I had two of my four bags on the platform when the train started to move. The third duffle clipped the closing door as I chucked it. It ended up under the train. Jumping, I faired slightly better myself, decking hard on the concrete station floor with the backpack. I came up rolling, Read More

“Pile of deer, by the big juniper…” whispered Steven from behind his binoculars. “Yep. There’s at least two bedded above them and to the right.” I whispered back, also glassing the opposite slope. After a slow start to the morning, we’d spotted this band of deer from a mile down canyon. Through the spotting, Read More

I lived in a big sprawling metropolis for a number of years after college.  For most of that time my commute – 20 miles: 45 to 120 minutes depending on traffic – was the defining element of each day.  One Thursday, 3 days before Christmas, during a snow storm and the afternoon rush, a, Read More

19th century mystic Sri Kamakrishna once said, “Do not seek enlightenment unless you seek it as the man whose hair is on fire seeks the pond.” So I’ll refrain here from trying to make sense of the adventure drive – no anecdotes drawing connections between challenge and satisfaction; no essays muddling through the allure, Read More

  I didn’t see it coming, until it hit me like a freight train. The Yeti is to sportsmen what the Rolex is to suburban businessmen. In what seems like overnight, Yeti Coolers have become the new status symbol for hunters and anglers. Yeti managed to make coolers cool. I’ll admit, I fell for it too., Read More

Sips are great, those matter-of-fact top water takes – no wasted motion, no unnecessary airtime. They’re discreet, business-like and well-mannered. You can almost imagine a trout dabbing his lips with a napkin after a sip. Slurps are fun too, partly because they seem so mischievous, like opening a trapdoor under a pizza. The bug, Read More

Steven’s been running. As his friend, this worries me. It’s out of character. And arriving as it does hot on the heels of his move to Bozeman, I can’t help but wonder what other lifestyle shifts I’ve missed. Does he do hot yoga now too? Has he retained a veterinary herbalist for the dogs?, Read More

Laying down a cast, I heard my buddy straining to hold his three year old daughter over the gunwale. She had to pee. Bad. Most of the urine made it to the water. Some splashed on cold beers that had been placed nearby. My friend had had enough time to remove the beers from the cooler,, Read More

The best teams all have one, the guy who finds a different gear on game day. Sure, he goes hard in practice too, but when things get real, he’s just a different animal. We’re not talking about ‘apples and oranges’. You might as well compare pineapples and hand-grenades. He’s a gamer. It’s fundamental, not, Read More

We all have our routines. Some consider those routines to be vices. Either way they are important. I’m a coffee drinker – not occasionally, not when I can get my hands on a cup, not if you happen to have it. Rather an every day, first thing in the morning coffee drinker. The black, Read More