Here’s my latest column for the paper. While the particulars are local, the principles are universal methinks…. This evening my family and I returned from a disastrous hiking trip to the Lake County Demonstration Forest, which ultimately was salvaged in the end by ice cream and Lake Superior (our two aces in the hole in … More Salvaging Disaster and Making Memories
This is one of the better uses I can think of for my newspaper column. If you like, there’s a cleaner copy for you to read in the post prior to this, but I kind of dig this one.
On the very day this column is released and read by millions, three contiguous households in the heart of my block will be involved in the Big Dig project of the decade here as we bury our power lines together. Such a project by myself would seem nearly impossible, but together as a sort of … More Neighboring For Better Health
Here’s a past column about one of my favorite adventures last fall… This week I found myself belly up to the bar in Finland, at a place called Our Place, downing one of the finest cold ones I’ve ever had (nearly a full pitcher of it). I had ambled in with a buddy who was … More Freewheelin’ it to Finland
I never miss an opportunity to be a picnic evangelist, so I’ve rolled this old column out of the archives with the hopes that you’ll enjoy one where you live soon. With this experience I especially enjoyed combining cultural history, exercise, relaxation together as a family, and good food…. One of the finest family adventures … More Recovering The Lost Art of Picnicking
I just finished Adharanand Finn’s recent book, Running With The Kenyans, and enjoyed it very much. In it, he attempts to explore the secrets of Kenya’s tremendously disproportionate success in the world of distance running. Within Kenya, it is the Kalenjin ethnic group specifically that dominates, and it would be difficult to exaggerate their level of dominance. … More Running With The Kenyans
Here I am able to share with you a portion of a single day of my family’s recent vacation within the backcountry of the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park in the UP of Michigan. From our remote rustic cabin, we hiked 1 mile to the mouth of the Big Carp River, and crossed into the … More A Run in the Woods
Here’s my newspaper column this week: As I scrawl these words on a lovely evening, smoke from my wood stove wafts from the chimney and twists up and through large snowflakes falling like feathers. It’s snowing again, as it did the weekend prior, and I welcome it as if it were manna from heaven. Sam … More Glad the Groundhog Got it Wrong
I am writing this on the evening before heading out to a wilderness cabin north of Ely with some pals. For a decade and a half we have made an annual pilgrimage to a cabin or yurt several miles from the nearest road or other man-made dwelling. The experience is my equivalent of a Hawaiian … More The Lure of the Wilderness Cabin
This is an account of one of our family’s best days last year. Father’s Day is a glorious all-day event in my home. So committed is my trio of kids and spouse to making it special, they eagerly celebrated it with me a week in advance. Of course an epic adventure was in order. The … More Adventure Begins When Things Go Wrong
Ed's Big Adventure 