  Share Some Day’s I’ve been In.      Within these posts my readers will find rugged Adirondack hikes, canoe trips, hunting...

I penned this piece shortly after Robin & I were married. We lived in an apartment on South Massey Street in Watertown, New York. I was still an Army Captain serving in Fort Drum’s 10th Mountain Division. We had just weathered our first “Ice Storm.” *****     December in...

When I was a boy, we read comic books. They cost about a dime. Titles like “Avengers”, “Fantastic Four”, “Two Gun Kid”, “Ghost Rider”, “The Incredible Hulk”(of course), & Sgt. Rock. One of my personal favorites was “Swamp Thing”. “Swamp Thing” was this mangled, disfigured, moss covered monster. Outcast...

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...

********** Carlisle Mulrooney was three years old. He sat by the living room window with his chin on the sill, sniffing the musty old windowpane glass while he stared at the tree in his strange new yard. Raindrops splattered against the glass and dripped from the roof with a...

Snow Patrol Leader Saranac Diamond In the “Ruff” Supervising Her Troops From Snow Patrol Heaven ********** “Hey! Let Us Out!” “We Just Want To Help!” ********** Just look at those innocent faces! I walked right into their trap. Suddenly: “It’s An Ambush!” I’m surrounded!” After a quick burst of...