This is where I finally offer a few words on global warming. As I’ve discussed many environmental matters from many different angles here on my little blog, there’s always been a looming giant of an issue waiting in the background. The spectre of something capable of over-running all other aspects of the environment has […]
Read more "Change and Warming (Part 1)"How do you deal with change? This question addresses one of the most fundamental partitions among humans, I think. During my long walks through the eastern mountains, recounted in The Dying Fish, I became painfully aware that, really, it was all change. If there are others who think I’m right about this, then it seems […]
Read more "Warming to Change"Fish are always on the move. Fish move to optimize feeding, to spawn and to evade predators. Too often, fishermen don’t move, going back to favorite fishin’ holes time after time. What’s primary here is to learn to think like nature or like an animal, appreciating seasonal cycles and the import of erratic weather changes. […]
Read more "A Fishing Tip"The Dying Fish is a book about a long walk through the entire eastern U.S. range of the native brook trout. A reader will likely learn all he ever wanted to (and more) about the species as he plods through the 530 page account of the prolonged stream survey and intervening adventures. I’ve written much […]
Read more "In Pursuit of Simplicity and Brookies"Today I’m sharing a short article of mine that ran in several newspapers this winter. While in Minnesota, some of the gentlemen of the North Country Trail Association had described to me the difficulty of introducing their favorite long trail to residents of the towns through which it passed. Though it had […]
Read more "The Long Trail"The photo used here is not my own and, regrettably, I’m unable to find the photographer’s name. In today’s early morning hours, my mother, Joy Keith, passed away. Her days ended at a constant care facility here in Pittsburgh’s North Hills after a long struggle with cancer. She was at peace as she left, ready […]
Read more "She Never Left Home"Can we at least agree that the March for Science was a political demonstration? If you saw any footage or read any of the press coverage, we really ought to be able to agree on this, at least. So, when science becomes a political position, it’s difficult to stand in opposition to it, lest we […]
Read more "Marching in Lock-Step with Science"Yes. I mean it. If you want to experience adventure, see more wildlife, push your fitness to the limit or maybe just catch more fish, break all the rules. If you want to experience all that the natural world has to offer, then you have to break rules. Featured pack stove by Emberlit I could […]
Read more "Break All the Rules"Pennsylvania is full of wild brook trout and it’s getting better all the time. Pennsylvania became one of the most unexpectedly pleasant states to wander through during my long hikes, as recounted in The Dying Fish. Originally, the tall virgin forests of the mid-Atlantic favored brook trout. They provided ample shade almost everywhere, keeping the […]
Read more "Pennsylvania As Brook Trout Park"Just a quick post on the Armstrong Trail today, probably of interest mostly to western Pennsylvanians. This was where Susan and I just spent a happy Saturday, checking on what’s accessible in the spring of 2017. Like almost all other rail trails, efforts are being made to expand the trail along more disused rail line […]
Read more "A Stretch on the Armstrong"
the dying fish 