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No Name City Awakens
The Secretary, Colonel, and President inspect habitat conditions at The Flats with Harper's assistance. For one day in March, No Name...
Mar 223 min read
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Public Service
I was seven years old when I was first exposed to the idea of public service, although I didn’t really know what it meant. But the words...
Feb 282 min read
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The Great Unraveling
Not long ago, as I approached the age of which we will not speak, I took note of some things I might have to start leaving behind, or at...
Jan 314 min read
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Proustian Moments
In my mind’s eye I can still see her standing over the sink in the corner of the tiny apartment kitchen, plucking feathers from the goose...
Dec 22, 20243 min read
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The Mayor of Herman Highway
On my way north I decided to stop at the Why-Go-By Bar for a burger and cold one. Sitting on the barstool waiting for attention, I...
Dec 19, 20245 min read
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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...
Dec 2, 20244 min read
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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...
Nov 9, 20245 min read
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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...
Oct 24, 20245 min read
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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...
Sep 27, 20244 min read
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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...
Sep 20, 20244 min read
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Driftless Recollections
Spring arrived two weeks early by Missouri standards. The dogwood and redbud trees in the front yard, an unofficial phenological metric...
Jun 9, 20247 min read
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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...
May 5, 20245 min read
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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,...
Mar 22, 20244 min read
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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...
Mar 4, 20244 min read
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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...
Feb 26, 20245 min read
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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,...
Dec 29, 20234 min read
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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...
Dec 12, 20233 min read
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The First 30 Days
Late Friday morning, folks started arriving. Eight of ten would be in attendance, plus ex officio members of distinction; three...
Dec 5, 20234 min read
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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...
Nov 21, 20235 min read
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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...
Nov 5, 20236 min read
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