Category: Essays & Stories

Reflections on Life From an Adirondack Lean-to Have you ever spent a night alone in the woods? I have. Whether bivouacked in a deer hunter’s mountainside tent, working long summer days as a trail hand from a remote high-peaks cabin, enjoying the cedar log solitude of my favorite lean-to,...

Savoring Saranac Lake’s Rich Bottled History One Glass at a Time ********** I’ve been Adirondack bottle diving for several years now, salvaging Saranac Lake’s rich bottled beverage history from beneath a variety of locations in its meandering array of tannin-stained waters. A number of my more noteworthy finds have...

Lean-to Life in the Adirondack Outback Those Cedar Logs Standing Silent and Strong My Refuge, My Sanctuary My Soul’s Sacred Home I Feel Your Wounds Bleeding Anguished Tears Scar My Heart ********** I had planned on staying Sunday night, June 25th, after my brother Ray & I rendezvoused at...

A canoe trip down memory lane, a new pair of shoes, and my SLHS Classes of the ’80’s Reunion. I hadn’t made time to attend one of our high school class reunions in quite a while. Folks made an effort to organize an ” SLHS Classes of the ’80’s”...

Bull Rush Bay Lean-to Desecration! Discoveries, Musings, Encounters & Memories on My Journey to Zen I suppose folks could consider this the fourth in my ongoing series of Bull Rush Bay lean-to life stories. For the past fifty-one years I’ve been canoeing in to Middle Saranac Lake’s site 63...

In Memory of Thomas R. Monroe My Father’s Day Tribute As my father’s son, growing up, I had no idea that my life might just be a bit different from the other boys around me. It all just seemed so normal. I never gave it a thought. I mean,...

Show of hands: Who’s Ready?! Let’s Go Fishin’! Now, I know what some folks are gonna say. I can already hear the naysayers nayin; “But fish don’t have hands! All this left-handed fish stuff is nonsense!” I beg to differ. Of course, fish have hands! How else do they...

Tactics & Techniques for Enjoying Wildlife Photography Using Trail Camera Technology Full disclosure: When it comes to technology, I am the textbook definition of “absolute moron”. A sad fact to which I am certain my family will quite readily attest. My wife: “Hun, why did you just buy fifty-seven...

An SLHS ’81 Classmate Collaboration Featuring the World Class Eagle Photography of Peggy Ivimey Framed with Words by Dick Monroe ********** In A Land Beyond Lands Beyond Times Born Before Nature’s Habitat Heritage Filled with Legends and Lore Mountain Lake Magic Gateway to God’s Door Pristine High Peaks Palace...

Sometimes Against All Odds Nature’s New Life Prevails ********** I’ve spent the past thirty plus years working to bring. our family’s old farm lot back to life. One major component of that effort through the years has been slowly adding a network of ponds. Robin & I added our...