Renegades

“Go forth and have no fear.”
X Ambassadors (Song lyrics from “Renegades”)

        The wind was blowing today; strong wind.  Perhaps I read more into the wind than what it is, but I love it and feel close to it.  Here at home I like it because it helps drown out the constant hum of the nearby highway; all I can hear is the wind through the spruce boughs and feel the shake of the house when an extra strong gust hits.  It’s strangely comforting.  I say strange because it’s a sign of moving and changing air masses; air moving on currents from high to low pressure seeking some unknown destination.  At the same time I like to picture and sense God’s movement in the wind; movement as the Spirit. Wind is the confirmation of that presence for me.  Hence, the wind is strangely comforting.

        The group Kansas sings a song entitled, “Dust in the Wind.”  It’s a classic song played on an acoustic guitar.  While it is a good song, it is admittedly a pessimistic view of life as if nothing matters.  I personally don't believe that.  Life matters, people matter, and what we do matters.  We are part of a bigger story, and yet we play a role and live out our purpose or niche as an integral part of that story.  “Every story, great and small, shares the same essential structure because every story we tell borrows its power from a Larger Story, a Story woven into the fabric of our being…”.” (Epic - Eldredge)

        In other words, this is it!  We can live a life with meaning, a life with purpose, and learn from both the highs and lows along the way because indeed that is part of our story.  That’s a much different view of life than the person living in such a way as to get past the things they either don’t like in their life, or the person trying to get everything perfect - before they can start living.  We can live life with a sense of freedom like the wind itself.  We can live like a renegade.  It’s strangely comforting that with structure in our lives we can also have freedom.

        Speaking of renegades, the unofficial/official Gulo Adventure Clan gathered this morning after an evening of parent/teacher conferences.  It was a repeat performance of last year (See Past Entry "Un-Common Core") but at fifty something degrees, it was almost sixty-five degrees warmer this year.  We gathered early and drove out to one of my favorite areas.  It’s open and vast and wild in some areas, and yet thick and close and embracing in others.  It is flat and it is hilly.  It has prairies and it has woods; both highlands with hardwoods and bottomlands with softwoods.  Today we walked through all of those environs, including a wide marsh.  We had to; there was so much ice on the trails and areas we were trying to walk across, that we had to choose a course where we could walk with some sort of footing.  It was the result of the remnant snow and warm weather.

        It was a long walk in, but it was perfect in that it allowed us to talk and dialogue and enjoy both the work and beauty of it all.  Along the way we crossed several creeks and made our way to the bank of a large river.  I quickly made a fire while the others put up a tarp to block the wind - or looked for firewood.  The wind was blowing from the West by Southwest at 30 to 40 miles per hour, with gusts up to 60; although the woods helped to block some of that.  

   

        Conversations covered school, sports (heroes and underdogs, both legitimate and fallen), and a host of other side topics on the heels of the wind.  Our prayer was for being the constant in the midst of the winds of change that happen throughout our lives.  We ate, and then ate some more.  We needed to with all of the food we had.  With eight guys and two dogs we had 18 potatoes, 20 eggs, a dozen stadium brats and 20 ounces of Colby jack cheese.  I forgot to add the salt and pepper, and a few of the potatoes got a little dark, but ask any of them whether they cared or not.  The cocoa was only slightly warmer than luke-warm (wrong side of the flames), and the orange juice was sitting comfortably back in our refrigerator at home, but ask any of them whether they cared or not.

      Trust has come to this bunch of renegades by spending time together over the last few years; time hiking and paddling a river, in addition to working and teaching at school.  Because of that trust, you feel as though you can pretty much be yourself, and that alone feels pretty good.  After packing up we began our hike back, stopped for a group picture, emerged from the woods where we suddenly realized how much windier it actually was, and then came again to a little creek. 

Scott, Joe, Justin
Merel, Ted, Wes
The Pups, Louie & Mike

The creek really wasn’t much of an obstacle, and luckily the temperatures were moderate in case someone slipped in.  It did provide, however, the opportunity to act as pioneers.  Through the use of ingenuity and perseverance we were able to forge ahead.  It also provided us the chance to act as boys; both running and jumping and running free, if only for a moment.  

        Walking the rest of the way back in wet boots was at a minimum.  The “who, what and where” stays with the wind in the woods.  Like most good stories, it’s where they happen and where they remain.

        That same wind that carries our stories in fact is our story; or at least a part of it.  I like that this group of men all come from different places, with different backgrounds, and different up-bringing.  When I consider those things, our difference in ages, our different world views, and yet the way we band together and appreciate each other’s company, I can’t help but smile.

        We drove back, said our goodbyes, I unpacked a little, picked up my daughter from a friend’s house, and then fell asleep for a solid hour or more.  I only awoke when a blast of wind slammed against the front of the house.  The wind, like my morning with the Gulo Adventure Clan, was strangely comforting.

        See you along The Way…

“Life, you’ll notice, is a story.  Life doesn’t come to us like a math problem.  It comes to us the way that a story does, scene by scene.  You wake up.  What will happen next?  You don’t get to know – you have to enter in, take the journey as it comes.”

(Epic by John Eldredge-Nelson Books, Nashville-2004)

__________

I like the song "Renegades" by X Ambassadors (and not just because I drive an old Jeep...nope, still haven't washed off the dust from my trip to the Pigeon River Country of Northern Michigan...for the last two years)...
The "Official" video rocks in the way that it not only has the song, but it also shows how different people with various "Challenges" are able to succeed because of their team of support personnel that serve and help them to achieve their dreams and goals...Blind people lifting weights, skate boarding and riding bikes...a one armed boxer...the wrestler and rock climber with no limbs...not to mention the very end of the video where it shows the band members getting out of their Jeep (not covered in Michigan Dirt) and walking through an alley to where they are playing in a concert...the lead singer/guitar player (Sam Harris) is leading his older brother Casey who is the keyboard player for the band and who is also blind...

CLICK ON THE VIDEO & CRANK IT UP!

-----

And if you like the song, here is the hour long version…I often times put it on at school when I’m working, and listen to it over and over…

X Ambassadors - Renegades {hour version}

Scout

“But turn my mind altogether to the forest; that will not deceive you, being ordered and ruled by a hand that never wavers.”

The Scout-Deerslayer by James Fenimore Cooper – 1841

            When I was a kid, the Clark Family used to visit us up north.  Mr. Clark and my Dad were dorm-mates at Central Michigan University back in the day.  The Clark’s had two children; about the same age as my sisters and me, and together with our parents we would partake in some sort of adventure.  In addition to gathering at our house, we sometimes met in Grand Marais in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to camp and hang out.  They often drove what I considered at the time, a rugged vehicle; one that would be categorized as an SUV these days.  Two of their vehicles that stand out in my mind were the Jeep Cherokee Chief and the International Scout II.  I always enjoyed the opportunity of riding along in one of those; usually when we were out driving the backwoods trails and dirt roads of the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.

            The Jeep and the Scout were both unique and had the cool factor.  I like that word “Scout.”  It’s a word that’s both dear and true to my heart.  When I hear the word scout I think of Nathaniel Bumppo (also known as Scout, Deerslayer, Hawkeye, and La Longue Carabine).  He was the adopted son and brother of Chingachgook and Uncas.  These were the main characters in James Fenimore Cooper’s saga now known as the “Leatherstocking Tales” set in the mid to late 1700’s of early America.  The best known of those five stories is entitled, “The Last of the Mohicans.”  The books were written in the early 1800’s but the latest movie, starring Daniel Day Lewis, came out in 1992.  I had read several books from the series beforehand, but have often stated since the movie came out, that if I could set my life’s story to a sound track it would be to that movie’s music.  I’ve listened to it many times while in route to many an adventure.

            Perhaps in my mind’s eye I envision myself as a scout.  I don’t have the same wilderness areas to walk upon, and I certainly don’t encounter the same dangers as Hawkeye did in tales of the old frontier.  I do enjoy that balance between forging and exploring on my own, and yet interacting with others while enabling them to experience things outside of their normal path through life.  My Dad has often said to me that I do a good job of taking him to creeks I’ve scouted ahead of time, and pointing out areas for him to pitch his spinner where he can catch a trout.  That’s coming from an experienced fisherman.  Perhaps he’s right.  I do enjoy scouting, preparing, guiding and then watching those who are involved, immerse themselves into the surrounding adventure and atmosphere.

            It was with such flair, and after being asked several times by a couple of our school's female staff, that we went out last weekend.  It wasn’t that the ladies weren’t capable of doing it on their own (because many of them are).  It was more that they’ve heard or seen pictures of the outings I’ve had with some of the guys on our staff.  They knew I had places I could take them, and that I would enjoy both the leg-work involved in organizing it, as well as preparing and setting up the food and equipment we would need.  Unfortunately we didn’t have a lot of available time left in our schedules this winter when we could go out.  So, on short notice we sent out an email a week ahead of time.

            After four of our staff expressed interest in joining my wife Cindy and I, I set about planning a course and destination. 

Todd & I Scouting out an Area-The Week Prior

While my son was home the week before, we went out and scouted out a possible area.  Although several bald eagles were using some nearby trees as roosts, I decided against the area after some rain and rather warm weather threatened to flood the section we had to walk through.  Over the next few days I scoured some maps, chose two possible sites, and ran out last Friday (the night before the outing) to scout them out. 

Scouting Along The River-Friday Night

I arrived at sunset, and after taking a shortcut through the woods, came out after dark.  I did, however, find a perfect area to bring the ladies the following day, by way of a different starting point.  All told I covered about two miles that night and saw an eagle, heard a barred owl, saw the work of a pileated woodpecker and then came upon a huge herd of deer on my drive back.  I stopped at the store to buy supplies and then came home to cook, clean, pack, and prepare (not necessarily in that order…the words just flow better lined up like that).  It took several hours, but I

The Necessary Groceries

had the radio on and the kitchen was mine.  I sent the ladies several texts and pictures of the preparations to entice them of what was to come.

            They arrived at 8:00 the following day on Saturday morning, and together with the dogs, we loaded into two vehicles and headed out.  The weather was perfect for a winter outing, and with several cold days in a row, the ice and snow were solid.  In fact, it was so solid after the brief melt earlier in the week, that the walking was slightly treacherous in areas.  To keep our footing we sought out snowy areas so that we could have traction with our boots.  The conversation throughout was light and relaxing.  I stayed just enough ahead to add to it occasionally, but allow them to feel free to talk as they liked.  Plus, it allowed me to keep track of the dogs in their excitement to be out.  We hiked the ridge along the river, and then made our way down along some trails; towards a lowland area where we could hike back into the river.  The women helped me gather some sticks for fuel and watched as I got a fire going. 

Starting the Fire

It took me two tries with the flint and steel, and it required some gentle coaxing to get the flames to jump from the grass I used as tinder to the sticks.  It took the bark from some nearby wild grapevine to finally get it going.  I then began cooking the food while the dogs ran and sniffed around the river’s edge, and the ladies told stories from both the past and present.  While eating, we saw two different eagles; which is always exciting.  They were immature, and lacked the stark white head, but they certainly were something to behold with their great size and wingspan.

The ladies about to settle into a meal.

            We then packed up and began hiking out, but not before we stopped for a group picture.  It was a great morning and the perfect inaugural outing for some of the adventuresome women from Willowbrook Middle School.  After returning to the vehicles after almost three total miles of hiking, we packed our supplies, the dogs, and ourselves and were back to our house by noon.

Lisa, Mary, Laurie, Andrea, Cindy & the Dogs

            That afternoon I turned right back around, as part of my ultra marathon race training, and went back out to the area we were in that morning and ran the trails for two and a half hours.  The ice and snow were a bit softer as the sun had come out and the temperatures were in the 40’s.  By my last lap I “bonked” a bit.  Apparently the morning meal of potatoes, eggs, cheese and sausage were not the perfect recipe to keep me going for that long!

Recovering after the Run - Ice Cleats on the Shoes

            The following day, on Sunday afternoon, my daughter Jodi and I took the dogs down to the nearby creek.  She wanted me to take her down so she could practice taking pictures with her new camera.  

Hiking with Jodi as She Takes Pictures

The rest of the evening we settled in to watch the Denver Broncos win Super Bowl 50.  The Bronco’s Peyton Manning was once the quarterback of my favorite NFL Team (The Colts), so it was fun to see him win his second Super Bowl.  The win was nowhere near the result of his efforts, but rather those of the Bronco’s awesome defense.  Still, I’m hoping it’s the last game of his career and that he can now retire on a win as one of the greatest QB’s of all time.  He’s had quite a run for the last 18 years.

Super Bowl 50

            Speaking of runs, last weekend was full of them.  I’d been throughout the countryside running out, hiking in, hiking out, hiking around, running around, hiking down, hiking back and then running down...to the point where I didn’t have a whole lot of energy left and all I wanted to do was sit, relax and vegetate for a while.  Running in this way is part of who I am, my gift, and what I resonate with.  I love the scouting, preparing, and guiding that is involved, and then watching those who are part of the experience immerse themselves in those same environs that I too enjoy.

            See you along The Way…

“One moccasin like another!  You may as well say that one foot is like another; though we all know that some are long, and others short; some broad, and others narrow; some with high, and some with low insteps; some in-toed, and some out.  One moccasin is no more like another than one book is like another; though they who can read in one are seldom able to tell the marks of the other.  Which is all ordered for the best, giving to every man his natural advantages…”

Hawkeye-The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper – 1826

Two Week Album

Dry Run Creek in Hononegah Forest Preserve

     Capturing life moments in pictures is a way people have documented their personal history for many years.  In order to stay connected with the teaching that she loved, back when my kids were young, my wife taught others the art of creating photo albums out of the scads of pictures that most people had stashed in old shoe boxes under their bed or in down stair closets.  Through the company "Creative Memories" she was able to influence and help others to connect with their past as they made their way through the present and dreamt of the future.  It inspired me to have my own adventure photo albums. The old, blue, pullover jacket I wear as a shell, on cold winter days, has the Creative Memory logo on its left breast corner. It's a remnant of some good days of preserving stories caught on film.

     Two weeks have been preserved here in this blog as well; adventures caught and preserved during the last week of 2015 and the first week of 2016.  They are pictures of adventures with family, friends and while out searching the vast-land for my own personal peace of mind. I'll document them as if in an album; pictures with captions.

------------------------------------------------------

2015

On Tuesday, January 29th, after we shoveled the driveway, my daughter Jodi and I went out to Roland Olson Forest Preserve and went cross country skiing.  She loves to ski, and so we take advantage of the snow when we can.  I grew up skiing as a kid and sharing that love is edifying.  With the base of ice, from the previous day's storm, and then a few inches of snow on top, the conditions were almost perfect.  We were the first people to make tracks on the back loop.  I enjoyed being able to break trail with 2 swaths from my skies, as I swooshed along with Jodi for about three and half miles on beautifully clear trails.

--

On Wednesday, December 30^th, after getting up and going for a run, our family of four met my Dad at the movie theater to see the new movie: “Star Wars-The Force Awakens”.  It had great significance.  My Dad took both of my sisters and me to the original movies (episodes #4, 5, & 6) back in the day.  As I remember it, the movie (“A New Hope”) came to our town’s small movie theater.  My parents, however, weren’t too sure we should see it as they didn’t know too much about it, and it was rated PG.  I got a paperback version of the movie from a school book order and read it instead.  After my Uncle Rob took my Grand-dad & Grandma though, the decision was made that we could go see it.  By then, unfortunately, the movie had left our town.  In the 1970’s we didn’t have VHS or DVD players and so we had to wait for the movie to come back again; assuming it was good enough to recirculate.  Fortunately for us, “Star Wars” did!

--

Thursday, December 31^st was the 27^th wedding anniversary for Cindy and me.  I spent the better part of the day under the kitchen sink after discovering a water leak under the sink the night before.  At first I thought about seeking help, but after looking it over I settled on trying to fix it myself.  Early in the morning I bought a new garbage disposal; the root of the problem.  I read through the directions when I got it home and laid out the necessary tools.  In addition to taking out the old disposal, I disconnected all of the piping, cleaned them out, and applied new putty to both of the drains before inserting the new disposal.  It worked out pretty slick considering I didn’t come in with a lot of confidence.  I finished off the afternoon’s daylight by running back out to Roland Olson by myself, to cross country ski a 3 mile loop.  It was a good way to end the day’s activities before we all got together with some friends for food and dodge-ball to celebrate the New Year.

----------

2016

Friday, January 1^st was New Year’s Day. 

I woke early and met my friend Louie, and about 10 other people, to run 6 miles on and around the Rock River Bike Path in downtown Rockford.  It was cold, but it was fun and has become a sort of tradition to kick off the new year.  That afternoon Jodi and I went back out to Roland Olson to

XC ski one more time.  It was cold and breezy but we had a good time putting in 3 or 4 miles both in the Preserve as well as on the linking trail that goes over to the Kinnickinnick Creek Conservation Area.  That afternoon Cindy and I took a walk in the neighborhood with the dogs under a beautiful sunset.

--
On Saturday, January 2^nd my friend Scott and I went out for a hike with my dogs to

the river bottoms.  The sun rose over the horizon as we started out on the highland prairies.  We enjoyed talking and figuring out how to create log bridges to get both us and the dogs over some of the high water creeks that had formed in the bottoms as they drained off the oxbows.  We managed to stay relatively dry, and got a fire going from flint and steel in order to cook a great little brunch on the bank of the river.  It was a four hour excursion well worth the effort.  That afternoon my wife Cindy and I were able to get out to spend some time together and debrief from the year and Christmas Break as well as to celebrate our anniversary of two days prior.  It was simple but good.  We ate out and had a subway sandwich, and then took a walk at Hononegah Forest Preserve.

That night, as a totally spontaneous act, our entire family went to the theater to see the late night showing of “Star Wars” for a second time…it was a final family fling!

--

School started again that following Monday…an adventure in and of itself!  Our school’s Environmental Club did go sledding after school on Wednesday, January 6^th.  The kids, about 60 or so of them, had a great time in perfect weather…it was just the right temperatures with just the right amount of snow to both walk through it and sled down on it.

--

On Saturday, January 9^th my son Todd and I went to the woods with our dogs (Kati &

Kora).  Everything was wet from the rain the past few days.  Remarkably, the water level in the woods was down from the previous weekend.  We enjoyed each other’s company, and although we had a time of it getting the fire started, since everything was damp, we eventually did.  Todd said that the brunch we cook gets better every time he tastes it.  I’ve said it before and will probably say it again; nothing compares to a meal cooked over an open fire after a little work.  I used my new little “Emberlit” stove to heat up the water and then keep the food warm while we took some pictures to try capturing the moments.

--

On Sunday, January 10^th we attended church.  Our pastor gave what I like to call his annual “State of the Union” address.  He reviews where we’ve been, challenges us and then shows us how we can move forward as both individuals as well as a

church.  Afterwards, in 7 degree temperatures with wind, I ran 8 miles on the snowy trails at Hononegah Forest Preserve. I was able to run without any aches and pains that I had been experiencing during my runs for the last few weeks.  It was encouraging and I felt great.  My running route in the preserve is beginning to feel very comfortable.  I can run it without really thinking about it.  At one point I had to throw down logs to hop across about twelve feet of flood water from the mouth of Dry Run Creek that flows into the Rock River at that point.

--
PS – Today on Saturday, January 16^th I had an extra adventure outside of the adventures in the “Two Week Album”. 

I took my friend Justin to the woods for a quick hike and cookout before he attended his son’s basketball game (apparently an epic comeback from 10 points down).  Taking people to the woods is a fun thing to do.  I of course enjoy the company, but inviting friends into the position to be adventurous and experience life in a different venue is the most rewarding aspect.

I came back home and then went and ran 8 miles as part of the first official “long run” of a training schedule that will prepare me for a race this coming May.  The temperature was in the mid 20’s and sunny; a beautiful day.

--

Episodes of adventure; they are remnants of some good days preserved as stories and caught on film.

See you along The Way…

Goliath

            In the past, the weather gurus only gave names to hurricanes or tropical storms.  Since 2012, they have also given names to winter storms.  In each instance, a specific set of factors has to be met in order for a name to be assigned.  Right now winter storm “Goliath” is moving across the United States.  In the form of tornadoes, rain, sleet, ice and snow, “Goliath” has leveled neighborhoods, caused severe flooding, and left many without power as lines have fallen, in addition to contributing to major accidents and pileups on roads and highways.

            Today’s adventure in the storm started as a text to my cousins when I sent them a copy of a picture last evening that my Dad had from the opening of trout season back in 1971.  It was taken near Wolverine, Michigan on the ridge above the West Branch of the Sturgeon River.  It’s simple enough as it shows an old friend of my Dad (Lee Sperry) and his station wagon.  Apparently Lee had driven in, and then they had parked at the top of the hill and hiked down to the river (Dad’s journal says the water temperature was 39 degrees).  The crazy thing is that the picture was taken on the last Saturday of April.

Opening of Michigan's Trout Season-1971

            In the texting dialogue that transpired with my cousins, someone stated, “I thought we were dedicated.  We’re cupcakes compared to that.”  What we may lack in snow when we go out fishing, we make up for in endurance. (See Past Entry: “Bogged Down”)  I’m sure if we had the opportunity to fish in such conditions, we would.  The stories my Dad tells that ensued from that snow laden trip of 1971 are legendary; big brown trout and steelheads both caught and lost.  In addition, my Dad hooked a brown trout that wouldn’t even fit in to Mr. Sperry’s net.  He ended up losing it, but Mr. Sperry went back a few days later with twenty pound test line, caught it on his own, and only managed to store it in his freezer by bending its tail to fit it in.  Who wouldn’t want to be a part of an adventure and story like that?  Hence my texting response of, “Speak for yourself…it’s suppose to be nasty out tomorrow and I’m going to be out in it…guaranteed…and you know you’d join me if you lived closer.”  It was friendly texting banter, and set the challenge in place.

            It was about that time last night that my sister Becky showed me a quote she thought I might like from a cookbook she had just gotten as a gift (entitled “Scandinavian Christmas” by Trine Hahnemann).  It stated, “Remember there is no such thing as bad weather, only the wrong clothes.”  If you’ve read any of my blog entries from last winter you’d know I would agree with such a statement.  I’ll go out in most weather if I’m dressed for it.  With the storm that we had predicted for today, the correct clothing would make it great weather to be out in.  Perhaps that’s why the cousins texted today to see if I’d gone out.  They wanted to be a part of it.

            Unfortunately the outing today wouldn’t involve trout fishing since it wasn’t the right time of the year or season.  Fortunately I was able to get things together and head out for a few hours.  I debated on whether or not I would take our older dog, Kati.  She’s almost 85 years old now in human years.  She limps and moans more than she used to, but when it came down to it, I just couldn’t keep her back.  For as long as I’ve been hitting the woods and cooking out, she’s been with me.  I wouldn’t want someone to hold me back from going at that age, so in the end, I lifted her into the back of the Jeep with Kora (who leapt in as easy as a light, summer breeze).  It wasn’t really that long ago, maybe a year, that Kati would have jumped up and in just as easy.  You can’t blame Kora; it’s just that in her zest and zeal of adolescent nimbleness and quickness she doesn’t realize ole Kati would have matched her in her prime.  Luckily Kati doesn’t hold it against Kora and Kora listens and follows everything Kati tells her.  They are a perfect fit for each other.

Kati and Kora eagerly await the command "Come!"

            The ride out to the forest preserve was slow going as the roads were covered in snow and slush.  It had started at 6:00 this morning and had been consistently precipitating all day at a rather steady rate.  It wasn’t snow or rain that was falling, and I wouldn’t have called it sleet either.  Instead it was closer to little BB’s of ice.  Once parked, I put on my packs, took a quick picture of the dogs and then hit the trails.  We hiked through the hardwoods down to the river’s edge.  

Due to the unseasonably warm weather this winter, I couldn’t get through the wetland areas to places I like to visit.  Typically they are frozen over.  I could have thrown some logs across the waterways to walk on, but the dogs would have gotten wet and suffered.  Instead I worked my way upstream and eventually to the campground area where I decided to make a fire and cook a meal.

            Perhaps only two or three times out of all of the years I’ve cooked out in the winter have I had to resort to a match when I couldn’t get my flint and steel to work.  Today was not one of those days.  In fact, today was a first.  I couldn’t get a fire going with my flint and steel or the matches.  One other time did exist, when I was out with my friend Louie.  That, however, was more due to location and available tinder/wood supply, because even though we did get a fire started, we just couldn’t keep it going.  I worked at it quite a while today, with both tinder I had brought, and tinder I had collected, but it was too windy and everything was wet.  It was a “one-two punch” I couldn’t overcome.  By the time I finally looked up, Kati, who had lain down beside me, was covered with a layer of ice.  I apologized to both dogs and then packed up.  They had been looking forward to their cut of the meal I was going to cook.

            On the hike out I found some bark from a yellow birch tree.  I collected some and brought it up to the old, limestone picnic shelter made by the CCC back in the days between The Great Depression and World War II.  I tried to get a fire going in the shelter’s fireplace, since its roof and partially walled sides blocked some of the wind and precipitation, but it was still to no avail.  I was able to get a spark on my char cloth and produce a nice glowing ember with smoke, as I had back in the woods, but it just wouldn’t pop into flame.

            We continued our hike and piled back into the Jeep.  The dogs had done great.  Kora was a picture of energy and Kati seemed to gain strength the longer she was out in the elements.  By the end, Kati was steadily running and doing so without a limp from the arthritis.  You could tell she was proud of herself, and indeed she should have been.  I think Kora even took notice, and indeed she should have.  After letting Cindy know we were back to the Jeep, I was notified that I needed to pick up some pizza on the way home.  It’s one of the perks of living near civilization, especially when one can’t get a fire going.  Traveling out and back I averaged 35 to 40 miles per hour, under sub-par conditions, while driving in four wheel drive.

Once home, the dogs got their food!

I picked up pizza for the family on the way home

            Goliath won today, but have no fear, I’ll restock my tinder supply and chances are I’ll get a fire going the next time I try.  I had had visions of writing about how I had slain the giant of a storm, but sometimes the weather has other plans.  One must always be adaptable or risk serious consequences.  It’s probably best not to be vain because in light of the fact that as this storm has raced north and east across America, it has left people homeless and dead.  Obviously nothing can be done to conquer such power when unleashed to its fullest potential.  May the people affected so dramatically by the storm, find relief and peace.  Still, for the winds, temperatures and ice pellets I had to deal with here in Northern Illinois, it was definitely adventurous.  Perhaps someday I’ll go trout fishing in such circumstances; perhaps with my cousins.  Perhaps, like my Dad, we’ll catch brown trout of 12, 13 and 15 inches, see and lose some big steelhead, and battle an unseen brown in a deep, dark hole.  At this point I’ll simply be glad to get outside, have my dogs with me, get a fire started, and cook a meal.

            See along The Way…

The Gift

            Christmas this year was a day home with family.  We spent time with Cindy’s family yesterday and will with mine tomorrow, but today was with our immediate family.  We kicked Christmas off watching the movie entitled, “The Nativity” last night.  It’s a tradition that helps us remember the reason for the season, and why we do and believe what we do.  I’d highly recommend watching it.

            Many of us enjoy giving gifts this time of the year.  I suppose that’s why the saying goes, “It’s better to give than to receive.”  The process can be stressful to find something that the recipient will enjoy; something that matches their interests.  But when you find just the right gift, it feels good.  I think the whole idea of gift giving is symbolism and a model of what our Heavenly Father gave us.  Regardless of whether you believe this or not, the idea of God giving us His son, Jesus Christ, is a gift that is beyond our understanding.  It was a gift given sacrificially.  The idea of God being the Trinity, the Trifecta (Have I mentioned before how much I love that word?), is itself mysteriously wonderful.  God is three distinct parts and yet distinctly one.  He is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  By sending his Son to Earth as a baby, an event known and expected through prophesy, he came in under the radar wholly God and yet wholly man.  Many in the day thought he would come as a king and help overthrow the Roman Empire and its grip on the known world.  Instead, the little boy Jesus, who was raised by a young girl and wood-worker, offered freedom of another kind.  His freedom came through sacrifice that gave us, the common man, a chance at forgiveness and second chances.  Even after his death and resurrection back into heaven, to be reunited with his Father, he promised to always be with us, if we accept our humanness and need for him while allowing the Holy Spirit into our heart.  It’s nothing fancy.  We don’t have to do anything; in fact we can’t.  How strange in a world where we constantly want to do something, that when it comes to eternal salvation, the only “doing” is admitting, believing and committing to following him as best we can.  Due to our humanness it will never be perfect, but we press on and with that ultimate gift of forgiveness, given with grace and full of mercy, we utter those words we often hear when we give our loved ones and friends a gift; “Thank you.”

            And so on a day where a few gifts were given and received, time was spent together, and we remember the reason we have Christmas, I say, “Thank you God for giving us your son as a gift; the ultimate gift who became the sacrifice on our behalf.”

            See you along The Way…

PS-The Lauren Daigle Song “Noel” (Below) is well worth the listen...You may have to "Skip" through the Ad in the beginning.

----------

The pictures are from this afternoon’s family hike with the dogs at Sugar River Forest Preserve-On Christmas Day 2015.

Winter Solstice

            It was the shortest day of the year yesterday; Monday, December 21st.  We’re a land of seasons, here in the Midwest of North America; a temperate climate.  We don’t get the extreme cold like they do at the “poles” of our planet.  Nor do we get the extreme heat like they do around the equator.  Instead we are the recipients of both worlds, both the cold and the warm temperatures; although moderately so, compared to the ends (or middle) of the Earth.  In addition, we also have more of the “in between” spring and autumn weather; the time when the Earth’s tilt, in relation to its revolution, is halfway between its lean toward or away from the sun.  Some explain our seasons by saying our tilt changes, but in reality it’s all about the revolution.  The actual tilt remains the same.  If our tilt changed as we revolved, we’d be stuck in the same season; probably irritatingly so, like an old vinyl record that skips.  I suppose it’s like “two rights make a wrong,” or two factors in an experiment that skews the outcome.  Basically, when all of the scientific jargon is stripped away, it’s the seasons that make life interesting.  It’s the change of seasons that we look forward to.

            And so on this day, the shortest day of the year known as the winter solstice, the sun was scheduled to rise at 7:22 am and set at 4:26 pm.  This was when the sun was expected to rise and set, if you could see it through the steady rain and thick cloud cover.  For two years now we’ve had a cold, snowy winter like those of my youth in Northern Michigan, but not this year; El Niño.  I can’t complain, we’re at least getting the moisture, albeit in the form of rain, but when we go for weeks at a time without seeing the sun, and we couple that with shorter and shorter days, I need to get outside to the woods.  It’s typically hard to get outside this time of the year when it’s dark as I leave for school and dark when I return home.

            I grew up going to the cedar swamps or pines with my Dad and our beagle dogs to hunt snowshoe hares.  At the time, my gun was a little wooden one he had made for me.  When my kids were younger I took them to a friend’s hardwood forest to hunt squirrels and familiarize them to guns, life, death and sitting still in the woods.  They sat with a little wooden gun I had made them.  Not everything that moved was shot.  Most times I observed and let it pass.  I saw deer and red tailed hawks within only a few feet, foxes, coyotes, and of course the squirrels.  What squirrels I did decide to shoot, we ate.  Growing up, it was Mom’s great cooking that filled our palate with mouth watering goodness.  With my own family, we fixed the squirrels in a slow cooker with cream of mushroom soup, potatoes, and carrots.  The words and actions of my then toddler kids became legendary within the ranks of the extended family.  Todd’s response was him holding out his plate and saying point blank, “More squirrel please.”  Jodi simply gave him a sideways look and spit shot out of her mouth, and onto her plate, before taking another bite.  Both were classic responses.  Quite a few years have slipped by since the last time I hunted though, and it was time to head back out.

            Yesterday I got together with a teaching colleague of mine.  We decided to go hunting.  To most it wouldn’t seem like a very big deal, but for Chuck and me, it is something we’ve been talking about for a while.  State land to hunt on in the “Land of Lincoln” is in short supply.  Most land in Illinois is private and often planted in corn or soybean.  Chuck and I headed toward a small portion of land we found that was actually open to the public, to hunt squirrels and cotton-tailed rabbits.  By the time we arrived, the rain had quit, and although there were patches of fog, the temperatures were in the mid 40’s with only a touch of wind.

The Ridge Overlooking the Hollow & River Valley

            We hiked into two different, steep-sided hollows, under a canopy of oaks, walnuts and red cedar, and sat as still as possible looking up into the branches or down into the ravine.  We saw two big bucks, turkeys and bald eagles; but no squirrels.  There were the sounds of drips off the trees but no scurrying squirrels.  Actually that’s not entirely true.  In the second hollow I didn’t sit as still as I could.  I sat for over an hour picking small, sticky burr-seeds off my pants, coat and gloves.  They were everywhere.  I think they were the seeds from the plant known as “tick trefoil.”  Even so, I hunted with my ears while busy with the annoying burrs I had evidently walked into while in route to a log to sit on.  I didn’t hear any sounds of squirrels, but I did hear the crows chasing the eagle with the fish that Chuck did see off to the left of the ridge we were on.

            After sitting for about forty-five minutes in the first ravine and then over an hour in the second ravine, we made our way down into a valley with a winding river.  The scene was beautiful.  The skies were still gray and dark; but with areas of green grass next to grayish-brown bushes and trees, set in front of sapphire-blue water tipped white from rapids and a wall of rock, it was impressive.

            As we walked along the bank, a big gray squirrel finally showed itself and tried running up a walnut tree.  Chuck was able to drop it, and we skinned it out right there.  I like to look at hunting as a harvest.  I enjoy nature; in fact I thrive on it.  I also like to partake of it from time to time with an occasional meal of fish or red meat.  So if I decide to catch and keep, or pull the trigger, I try to do it as respectfully as possible.  It is a gift that should not be taken lightly.  

Chuck with a Bushy-Tailed Gray Squirrel

From there we continued up river until we came to the edge of another wooded area lined with thick brush.  Chuck spotted a cottontail moving into the thicket, and after waiting a moment for a clear shot, I downed it.  We cleaned it out right there as well.  It had a lot of meat on it.  I rinsed it off, along with my hands, in the river and then we started the hike back.  We walked through a thick, marshy area to see if we could kick up some other rabbits, to no avail, before heading back up through the hills to my Jeep.

Cotton Tailed Rabbit

Making use of Moving Water

            We spent well over six hours in the woods and lowland, enjoying periods of talking, periods of walking, and periods of the kind of silence only nature can provide.  We each gained some meat that we will cook as a meal later this winter.  Although it was a rather dark and dreary day afield, it provided us the chance to get out, the chance to hunt, and the chance to be in the woods and share the experience together.  It’s a day known as the shortest day of the year, the winter solstice, and thankfully the days will now grow longer and lighter from here on out.

            See you along The Way…