SKY GAZING The Isolation Blues; reflections during covid-19 early days of autumn the early days of autumn are a mild marker of hard change just ahead we know what that means and even when you know it’s coming it doesn’t…
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PORTLAND FOUNDRY COOKSTOVE The Isolation Blues; reflections during covid-19 The last two months I’ve been “wooding-it” around our place; the practice of splitting, stacking and organizing the wood supply for the upcoming heating season. In our case that’s only about 4…
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SQUIRREL WARS The Isolation Blues; reflections during covid-19 Our farmhouse is located just up the hill from the cabin and sits in the middle of three and a half acres of Norway spruce trees (picea abies) planted back in 1988 by…
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ROGUE BEAVER DAMN The Isolation Blues; reflections during covid-19 The beaver have damned the river again by our place on the north branch. (This is not the first time.) It seems to make no difference that their overly ambitious plans…
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FEAR AND LOATHING The Isolation Blues; reflections during covid-19 Well…shit, what can I say? Objective journalism is a hard thing to come by these days. We all yearn for it, but who can point the way? As for me, my doctor says…
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BLACK BEARS The Isolation Blues; reflections during covid-19 Linda and I were sitting at our little red bistro table in front of the house one evening a couple of weeks ago eating some Ben & Jerry’s ice cream (Cherry Garcia,…
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SMALL SOCIETY The Isolation Blues; reflections during covid-19 “big yellow” Summer Highway The summer days are leisurely paced if left to themselves day lilies opening to the sky humming birds making their regular rounds sunshine bathing the environs below but…
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JOHN LEWIS; GOOD TROUBLE The Isolation Blues; reflections during covid-19 When you see something that is not right, you must say something. You must do something. Democracy is not a state. It is an act, and each generation must do…
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LINDA The Isolation Blues; reflections during covid-19 When I met Linda in the summer of 2000 my “north woods recluse” days came to an abrupt and timely end. After ten years of going it solo I was ready to share my place alongside the Meduxnekeag…
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NORTH WOODS RECLUSE The Isolation Blues; reflections during covid-19 Some people try to avoid isolation at all costs (indeed, we are social creatures), so the coronavirus induced stay-at-home model has been a challenge for many. On my part, I’ve been an intentional isolationist…