On this May 12, treachery is about. I wake this morning with the first light of dawn, and I see the telltale signs that winter has attempted a coup while we rested. She crept back with her weakened forces and attempted insurgence on our valley under cloak of darkness: a solid line of demarcation …
The First Flowers of Spring
Twelve thousand men were in serious trouble, despite the onset of spring in 1778. The Continental Army was already in dire straits after several brutalizing defeats through the autumn of 1777. Most lacked uniforms, and some walked barefoot, wrapping rags around their frozen feet. They were sorely in …
White Death and Wiley Coyote
"The White Death is loose," I said to the girls as I stepped in to our log home from the moonlit night. It was a nightly ritual. We turn Jackie, our seasoned veteran Great Pyrenees dog free from her run most nights. She and Allie Shacker, our young Pyr, have the run of the ranch after dark. They …
How to Capture Wild Protein
Ted, my older rancher-turned-butcher friend, handed me the white package, as we wrapped up business in his spotless cutting shop. His apron still had some telltale marks of his trade, the color red slightly Jackson Pollock-ed across the canvas of his white cotton frontispiece. "What's this, …
Secret Springs of the Beef Road
Little Hat Monkeyflower Springs. It's what my two girls, my trail partners for today, called the secret place where ice cold clear water bubbled out of the steep mountainside the rugged trail traversed. In the heat of that July day, we slid off our sweaty mounts, and grabbed our cups and canteens …
On Planting Apples
Even though I only have one grandchild so far, I find myself fervently hoping my grandkids will like Honeycrisp apples. I swing the pick high overhead and bring it down, business end striking the soil like steel on flint. Daylight has long since faded as I have already planted 9 starts in the …