Last December I wrote a blog post called New Year’s Nature Resolutions: 12 Things To Do Outside. I must say I’ve done well. I’ve kept my resolutions, with a few tweaks here and there. My September resolution also included a modification. I was set to go hiking at Afton State Park. Read more…
This year I decided to give myself a birthday gift—an afternoon with nature and poetry. There’s a little garden in Minneapolis, along Minnehaha Creek, called Longfellow Garden. It’s named after Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. I’d never been there before, but I had read about it. Someone online mentioned going there early Read more…
My August nature resolution was a simple goal: an overnight backpacking trip on the Superior Hiking Trail. Just me, two days of hiking, and my bedroom (tent) on my back. This was going to be a dry-run, albeit short. One day, I’d like to do the through-hike—all 300 miles of Read more…
One of my New Year’s nature resolutions was to kayak in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA). I’ve never been on the waters of the BWCA. Technically, I’ve was in the geographic location last summer when I hiked Eagle Mountain—the highest point in Minnesota. That “mountain” is just within the Read more…
I’ve wanted to look for Amethyst near Thunder Bay, Canada, for about 15 years. Not quite a “bucket list” item, but definitely something that’s lingered in the back of my mind—something I heard about once and have been intrigued with ever since. This June, my son John and I finally Read more…
Yesterday I said goodbye to my best-friend-of-a-dog, Lacey. She was my 16-year-old German Spitz. I got her on a sunny summer day at Cabela’s in Owatonna, Minnesota. My family stopped at Cabela’s to look at hunting dogs (only look) and I spotted a pen of spitz puppies. Not hunting dogs. Read more…
Recently, I fished in the Minnesota Fishing Challenge event. It’s an annual fundraiser for a nonprofit, faith-based addiction recovery program—Mn Adult & Teen Challenge (MnTC). The nonprofit is based in Minnesota but is part of a larger organization throughout the U.S. and Canada. Beyond that, it’s part of an international Read more…
This year I decided to spend fishing opener in Duluth, Minnesota. There were two rivers I planned to fish from shore, and I was hoping to catch something I could eat. I headed north two days early. I’d read about how pelicans gather at the St. Louis River estuary between Read more…
I went for a walk at a regional park early in the morning, just after sun-up. It is a wooded area with many trails. I love the woods in the morning, and this particular place has several ponds, wetlands, and a lake called Fish Lake. I saw blue-winged teals and Read more…
Today is Earth Day. Confession: I’m not often a big observer of days, holidays and the like. I mean, I enjoy celebrations and special occasions, but I don’t often put a lot of stake into a specific day. For example: Christmas is fun but if I get together with my Read more…