THE LONG, WINDING lane to the old Cabin-in-the-Woods is a bit… frosty. One of the great advantages of living in the forest is that you are surrounded by life. And death. And inspiration. And hardship. And the glory of light and things growing toward the light. And darkness and the visible stars and phases of the moon. Along with all
THE RESULTS OF last night’s snow and ice storm at the Church O’ The Pines. Some huge limbs fell on the roof and the deck, shaking the whole cabin, and causing the inhabitants a fair amount of anxiety. No heat or power for nine hours. Cold kitties. Now, as the northwest wind blows and the temps drop there are still
A FEATHER, A RESET: I found a feather outside the cabin door today. Pretty, isn’t it? A downy woodpecker left it for me to discover. To notice. I like noticing feathers. And plants. And birdsongs. I like paying attention to the clouds, and predicting what the weather is going to do. I like studying music and art and history. And
HERE AT THE CABIN-IN-THE-WOODS, I am waiting. And watching. I’m watching the old rock wall I built long ago. I’m watching the sides of the gravel lane, and along the paths I like to wander. And sometime soon I will see what I’m looking for. The first little hints of white. The first tightly clasped blossom around a green stem,
THIS SMILING, HANDSOME FELLOW is Bob Heim. We’ll get back to him in just a moment… Here at the Cabin-in-the-Woods, in the grove also known as the Church O’ The Pines, Kathy and I feed the blue jays. And crows. And red squirrels and gray squirrels. And nuthatches and pileated woodpeckers and other feathered friends. And deer. And a whole
IT IS A BEAUTIFUL MORNING at the cabin in the piney woods. The chickadees and jays and red squirrels are all proclaiming its virtues. And their own. But today I will be traveling. Appearing at the Detroit Lakes MN Public Library at 2pm. And later at the Bagley Library at 6pm. I suspect we may talk about books! Perhaps play
AT THE OLD FAWN ISLAND CABIN, a century next year, we have many photos, mementos and keepsakes adorning the log walls. Sometimes, when it is quiet, or when I am here alone, I wander around and look at them. And remember. And ponder. One item is different from all the others. It is a framed poem, written and given to
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,
THE MORNING cuppacoffee view from the cottage screen porch down the historic ‘voyageurs’ highway’ is worth the trip up to Rainy Lake all by itself. Rained all day yesterday, supposed to rain the next few days. But this morning, with song sparrows and yellow warblers singing, with the ghostly echoes of old voyageurs’ chansons and with sunlight glinting off the
IT’S BEEN A LITTLE WHILE since we’ve seen the cabin-in-the-woods look like this. With more to come. March might turn out to be our first winter month. Koda-the-forest-kitten is not happy. The congregation of the Church O’ The Pines is cold and hungry, so Fellowship Hall is open for business. We think about all our migrating friends heading back home