In our cabin in the woods, a 100 year-old Steinway piano resides. My mother, the best teacher I knew, taught lessons on it for over a half-century. Now my wife, Kathy Ann, the best teacher I know, teaches lessons on it. From my book, ‘A Wild Path’, this is the story of that piano, of the people who love it,
ON THIS SUNDAY MORNING at the Church O’ The Pines, we are grateful for the rising of the sun. For the songs of small birds and the chipping of chipmunks. For the flowing of a river and the growing of trees. For an old cabin for shelter. For the screaming of jays. For the company of two fine cats. For
OF A WARM summer evening, Simon the elder cat takes his ease on the deck—overlooking bonsais and petunias and even allowing me to rest for a spell in my grandad’s Adirondack chair. While the Buddha sits in the light of understanding among sheltering trees, and ponders the infinities.
AFTER DAYS OF North Country scorchers it is a fine and pleasant thing to watch thunderheads building over Fawn Isalnd on Rainy Lake. An island is no safe wall against the craziness and troubles of the world. But it is a reminder that there is only so much we can control or influence. And thunderstorms billowing above are similar reminders.
AT THE CHURCH O THE ISLAND, a morning thunderstorm sweeps across the lake. Garden-variety, nothing serious, but just enough booming and cracking and rain-falling to make a nice soundtrack for a Sunday morning. After my many, many thunderstorms in a canoe or a tent or just a poncho, it still feels quite luxurious to sit under a roof, with a
GOOD BONSAI MORNING. Of all my little trees, this one stands out in a special way. A juniper trained in the ‘cascading’ style, it flows like a green waterfall. It reminds me of the beautiful little trees we find in the Canoe Country and all over the Canadian Shield, growing from rocky shorelines and cliff faces, often from the smallest
YESTERDAY I posted about Koda-the-Forest-Cat and his supervision of my occasional visits to the outhouse on Fawn Island. Aware of my readers’ lively interest in landscape architecture, I thought I would include here some photos of the structure itself—in all humility one of the finest examples of biffy/necessary place/privy construction on the planet. Our outhouse has a name—the Church of
WOULD YOU LIKE to hear a great story? Full of fate, adventure, and happy serendipity? Okay, go grab a cup of coffee, I’ll wait… There. Ready? So it’s 1987, and after years of guiding in the Boundary Waters-Quetico region, I’m leading my first big expedition—520 miles on northern Saskatchewan’s Churchill River. We are paddling this route to retrace Sigurd Olson’s
AFTER A WEEK of travels and adventures, it is a very bonsai morning here at the Church O The Pines cabin. And I am enjoying a few quiet moments with this little favorite. (Well, they’re all favorites). This one happens to be a white cedar, very similar to the beautiful trees we see along the rocky shores in northern Minnesota
OUR ROAD SCHOLARS have had a great time exploring Voyageurs National Park and environs. A last evening in Ely overlooking Shagawa Lake. Then two days of lovely weather (after a tough stretch.) A Park Boat cruise to Kettle Falls in the heart of the Border Country. A fine meal at The Dam Restaurant in tiny Orr, MN. Then paddling among