Challenge and Peace

According to recent research, the most common reason for going to nature is to improve personal health. I should be nonjudgmental as to why other people go to nature (so long as they go), but this answer bothers me a little bit. Unless some of the respondents were...

Starry Night

A recurrent theme in my blogs has been memorable moments in nature. In no way is this to suggest that remarkable occurrences don’t also happen in human-made environments. As I write about once-in-a-lifetime experiences in nature, my mind often drifts to equally...

Alone at the Movies

When Manyu and I go to a movie, we sit in the very last row. Manyu easily gets a stiff neck and wants, as much as possible, to be looking down at the screen. I don’t think she appreciates the sacrifice I am making for her. In my late twenties and early thirties, when...

Seven Rivers

For those who live in eastern Wisconsin, La Crosse is that semi-remote city on the Mississippi River. And they are right; La Crosse is some distance from other population centers in the state, and it is on Mississippi River. It seldom gets mentioned, however, that La...

Hooked

Clint, one of the regulars on my annual Canadian fishing trip, is a retired emergency room doctor. Obviously he is a great guy to have along in the backcountry. Clint’s first aid kit is so complete that, when I travel with him, I toss a few bandaids in with my...
Steven Simpson