HOPE

HOPE is the thing with feathers—Emily Dickinson. Every year, a bird rebuilds its nest, ruined by the winds of winter. Every year it travels hundreds, if not thousands of miles, to do so. Every year it raises a brand new family. Every morning it rises to sing the songs of sunrise. Every day it lives its life as best it

WALKING ALONG the stream at dawn

WALKING ALONG the stream at dawn, I notice the spider webs—exquisite webs, hundreds of them, every stunted jack pine or ground juniper gilded with a necklace, each necklace hung with lucent pearls of dew. And, whispering in the first breeze, an old question of the night: What of MY webs? What are my choices, my chances; how much effort should

THE OLD KNIFE

THE OLD KNIFE: When I was ten, my Grandad, my hero, bought me a souvenir Royal Canadian Mounted Police sheath knife. With this trusty implement on my belt, I could roam the North Woods of Lake Kabetogama with no fear of bears, wolves, lynx, or whatever other fierce citizens might haunt the forest. I wore it constantly (see pix below,

Balsam Bough

IT IS, OF COURSE, altogether amazing how the entire moon can balance on the tip of a balsam bough. How is it there are so many extraordinary things in this ordinary old world? The world we think we know. There are, as Uncle Bill Shakespeare once said, more things in Heaven and earth than are dreamt of in our poor

MY Great Aunt Mary

THIS IS MY Great Aunt Mary. Although I only ever knew her as ‘Aunt Mary.’ When she was only 17, my dad Jim and his brother Dick—due to a family trauma—came to live with her and their grandparents on the farm near Douglas, Minnesota. Grandpa Frank died not long after, and Aunt Mary became, in effect, their mother. With everything

My Little Trees

YES, they are still out, my little trees. Thriving, surviving, adapting, hardening their roots for the season to come. They will survive that season as well. And spring will come, with new light, new life, and new growth.

BEDROCK

BEDROCK: We think it’s complicated, this business of being human. But it’s not, really. At a bedrock level, it’s simple. Not easy, but simple. Be kind. Be honest. Be brave. That’s it. That’ll get a person through most situations, with a fairly decent result. We can make it more complicated, certainly, and we generally do. And surely, a person can

AN AUTUMN EVENING walk

AN AUTUMN EVENING walk round the Church O’ The Pines woods. A centering walk. A hopeful walk. A walk of deep breaths and the fragrance of fallen leaves, the last golden carpet from the last maple. It held on so long and steadfastly. A blue canoe in a red sunset, the desire to take it out for one more spin.

Beautiful Osprey Wilds Environmental Learning Center

IMPORTANT NEWS: Beautiful Osprey Wilds Environmental Learning Center, one of my favorite places on Earth (and where my son Bryan Wood happens to be Executive Director) is asking for support. They need help in their vital work of connecting kids to nature. And grown-ups, too. They are in the midst of their annual Benefit Week, raising funds for scholarships, classes,

THEY COME unexpectedly

THEY COME unexpectedly, unbidden. At night, perhaps. The doubts, the fears, the anxieties and sadness that are a part of living. But they are not all of it, not by a long shot. We are still called to enjoy the present moment. A sunset. A sunrise. The sound of beautiful music. The smell of a rose. The laughter of a