The Beaver & the Wolf
Dear Friends I have a friend, Bruce, who is a beaverologist, and that means that his specialty is beavers. He was known as sort of the go-to beaver guru in the Intermountain West. People would call him about beaver troubles (“they’re damming my culvert!” or “they’re stealing all of my irrigation…
If Ancients Could Speak
“Timber!” I called the word out in case there was anyone within falling range, and it echoed through the understory of a blackened forest. It took one swing and smack from the back of my hickory handled brush axe, and the 3 pound steel head made purchase on the plastic…
We Are What We Eat
Dear Friends Caryl and I watched an indie movie last week that was filmed on location in Italy. Many scenes were shot in piazzas (plazas), bustling with people. Hundreds of ‘extras’ were captured in the background of the film, simply going about their business. And after seeing multitudes of these folks captured near and far…
100 Days, 600 Miles
Dear Friends “Are you sad that it’s almost over?” As we bumped our way on the 2-track out of the backcountry from our last cow camp, I was asking my 26-year-old Linnaea about coming off the range with the cattle in the next few days. She, along with our other daughters and some great crew…
Beeves in the Back of Beyond
The late August sun glinted through the trees along the ridgeline above. I was alone, putting together a remote stock water system in an essential wilderness, with a fire pump, 300 feet of surplus firehose and two 1000 gallon poly tanks. I had pulled the hose-lay on foot over my shoulder up a steep thickly…