A newcomer comes through the door and calls: “Hey, Charlie.” “Nope. The name’s Ted,” Ted smiles. “Charlie’s not here anymore”. It is a sparkling clear Sunday morning, the sky so blue it could freeze in place. No matter cold or hot, rain or shine, spring or fall,...
We do all live in a yellow submarine!
Adventure. Fantasy. Wonderment. Sense of Discovery. Camaraderie. Tolerance. Ingredients, all inclusive, when the Beatles ran up the flag on the song "Yellow Submarine." As a statement, a philosophy, it spoke to our sense of playfulness. It was written purposefully as...
A cautionary tale: cape flattery, washington; dark night, kind stranger
The walkway steps were made of coarse, rickety, irregular shaped, unevenly spaced spruce planks. Hand-bumping knots and dips decorated rustic pole handrails crafted from young, strong saplings. As if in a Harry Potter movie, the winding stairs seemed to lead down and...
Like Heaven’s Gate, Archangel Valley, Hatcher Pass Alaska
Archangel Valley is richly decorated with extraordinary low-to-the-ground, colored vegetation, intermittent with tough green bushes on a stony landscape. This encapsulated mountain environment is remarkable for its unique plant variety, rich texture and vibrant earth...
Just for the HALIBUT…. or perhaps for two King Salmon.
. It’s all about the fishing. Alaska is THE fishing ground of the Northwest. The warm months bring fishermen from the northwest true, but really from everywhere: Florida, Ohio, Vermont, Minnesota, Colorado, and even Germany. RV Camping is the lodging of choice, and...
The Mysterious Missing Mama Moose
Most everyone knows a wild animal with her young, even a small bird, can be a fierce protector. While driving along the Kenai Peninsula Highway toward our campground, I spied a little, brownish red moose calf standing on a dirt driveway. I stopped. The driveway was...
“I been working on the railroad, all the live-long day…”
Settin’ astride the tracks in Palmer, Alaska is the ol’ Engine 3006. In Alaska, as in so much of rural America, the railroad is a powerful presence. Throughout this journey trains have rattled not far off, whistled so close, made themselves known to any who would...
Alberta, Canada: Riding the wide open range, with 282 horses
Alberta, Canada is a huge producer of beef. Farms stretch mile upon mile in great green expanses with an occasional fence dividing properties containing the herds. The rolling plains that are the farms are dotted with little pump houses that very quietly make Alberta...
Lakota Sioux Culture: Sacred Buffalo Symbol of the Divine and the Medicine Wheel
Since being a small boy (Cub Scout,) I have enjoyed Native American legends and stories. Our Cub Pack was once visited by a “real” Indian Chief in full Indian dress. This chief demonstrated dances and words; then told a story of Indian boys struggling to become strong...
The Corn Palace, a town tradition in the spirit of county fairs, not so corny as one might think.
One might imagine that the Corn Palace is “corny”—but in reality its magic gathers the townspeople of Mitchell together in a most unique way. Mitchell, South Dakota is the farm country home of the original Corn Palace. The people of the town are enthusiastic, as well...