Limits and Constraints
The walk to my deer stand is short, and this morning I squinted to watch the edges of my path a little more than usual. Two skunks had...
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Nov 95 min read
Bois Brule and Other Reasons
Sitting on the bench outside the cabin I took a deep breath of the cool, moist morning air and finished off the tepid coffee in my mug as...
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Oct 245 min read
Alaska - Final Reflections
In Alaska, mother nature rules the day. A rough and edgy environment where people and all the related constructs live in the shadows of...
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Sep 274 min read
Kenai Sockeye
By 6:35 a.m. DeeCee had hooked her first salmon. Our guide, Mike, gave instruction on how best to wrestle the feisty fish boat side for...
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Sep 204 min read
Homer Halibut
When I tasted the first bite, I thought about a day on a boat a couple hours from Homer, and the magic of water, fishing poles, and...
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Jun 97 min read
Driftless Recollections
Spring arrived two weeks early by Missouri standards. The dogwood and redbud trees in the front yard, an unofficial phenological metric...
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May 55 min read
Reading the Land
About 20 yards from my tree stand I retrieved the evidence. Another hunter had been here before me. Exposed from the leaf litter by...
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Mar 224 min read
Marsh Moments
Marsh Moments No.1 (Rules) The wind was stiff. Sustained out of the northwest at 15 mph with gusts near 25. A good day for flags,...
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Mar 44 min read
The Lonely Quiet
It was a shock. There he stood, all alone. In 15 years he had never been entirely alone. But worse yet. Worse than being alone. He had...
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Feb 265 min read
Through the Eyes of Books
In 1942, Aldo Leopold began writing the essays that would later become the classic, A Sand County Almanac. Interestingly, this book...
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Dec 29, 20234 min read
Turning the Page
It’s two days before Christmas. My deadline for submitting a story to the Conservation Federation of Missouri magazine is January 2,...
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Dec 12, 20233 min read
Veterans Day Plunge
Veterans Day. Many old timers still call it by its original name, Armistice Day. A moniker remembered by waterfowlers in part because of...
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Dec 5, 20234 min read
The First 30 Days
Late Friday morning, folks started arriving. Eight of ten would be in attendance, plus ex officio members of distinction; three...
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Nov 21, 20235 min read
Taverns, Part 2
I pulled back the screen door and reached in to grab the brass handle of the inner door, pressing my thumb to unlatch it open. A blast of...
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Nov 5, 20236 min read
Gadgets
This one will probably rub some folks the wrong way but have no fear. I make no laws. I am no threat to anyone, because in the final...
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Oct 27, 20235 min read
A Swan Lake Tribute
After days and weeks of blue skies and warm temperatures, the feel was a little different. Heavy gray clouds. An occasional mist carried...
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Oct 15, 20234 min read
Silent Walking
As I walked the old tote road, a drifting petrichor lingered mixing with the scent of sweet fern crushed between my fingers. Caught in a...
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Sep 3, 20234 min read
No Gifts
And so, the email went… “Very pleasant weather up here except for this damned Canadian wildfire smoke. Got me to coughing last evening...
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Jul 25, 20234 min read
The Shack
It was a pilgrimage of sorts. A place I knew but had never been. A shrine to some. For me, a place of historical and inspirational...
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Jun 19, 20234 min read
Plenary Authority
Too many years ago, when he first arrived in Missouri, a relatively young man was hired by the Missouri House of Representatives to serve...
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