NEW NAME Backwoods Blog; in the woods and on the road… It’s hard to believe that it has now been two years since the coronavirus pandemic changed the world as we knew it. When I reflect on those early days of…
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WINTER TRIP The Isolation Blues; reflections during covid-19 My father told me a story years ago about the time he took a load of grain to the grist mill in Houlton during the 1920s on a cold winter day. I wrote the story up at the time,…
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COFFEE & GASOLINE The Isolation Blues; reflections during covid-19 When I’m on a long road trip I gotta have a good coffee plan in place. Since I can’t afford to let my caffeine levels drop too far below my daily norm…
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DUMPING POTATOES The Isolation Blues; reflections during covid-19 When my father was once asked if he was a gambling man he responded by saying, “Well, I’ve never been to Atlantic City or Vegas but I play the mercantile exchange every day.” As a business…
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JACK KEROUAC The Isolation Blues; reflections during covid-19 Two blocks away we saw the blood-red neons of some bar and restaurant winking against the distant brownbrick of its building with subsidiary blue moons of neons that said SEAFOOD, STEAKS, CHOPS, saw it agitating with a comfortable little…
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WINTER MAINTENANCE The Isolation Blues; reflections during covid-19 As snow mounts up in the middle of winter one of the basic backwoods maintenance jobs is shoveling the roof of any structure that holds a snow load. For us, that includes the cabin,…
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WENDELL BERRY The Isolation Blues; reflections during covid-19 Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front Wendell Berry Love the quick profit, the annual raise, vacation with pay. Want more of everything ready-made. Be afraid to know your neighbors and to die.…
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SNOWFALL RECORDS The Isolation Blues; reflections during covid-19 Around these parts nothing gets a conversation started any better than, “How much snow do you think we’ve had so far this year?” While it’s usually best to avoid topics involving politics, religion or your…
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SKI TRIP The Isolation Blues; reflections during covid-19 Journal entry; January 22, 2022 (Saturday) I’ve decided to do a one-day retreat at the cabin today and do a little skiing. It was minus 27 degrees this morning (the coldest day of the year thus…
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RIVER & SKIS The Isolation blues; reflections during covid-19 I’ve been waiting patiently for the river to freeze-up and with the recent temps consistently in negative numbers it is a fait accompli. Although skiing and snowshoeing on a winter river can be a bit un-nerving…