Category: Essays & Stories

Living the Wildlife ********** The prologue to this story is actually the epilogue to another. It was fall 2024, mid-October. I had just returned home from my annual Southern Tier crossbow deer hunting trip with my son. I’d expended all of my time, money & energy through 2024’s spring...

Why do some people think defacing our beloved Adirondack lean-tos is acceptable? For many folks out there; hunters, hikers, campers, explorers, outdoorsmen and other Adirondack souls of like ilk, these lean-tos are more than just cedar log structures providing a convenient stopping point on our trek through life’s wood....

MIDDLE SARANAC LAKE EDITION It was an early Saturday morning in the middle of July. My brother Ray & I were camped in our usual Middle Saranac Lake Bull Rush Bay lean-to spot. I arose from lean-to embraced slumber, stretched, and went down to the lake to inhale the...

A Tale of Nature & Life & the Fight for Survival The pair of Canada geese we’ve nicknamed “Flo & Moe” returned to our Monroe Wildlife Area in late March, shortly after our main pond ice let out. This would mark approximately the 12th consecutive year that “Flo &...

A Rewarding Investment I built my first set of duck nesting boxes over a decade ago, shortly after digging my three main ponds. Which was a story unto itself that nearly ended right there and then, with me buried underneath the cab of a tipped over still running track...

My 2025 Mission As with most of my missions, it arose from a mix of epiphany, frustration, cold calculation, determination and boredom. It was late February. With hopes and plans for winter snow’s exit and spring’s at some point arrival seeping into my brain, I suddenly realized I had...

Before I go any further, I fully acknowledge that, at least in terms of pure total snow volume, winter 2025 was far worse for others than it was for us at The Monroe Wildlife Area here outside of Watertown. Several communities throughout New York State, predominantly along the Tug...

My wife & I drove over from Watertown today (Wednesday, February 5th) to see my boyhood hometown’s 2025 Ice Palace. The sun along the drive up along Route 3 was bright, making sunglasses required, especially when it reflected off the fresh fallen snow. The outdoor air temperature, however, rebuffed...

He awoke every morning at 5am, without fail. Through threescore north country winters, the old man had evolved his own ruggedly well regimented daily routine. Harsh was the price paid for deviation or lackadaisical lay about laziness. A lesson winter’s other old man had no qualm reminding him of,...

Could the earth’s shifting magnetic poles impact lake effect snow patterns? Let me be crystal clear. This piece is not about climate change or global warming. Nor is it in any way, shape, or form an attempt to deflect blame for their escalating impact from the true culprits. This...