We've camped cold before. It is one of our favorite ways to camp, actually, especially along Lake Superior where the cold can be as pristine as the waters of the mighty lake. We're no strangers to sleeping beneath seven layers, with winter hats protecting the only possible exposure. We kind of like getting up and... Continue Reading →
A Reminder
I have wanted to "make books" since around the sixth grade, and I published my first book when I was in my late thirties. My point is that the time in between was not wasted - submarine service, marriage, college, bringing up three kids, starting a school for them, and so forth. This kind of... Continue Reading →
A confession…
I think I killed a mole this morning. This might not seem that strange. Or maybe it does. Some explanation, possibly... About four years ago, my brother moved in next door. The thirteen-lined gophers that previously inhabited his land staged a revolt. His acres of lawn were pocked with earthen mounds, and the gophers themselves... Continue Reading →
When the weepies sneak up, in threes
We went camping this past weekend, for a little Labor Day R&R. Before we left, I was forced to endure a week without my beloved laptop. It has had some... issues... that were not resolving themselves sans exorcism. On Monday, I had ripped all of my vital data off of its beleaguered brain, stored it... Continue Reading →
The camping trip that wasn’t
We should be camping right now. Soaking up the fresh air and relaxing in the cool waters. Watching the stars by firelight, both dancing to the rhythm of creation, tugging us along behind. Basking in the glow of new places and chocking them up in the annals of camping history. But we're not. We're at... Continue Reading →
God in dirt
We are a fickle creation. Capable of such amazing feats of love and mercy, yet so often stuck in judgment and vice. We may stand in awe of God's majesty when we are hit in the head with it - when it comes to us as lightening to the scalp - but so often anything... Continue Reading →
Camping Allergy
I'm not sure why exactly it is, but 100% - no kidding, it's an actual statistic - 100% of the camping trips we take to our favorite local park include some allotment of intense illness. We go every Fathers' Day weekend, destined for a quick and dirty trip close by, often to get our camping... Continue Reading →
Sackloth and ashes
A pair of horses, Ruby and Chester, used to live in our neighbor’s pasture. But they are gone; only their nameplates on the fence remain. Some cows called the pasture home for a while, but the price of a calf was too steep to replace them once they were retired to the freezer. Grown over... Continue Reading →
Every day waking
What a challenge... to be awake. The literal sense of being awake is a difficult enough task at times, but the deeper, the meaningful, the real awake is an even more elusive creature. Every time I go through my little devotional I get stuck at the same page. It challenges me to rise up and be... Continue Reading →
Advice I can finally follow…
What a wonder each day's sunrise! As soft rays of light peek over the trees, it is always as if for the first time. Dawn beckons with an invitation to begin anew, to see things in a fresh way. "Yesterday is past," it whispers; "you only have today and all its possibilities." Hope rises with... Continue Reading →
Learning How to Learn – a secondhand MOOC (A what???)
I feel like I've been deprived. I don't rightly know how long MOOCS have been in existence, at least in any reputable form, but I believe I have been woefully ignorant for quite some time. MOOCs - Massive Open Online Courses - are just that. They are massive: the last one I took ran over... Continue Reading →
Spring and the after-effects of hibernation
Spring appears to be right around the corner, and I am, to say the least, ready. First off, it has been a pathetic winter in Wisconsin. Official snowfall totals are under 20", and most all of that fell in little dustings, they blew off to some new locale... Boston maybe. There is just not much... Continue Reading →
