THE OLD KNIFE: When I was ten, my Grandad, my hero, bought me a souvenir Royal Canadian Mounted Police sheath knife. With this trusty implement on my belt, I could roam the North Woods of Lake Kabetogama with no fear of bears, wolves, lynx, or whatever other fierce citizens might haunt the forest. I wore it constantly (see pix below,
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
THE LETTER THAT CHANGED MY LIFE, and the next step… Today I am feeling grateful. Tidying up a storage area in the cabin, sorting through materials from my 12 years as president of the Listening Point Foundation, I was powerfully reminded of the profound effect that beloved North Country author Sigurd Olson had on my life. That connection began with
SCENES FROM A WALK in the woods with Road Scholars on our Bluff Country expedition. Here at one of my favorite woodland trails along Trout Run Creek in Whitewater State Park. Jacob’s Ladder, Wild Geraniums, Trillium Grandiflorum, Buttercups, White, Yellow and Purple Violets, Wood Anemone, and Wildwood Phlox all brightened the trail sides. Meanwhile we added to our two-day count
ON THIS SOLSTICE, it is perhaps a good time to reflect upon the dearest wishes we have for one another, on our next journey around the sun. In the spring, a brand new DW book will be published in China–our next door neighbors around the world. The book, with exquisite illustrations by Wendy Popp, is a new manifestation of an
WOODS LORE: One of the earliest signs of returning life in the Spring woods—Scarlet Cups, a bright red fungus particular to this time of year, growing out of old sticks in the leaf mould.
WOOD’S LORE: STAYING WITH THE RECENT THEME OF OUR FRIENDS THE TREES, here are some thoughts from my book, ‘Things Trees Know.’
Today’s Wood’s Lore speaks to being who you are and belonging to where you are. It’s about an aged little Jack Pine on a rocky point in Rainy Lake. Excerpt from my book, Fawn Island…
SOMETIMES, WHEN LIFE IS DIFFICULT OR TIMES ARE VERY CHALLENGING, or the wind seems steadily against you, perspective is a helpful thing.
SOMETIMES, IN A TIME OF TRAGEDY OR ANGUISH—personal or familial or national—the most that one can accomplish is to carry on, to persevere, to endure.