The River Collector

The River Collector

It was not a conscious choice, but it seems that I have been building a collection. It is a collection of trout rivers. The collection was started almost 50 years ago, the summer our family rented a cedar shingle cottage on a small Michigan lake. Lily pads filled its...

Where the Wind Blows Free

Where the Wind Blows Free

"I told him I'd bury him in the meadow and not tell anyone. We shook hands on it, and I can't go back on my word to him, I just can't. If I get sent to jail, I'll go." “Ellie, make note of the date, time, people present and that this is an informal hearing with no...

Ice Fishing is Just Insane

Ice Fishing is Just Insane

The oddest thing I have discovered about hoomans is that when lakes freeze over in the winter and rivers are choked down with thick ice — they want to go fishing. Really? It’s cold, there’s ice everywhere and you had all summer to fish. Why go now? The other morning...

First Snowfall of the Gray Days

First Snowfall of the Gray Days

When I remember my best days of hunting, the memories dawn mostly cloudy and gray. I'm thinking about the gray days and cloudy skies preceding a storm. Every hunter knows that animals sense and instinctively move in advance of a storm. And I think the same urge stirs...