Maturity: Be able to stick with a job until it is finished. Be able to bear an injustice without having to get even. Be able to carry money without spending it. Do your duty without being supervised. ~ Ann Landers My friend Susan recently wrote me, "[My daughter] gave me a subscription to National Geographic. I'm finally … Continue reading Wednesday Words on the Wild: Words & Pictures
Author: Camp Host Chad
The Grasshopper Complex: Part I
Two weekends ago in Las Vegas I snapped this picture outside the Container Park: After exploring the park, I noticed this sign on my way out: The first Bug Build Fact "just outside Zion National Park" caught my attention. (For more info on The Mantis, go here.) Days later, while reading this book, during a recap of the story … Continue reading The Grasshopper Complex: Part I
Wednesday Words on the Wild: Spring
To be interested in the changing seasons is a happier state of mind than to be hopelessly in love with spring. ~ George Santayana I am trying not to fall prey to the seduction of spring, honest! Although the wet California winter still delights me, the rain is to be blamed for making everything so distractingly green and vibrant. … Continue reading Wednesday Words on the Wild: Spring
Wednesday Words on the Wild: Rivers
We have an unknown distance yet to run, an unknown river to explore. What falls there are, we know not; what rocks beset the channel, we know not; what walls ride over the river, we know not. Ah, well! we may conjecture many things. ~ John Wesley Powell The river is constantly turning and bending and you … Continue reading Wednesday Words on the Wild: Rivers
Wednesday Words on the Wild: Women
In celebration of International Women's Day, here are some quotes from Isabella L. Bird (later Bishop) who, beginning in the nineteenth-century, forged a career as a writer and explorer: Truly a good horse, good ground to gallop on, and sunshine, make up the sum of enjoyable travelling. I still vote civilization a nuisance, society a humbug and all conventionality … Continue reading Wednesday Words on the Wild: Women
Wednesday Words on the Wild: Parks
The parks do not belong to one state or to one section.... The Yosemite, the Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon are national properties in which every citizen has a vested interest; they belong as much to the man of Massachusetts, of Michigan, of Florida, as they do to the people of California, of Wyoming, and of … Continue reading Wednesday Words on the Wild: Parks
Wednesday Words on the Wild: Fireside
Continuing the contemplative tone begun last week of sitting by a fire (preferably under the stars) and reflecting on the past, present and the future, here are lyrics to a song from J.R.R. Tolkien's Fellowship of the Ring: I sit beside the fire and think of all that I have seen of meadow-flowers and butterflies in summers that have … Continue reading Wednesday Words on the Wild: Fireside
Presidents Day: Happy Birthday G.W.!
Monday, February 20, 2017 is Presidents Day. While plenty of negative talk abounds about what people will not do, the more important question persists: What will you do? Presidents Day honors all our presidents, a consolidation of Abraham Lincoln's birthday (Feb. 12) with George Washington's (Feb. 22) into one holiday, then given an inclusive name to … Continue reading Presidents Day: Happy Birthday G.W.!
Wednesday Words on the Wild: Campfires
Then it was strange to see the notorious desperado, a red-handed man, sleeping as quietly as innocence sleeps. But, above all, it was exciting to lie there, with no better shelter than a bower of pines, on a mountain 11,000 feet high, in the very heart of the Rocky Range, under twelve degrees of frost, … Continue reading Wednesday Words on the Wild: Campfires
Yosemite Park(ing Lot)
While visiting Yosemite last summer, finding a free parking space outside Half Dome Village required a hunt of over an hour. I circled the same aisles dozens - hundreds? - of times. Having risen before dawn and driven five hours to get to the park, I seriously considered turning around and heading home. The purpose of the trip? Realize some small measure of … Continue reading Yosemite Park(ing Lot)
Campfire Tales 