SOMETIMES, IN THE DAYS we spend at our island cabin on Rainy Lake, I return in memory to the days of my boyhood. The happiest ones of all were spent nearby on Lake Kabetogama—family vacations where I fell in love with big pines and loons, rocky shores and the great Canadian Shield. In my Deep Woods, Wild Waters memoir, I
Old Man River
HERE AT THE CHURCH O’ THE PINES we sometimes feel we dwell in a refuge from a world in which one is assailed daily by dishonesties large and small. In which oaths are broken and verities assailed. Here truths abound. They sail through the air on feathered wings. They grow out of the earth and stretch their limbs toward heaven.
Drenched Bonsais Smile in the Early Light
AT THE CHURCH O THE PINES we awaken to another morning in which the world is assailed by fools, idiots, and nincompoops. But a dawn shower passed through and drenched the bonsais, and now they smile in the early light. The churchyard and surroundings are washed clean. Blue jays gossip in the pines. Crows call in the distance. A heron
Every Day in A Beautiful Place is A Beautiful Day
HERE AT THE CHURCH O THE PINES it is a boomy, windy, gray, rainy Sunday. But as I have often told kids and grandkids, every day in a beautiful place is a beautiful day. Mostly. On this day, fox kits run through the yard (disregarding church etiquette). The deacons sway in the breeze. Orioles sing boldly if tuneslessly. Robins repeat
Every 70-Year-Old Man Should Have a Kitten
SO THIS MORNING Koda, our little adopted stray kitten/wild man, was tearing around the cabin—up and down the stairs, through the living room, through the kitchen, up and over furniture, playing with his foil ball, playing with string, terrorizing older cat Simon… I decided to make my morning coffee and poured some beans into the small grinder and started it
When Telephones Really Did Come Into Existence
THOSE WHO KNOW ME well know that I am not world’s biggest fan or user of I. T. Or modern technology. Or the 2nd biggest. Or the billionth. (Although I do enjoy staying in touch with you FB friends.) I prefer to hear someone’s voice on the phone, and I usually call when I can. And I’ve often wondered—when I
The Man Took The Broken Truth
THINKING ON THE despicable ‘replacement theory’, first sprouted amongst Neo-Nazi, racist, and white-supremacist outlets, now going ‘mainstream’ and promulgated by Fox News and various Republican figures… and the clear motivation for the Buffalo mass shooting… From my book, ‘Old Turtle and the Broken Truth’… “The man took the broken truth to his people—those who lived with him, who spoke as
After Last Night’s Waves of Storms
HERE AT THE CHURCH O’ THE PINES after last night’s waves of storms, we have damage. But not too much. An ancient red cedar that I liked to hang a hammock from is down, limbs all over the deck and yard, and a few other trees gone. But the big pines are still standing, and we are grateful. The cabin,
Koda The Sweet Black Kitten is Becoming a Cat
HERE AT THE PINE POINT CABIN at the Church O’ The Pines, the sweet black kitten who came meowing out of the woods one cold and snowy night is becoming a cat. Koda is doing so with style and panache, seemingly growing every day. He trills and chirps as he dashes up the log staircase, leaps onto the living room
When You Arise in The Morning, Give Thanks
THIS MORNING AT the Church O‘ The Pines, surrounded by trees and birds and a rolling river, soaked by rain and besieged with Bad News, with love for our family and friends and with empathy for all, we are feeling grateful. Tecumseh of the Shawnee people said, ”When you arise in the morning, give thanks. For the light, for your