I am a chopper of wood and carrier of water, a keeper of bees, digger of soil, and washer of dishes, but when people ask me "what do you do" I usually satisfy them with "I'm in information technology." If they really want to know, I'll tell them about the decade as a wilderness guide. Some jobs are vocations, some are avocations, but that one was an evocation. I also wrangle pixels and try to herd them into representations of coherent thoughts, which is a provocation. :-)
Another Father’s Day weekend has gone. Those of us who have been orphaned by the passage of time can embrace, or we can confront these holidays in various and sometimes unpredictable proportions. As I move forward from this yearly observance, there is something I want to carry with me and keep close to my heart. … More The Unforgiving Minute
On a sunny day in July, a group of adjudicated teenagers in a Wolfcreek Wilderness program were having a blast going down the Chatooga River in canoes. Two other instructors and I had herded the group of ten down some fairly easy class two and three rapids, and we were relaxing, eddied out in a … More May the Circle be Unbroken
There is no amount of school violence that is acceptable, but what we have today is hardly an epidemic. It is just the opposite – an outlier in a continuing trend toward decreasing violence. Rather than making this issue about politics, let’s look at what we have done to facilitate this improvement, and let that inform our decisions about further improvement. … More Doomed
Another Memorial Day is behind us, and as the memory of the long weekend is carried away with the recycle bin full of beer cans, we hope, as we always hope, that we carry with us something of the occasion besides a few extra pounds. It is not enough. It is not nearly enough to … More Sacrifice, and Those Who Require It
The dew is heavy on the grass this morning and the creek is swollen from recent rain as the sun begins to peek over the mountain. The bees are already busy carrying nectar from the poplars in full bloom. There is a sprayer full of a special mixture of neem oil and peppermint soap waiting … More Dilute, Divide and Divert
Someone asked me a long time ago why I put so much effort into making a garden when it would be cheaper to buy produce at the market. I don’t remember who said that. It’s likely that I’m no longer friends with that person. Anyone who could ask such a stupid question is not a … More Timeless
Kenmore is a Sears brand of appliances. They started making washing machines in 1927, and along with Coldspot and the Craftsman line of tools, the name was synonymous with quality for many years. We have a mid 1950’s Coldspot refrigerator that still works perfectly. Today it is difficult to know what kind of … More Goodbye Old Friend
We fully support Commissioner Cliff Bradshaw’s decision to disallow painting on top of Bell Mountain. It is with anger and embarrassment that we admit that some of our young people, having been entrusted with a responsibility to behave reasonably, would choose to demonstrate their contempt for our community with vandalism. The original decision to allow … More Do As I Say
We watched it snow this morning while making coffee and feeling a bit nostalgic for mountain weather of years gone by. The birds are busy maneuvering for position at the one feeder still remaining. This is the sacrificial feeder, a cheap $14 model from Walmart that the bear will soon pull down to announce that … More Timing is Everything
“It’s a dog’s life” comes to us from the 16th century, when the expression referred to the general misery of the canine clan at the hands of their human masters. The idiom evolved into a proverb, “It’s a dog’s life – hunger and ease” a century later. Today the phrase continues its semantic odyssey, and … More A Dog’s Life
Outside The Box 