I’m reading a very good book called “Into the Wild” by Jon Kraukauer, which chronicles Chris McCandless, an adventurer who sought a simple life of solitude that did not end well in the Alaskan wilderness. The novel has been good reading on a winter’s day snuggled up in my living […]
Beth Caldwell – The View From Here
To contact Beth, email her at caldwellandcompany@gmail.com
I fell in love with snowshoeing in 1972 when I was 12 years old. I loved the activity most because it was something we always did together as a family. The wooden “Beavertail” snowshoes with leather belted bindings were too big, and my winter boots often got stuck in the […]
“Drive south until the butter melts.” I heard that saying last week for the first time, and I dare say I was charmed by the enticing “get in your car and go” imagery it evoked. I could use a warm little holiday like that right about now. Heaven knows if […]
So here we are in the deep freeze dungeon of mid-January, when exposed skin can freeze in five minutes. The cold bears down upon us like a giant lead blanket and it will not be moved. Cars left too long outside in this abominable deep freeze either don’t start at […]
“Not what you have, but what you use. Not what you see, but what you choose. Not what seems fair, but what is true. “Not what you dream, but what you do. Not what you take, but what you give. Not as you pray, but as you live. “These are […]
“Millie” the cat has been living here for about 13 months and we are joined at the hip. It’s been a rewardingly mutual friendship thus far, and her life in this neck of the woods has been luxurious to say the least. This much I know is true. If I […]
This particular column and I have been dancing partners for many months. We have tangoed and waltzed together, and I dare say met each other on painful ballet tippy toes. This column is precious to me because it’s the closing number on what has been a very powerful ocean of […]
Just when I think I’ve lost my way, life gives me a little something to work with and the clear message that I need to take a deep breath and step outside of what I think is safe. Sometimes I just have to believe. I was sitting in a local […]
Sometimes writer’s block is an unexpected and unsavory visitor in my neck of the woods. And yet when it arrives, I am compelled to welcome that dried-up guest honorably. It is usually clearing me out for some new delight. Last week it happened to be cookies. Of course, I ate […]
I ruminated for six days on the contents of this column and came up empty-handed. I went to bed on it, woke up on it, and still nothing. I installed the ritual chocolate and black tea (the best combination since Saturday and Sunday) that are my known catalysts for inspiration, […]
I’ve always considered myself a “northerner.” I’m a hardy soul at home in the elemental outdoors. I grew up loving the open air of the wilderness—and I still do. I also think I would have made a great pioneer woman in the U.S. Midwest, tending to a small little cabin […]
Cat barf. It’s the one globule in this world that I wish I didn’t have to clean up. In fact, I would trade cat barf detail for sifting the solids out of the litter box any day. In my the neck of the woods, cat barf rates right up there […]
