*Author’s Warning: Darkness lies ahead. It’s a place in my life. The part I show no one. Not a place that I seek. Just a trail I end up on. A black that finds me. A dark place where I go. Unexpectedly sometimes. It’s a part of me now....

A Great Pre-Cooked First Night Camp Meal ********** *Author’s Note: As we all eagerly look forward to packing our gear and heading into camp, I thought I’d share a Monroe family “1st Night in Camp” meal tradition: “Hunter’s Stew”.      I first drafted this piece shortly after my “Cliff...

(All Loon Photography Courtesy of Peggy Ivimey) *An edited version of Serenade of the Loon appeared in the Adirondack Almanack’s April 12, 2021, on-line edition. *A Brief Author’s Note: I first drafted “Serenade of the Loon” several years back. I had plans to submit it to Adirondack Life magazine,...

Author’s Note: This story was published in The Adirondack Almanack’s December 3, 2021, online edition.      It was getting late. Time measured by the near empty whiskey bottle and battalion of “dead soldier” beer bottles standing in neatly rowed formation on the floor in one corner of the cabin....

********** This was actually the last in a series of stories I submitted to Adirondack Life Magazine. They declined it. Their staff’s advice to me at that point was, “Dick, you should take all your fun tales and stick them in an album to share with your grandkids.” I...

Author’s Note: ( “Spring’s Promise” appeared in The Adirondack Alamanack’s March 20, 2021 online edition.) ********** Winter’s Winds Wild Ice Trickles Flow Melting Deep Drifted Sunlight Bright On White Snow ********** Rabbit Tracks Everywhere Blue Jays Flock Feeder’s Calling Chick-A-Dees “Dee” Powdered Snow, Freshly Fallen ********** Beneath Winter’s Warm...

“Beware! He’s Watching.” **********      His ears suddenly perked up. He lifted his head, put his nose to the air. He could smell it almost as soon as he heard the boat’s engine cut off.      “Humans.” His keen nose soon confirmed it.  The mixed aroma of campfire smoke,...

Some hunt for trophy bucks. Some hunt for memories. In a secluded spot along my trails On an elm by a bridge Hangs a simple wooden sign It reads: “Seven Point” Whenever I reach that spot on my route My mind is transported To one treasured moment Etched forever...

“Don’t heed the voice and put shovel to earth, unless mentally prepared to uncover the truth.” ********** “African-Americans made up approximately twenty five percent of the U.S. Navy during the War of 1812. In July, 1813, Commodore Isaac Chauncey reported “nearly 50 blacks” on board his flagship, the General...

“It’s not buried treasure’s job to be we where we look. It’s the treasure hunter’s job to go find it.” ********** ************** Until Our Trails Cross Again: Happy Hunting! ADKO...