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
NEPHEW MICHAEL ARRIVED at Rainy Lake yesterday with his lovely partner Lisa. Within an hour they helped me land this monster Northern Pike, which Michael skillfully netted after a long battle. Broke my pole, tore a hole in the net, and wore me out. Quickly untangled and successfully released. About an 18 pounder! Perhaps the largest our family has caught
AT THE CHURCH O’ THE ISLAND, through a gauzy porch screen, one ponders the strange beauty of a (mostly) dead jackpine. It still looks over the lake as it has for decades, an icon of the North. Like all such trees, it speaks of hardiness and fortitude, of perseverance, of belonging to and growing from the place you are planted.
FOR ALL YOU friends and admirers of little Paddy the cat, our St. Patrick’s Day waif, what a change. And what adaptions he has made! You will recall that Paddy was terrified of the world, and wouldn’t let us approach, let alone touch him. Now, here is Paddy on Fawn Island, having done beautifully with the 250 mile car-ride. And