ON THIS BLUE-SKY, warm-wind Earth day, I wish you beauty. I wish you the secret space between two pines, there to wander through and discover a new world. Perhaps to discover the very first bloodroot blossom of spring, or the very last scarlet cup of late winter. The shiny rabbit-ear leaves of the early wild leeks, or the tender, spotted
TODAY IS A VERY DARK DAY for those who love the North Woods, the Canoe Country, protected wild places, and particularly the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. The Republican Party has, as is their custom of late, engaged in a great betrayal. A betrayal of all those people mentioned, of the state of Minnesota, and of the United States of
ONE OF THE GREAT advantages of living in the forest is that we are surrounded by real things. Nothing phony, no lies, no ‘misinformation.’ This seems helpful in keeping one’s bearings, in maintaining a stranglehold on truth, and in nurturing a sense of perspective. Among the ‘real things’ that help in this endeavor are the real creatures that live here,
MENTORS: I spent the weekend in the Deer Woods with son and grandson. The tundra swans were flying and bugling high above. A barred owl occasionally boomed from deep in the forest. Wild turkeys and grouse and squirrels were about. The November trees reached for the sky. And, of course, there were deer. But much of a deer hunt involves
OF ALL THE TREES in our Church O’ The Pines forest, this White Pine is the champion. Seemingly touching the sky, with a nearly arrow-straight trunk, it is nine-and-a-half feet in circumference at chest height. Estimated age, 181 years. Experts say the percentage of White Pines over 180 years of age is very small, likely less than 1% of the
WHEN A BIRCH TRUNK falls in the forest—as this one in our Pine Point woods did—the impervious bark lasts and lasts. It sometimes remains as a perfect cylinder on the ground, even after all the wood has rotted out. Nearly one thousand years ago, the old Norwegians discovered this, and found that during winter they could use those birch bark
AS THE SUN came up this morning, a beautiful mackerel sky, so named because of the clouds’resemblance to the scales of a fish. It is an ancient seafarer’s term, dating back to at least 1667. I always love to see this wavy, rippling formation. The clouds are actually cirrocumulus or altocumulus, and can indicate that a change in the weather
BE HERE NOW. It is the essence of Zen. The essence of simple wisdom. The essence of life. Be: Not Do. Here: Not somewhere else. Now: Not some other time we long for, fear, dread, or regret. Just… Be. Here. Now. No matter your problems, no matter what turmoil is around you or within you. Just… Be. Here. Now. It
ONE NEVER KNOWS where one may find a garden. Some are planted, some are not. On an old wood-splitting log, for instance, home to lichens and mosses and young spruce trees. Or on an old tool shed roof. And of course every garden needs someone to tend it. Like a lively green-eyed Forest Kitten, perhaps. Named Koda.
BECAUSE WE ARE RESPONSIBLE, caring people, we cannot turn away when something is wrong. When someone is hurting or being hurt. We cannot hide when dishonesty seems to triumph over truth, and cruelty over kindness. But because we are human beings, we also tend to focus almost exclusively on the thing that is wrong, and not on the thousand things