Emergency Blog Post: Trump’s Attack on Our National Parks

Let me first say that this piece will not really be political.  At least, I don’t think so.  What it will be is a defense of our national parks, which are badly in need of repair and are already operating on a shoe-string budget.  Tonight, as America celebrates the birth of a nation, Trump plans…

How Nature Makes Us Better

Dear Readers, As I continue to try to find a work life balance that works for this blog, as well as the time to keep original content coming, please check out the podcast I’ve uploaded on how nature helps to keep us healthy and well.  If you’re a smartphone user click on the menu link…

Adventure Time: Redefining Adventure for Everyone

When modern readers think of or read about adventure they’re probably reading about epic journeys of discovery, or thinking about trail blazers who risked life and limb in search of an ultimate prize:  Roald Amundsen, the Norwegian explorer and his team of four were the first to make it to the geographic South pole in…

The Stories We Tell Ourselves: A Meditation on Frost’s Two Roads

(A quick note: while the gender of the speaker remains undetermined, I sometimes use the masculine for the sake of simplicity and consistency.  It seems easier than having to repeatedly use “the speaker”, or singular they, or worse, “him/her”.) Ask anyone to create a list of poems they’ve read, know or remember from school, and…

A Monster Hike: Arethusa Falls and Frankenstein Cliffs

I had to stop to breathe; this mountain was kicking my ass.  The slopes at the base of the cliffs were talused, debris-filled, and more resembled sand than soil.  Trees and rocks tenuously clung to the side of the mountain and every step was an effort not to tumble down the side of it.   Grasping…

Nature Boys from the ‘Hood

Above timberline, with sustained winds around fifty miles per hour and gusts approaching ninety, while the temperature hovers somewhere just under thirty below, Pierre and Jon hunker down behind a rock for shelter, Pierre’s side screaming in pain.  He calls out to Jon, his brother, “Dude, for some reason the side of my body is…

Why Climbing Matters

As a brief note, this article often uses the term climbing in a broad sense to include everything from rock climbing to mountaineering and hiking. As I rediscover climbing in middle-age, I find that I’m teaching myself something new all over again. Climbing! Whether rocks or mountains, humble boulders and hills in your backyard forests,…