A great weight we can carry if we only think about what might or could occur.

Do you do this with situations such as we are facing right now? There is a tendency towards speculation when we are down or when we feel vulnerable or alone.

Hypotheticals are pr...

Marigolds first appear in the ditches,
far before the summer crowd.
They are the first to signal
the birth of spring.

They lie in low places,
move from the muck and
drainage to the sunlight
and to raised recognition.

They reflect the sun.

They are the celebration
of...

Only a mountain has lived long enough

to listen objectively to the howl of a wolf.

A Sand County Almanac

Aldo Leopold

It is becoming unsafe out on the ice of the interior lakes that stretch across the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. The snowmelt has created slush. On some of...

In the distance the thunder 

but the mosquitoes 

are swarming. 

Life implodes. 

From out of the shadows and 

swampy places, they ferry 

and probe for warm and 

tender spots to draw their blood. 

They carry on the wind. 

They dance against the moon 

and invite themselves into 

qui...

“Shackleton’s situation was completely hopeless.

He just didn’t succumb to the pessimists.”

(TheStreet.com)

1. MAKE UP YOUR MIND TO BE CHEERFUL.

“His unfailing cheerfulness means a lot to a band of disappointed explorers like ourselves. He demanded cheerfulness and count...

In this particular time, we need templates from what has gone on before. I turn to Ernest Shackleton.

In January 1915, his ship was trapped in pack ice one day's journey from his intended landing site.

In October of that same year, 9 months later, he and his men are forc...

It's the small things. Windows can be open now to receive fresh air without the summer insects that are still dormant.

Occasionally, there is the flight of eagles adrift on the updraft, unseen winds at play just above the leafless birch and aspen. 

Forty degrees means a...

Rocks that will not move. 

Insurmountable, we say. 

Stony outcroppings like 

fortresses against the wind.

To break them down, impossible.

To challenge them, the devil’s deceit.

To break with the past, 

a tedious effort.

To reshape our future, 

imaginations true test.

Great Heart...

In life, we know there will be difficulties. But we often don't know what lies ahead. We can't anticipate all the problems. 

In canoeing, these hardships are well-announced with names like Mantrap and Cannibal and Dead Man's Portage. Other portages steal upon us unaware...

It is that gentle persuasion of dread.

The gnawing in the pit of one’s gut 

that things will go awry.

It can scream at us, fighting for its own survival. 

It is the lead wolf snarling and licking its chops.

It travels far and near. It cannot rest.

It watches and waits.

It is...