Knowledge is Freedom
She stands on the end of the dock and looks out at the calm, early morning lake.  The others have not woken up yet so she stands there alone.  She stands there alone while the loons call to one another and the songbirds welcome the Sun and she stands there alone. She feels the warmth of the rising Sun on her face and she knows that the coolness in the air will be gone within a few hours, replaced by a humidity Minnesotans know well and dread.  Her soul will not let her mind be still.  The morning is calm, but her mind is not. Clarity lifts her soul and her mind reluctantly realizes it must follow, although the path will not be without pain.  Her life is not

Give PolyMet a Chance
The Friends of the Boundary Waters have recently begun touting their new anti-mining video that they have produced in response to the freshly released PolyMet Mining EIS.  As my own response to the PolyMet EIS, I have decided to break my writing block and begin a short series in support of PolyMet.  Give me a voice.  A voice to stand up and defend attacks upon my character and the character of my mining colleagues.  Give me a chance.  A chance to show that I value Mother Nature and the resources she has provided, both renewable and non. Give me a moment.  A moment to illustrate all that has changed in mining technologies within the past ten y

The Significance of Insignificance
I held onto his wing as tightly as I dared.  Attempting to be gentle in my grasp, but firm in my positioning as we quietly and quickly attempted to free his feathers from the mud that had held him captive.  We marvelled at his strength even in this moment of vulnerability and weakness.  His lone functioning eye looked towards us as we brainstormed strategies to clean him up, dry him off and warm his tired body so that he could take flight and soar overhead once again. His other eye, clouded with a cataract, stared into nothingness. For a brief Friday afternoon of our lives we had been entrusted by Nature to protect and nurse the Creation.  For a brief F

The Reluctant Carnivore
Matt and I went out in the woods grouse hunting this beautiful, warm, sunny Fall morning.  Let me rephrase that.  Matt went grouse hunting this morning; I merely existed to unintentionally impede his success.  He hoisted his 12-gauge over his shoulder, donned a blaze orange vest with enough ammunition to wipe out a small village of grouse and walked along vewy, vewy quietly (or would Elmer Fudd say quietwy?).  I tagged along gamely, attempting to not scare off any potential “provisions for winter” by kicking at the crunchy red leaves or by randomly blurting out thoughts that popped into my easily distracted, overly-caffeinated mind.  R

“Put me in coach, I’m ready to play today” – John Fogerty
The young man kicked at the sand in the dugout with the toe of his cleat and looked over.  “Put me in Coach, please.  I can’t handle sitting on the bench.  I’ve been picking out slivers here since May.” The coach glanced away.  “Sorry kid.  You’ll be riding the pine until April.” “But Coach, I don’t understand.  I’m just as good as those other guys on the field.  In fact, I play just as well as them but cost the men with the pocketbooks less money.  No disrespect sir, but why aren’t you using me instead of them and saving some cha-ching?”  The slugger was calm on the outside, but