Archive

Trusting the lake is easy now that I’ve done it with a group of people. A narrow path down to the lakeshore, then one, joyful leap onto the ice. It’s sunny this afternoon in lower northwest [...]

Twenty minutes and half a dozen introductions later, I bowed onto the mat with 30 other martial artists. Despite objections from the lower ranked students, I insisted on standing in back with [...]

Hanshi’s instruction to me as a karateka at Blue Ridge Martial Arts Academy is now the gold standard for any other dojo experiences I may have. Our long distance training program has worked well [...]

“The hottest thing you’ll see happen out on the ice is one of these flags tipping up,” says the ice fisherman, our guest teacher in Mr. Copeland’s ecology class. He’s holding a “tip up,” a [...]

A few corrections, due to my lack of note taking in the field: “Males” are a third smaller than females, one wants to search in fields the farmer “hadn’t” worked [...]

[I’m putting together the ice fishing pictures, so it will be another day or two before that post. For now, here is a photo of a Hawaiian student tapping a confident toe at the edge of Green [...]

*Names have been changed. It begins with the smell of wet leather, then the steady scuffing of boots down the aisle of the school bus. It’s a scene from my past except now I’m reliving it with [...]

At dusk, I walked along the frozen-lipped edge of Green Lake, it’s shore a mere two hundred feet from my cabin. There, wintering shrubs poked through the snow, each thin-tipped stalk aiming [...]

Writers and readers of nonfiction, whether professional or hobbyist, will at some point find themselves asking questions about truth versus fact. As a point of discussion this morning, I [...]

Student quote of the day (overheard): “Can you microwave bacon?” Faculty quote of the day, in response to my query about dress code: “Don’t worry—you look fine. Me? I’m a clothing horse.” Now I [...]