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Too Much in Common

Posted by Scott Stowell on January 30, 2019 | Add new comment

Per capita, small-town residents know more fellow residents than city dwellers know their community members. While perspectives and political issues are conscious choices, by and large, a sense of community seeps into hearts and minds of small-town folk without decision or weighing the benefits. On the edge of the wilderness, it’s a subconscious necessity that just happens.

The principle extends to a variety of elements in life. For instance, it helps us regulate behaviors like road rage.

The Truth about Magic

Posted by Scott Stowell on December 24, 2018 | Add new comment

Listen to "The Truth about Magic" audio

I looked right through it. Beyond bedtime on a December 24^th sometime within my first eight or so years of life, I caught them red-handed. My parents, grandparents and great-grandmother had taken over Santa’s responsibilities right there in the living room.

I had gone to bed but wasn’t sleeping even though I wanted to. Considerable holiday enthusiasm and experience had versed me in bedtime protocol: Santa’s arrival is quicker when sleep consumes the night.

Ravens' Hymnal

Posted by Scott Stowell on November 18, 2018 | Add new comment

For the first time in a while, some deer walked near my stand when I was actually there. Seeing them was like a celebrity sighting. Somehow, we closed the gap between our distances in everyday life and I was close enough for a look. I never saw their bodies in-full all at once. But a few windows through the branches offered good views as they walked through. Little did they know I was there. Two does, nice size with healthy hides. If they were bucks, they wouldn’t have been legal. There was too much brush between us for shooting.

The snow keeps no secrets.

Good Hunting?

Posted by Scott Stowell on October 28, 2018 | Add new comment

I met a father, son and labradoodle named “Bo” on the logging road where I deer hunt. They were grouse hunting and I was laying groundwork for deer season. They lived in the Twin Cities, and as hunters will do, we immediately started yakking about the prospects for harvest this year. The dad asked me if deer hunting in the area was any good. My first response was “no” and it wasn’t to keep them from showing up at my deer stand two weeks later.

Initially, my answer was based on what I estimated to be their definition of good deer hunting.

North Woods Memorial

Posted by Scott Stowell on July 16, 2018 | Add new comment

Listen to "North Woods Memorial" broadcast on KAXE

The crying ended and the celebration began. Church was rough.

This was the opposite.

The banquet hall beside the lake spoke to 100 years of weddings, graduations, and Hook & Bullet fundraisers. It was a spacious log structure built to take a licking. Ancient moose antlers adorned the doorsill above the entryway. Framed textile images of boreal landscapes charmed the walls.

Resupply of Optimism

Posted by Scott Stowell on June 28, 2018 | 1 Comment

I’m fortunate to know some people coming up from behind who wear their hearts on their sleeves. There’s the team at Ely Outfitting Company where I drive shuttles in summer. My job is to transport paddlers and their outdoor gear to and from wilderness entry points in the Boundary Waters. The work also doubles as a great way to collect ideas for stories. But with these co-workers, their energy and optimism are the story.

Garden Grunt

Posted by Scott Stowell on May 19, 2018 | Add new comment

There’s a certain pleasure in being grunt labor for a garden. For one, it doesn’t involve much thinking. My wife, DyAnne, is the gardener in our family and she works out the math behind the plants. Occasionally, I’ll throw in a suggestion about fertilizer. I’d like to think I’m somewhat versed in piling it higher and deeper.

For another, I get to mess with power tools and play in the dirt. We got a new tiller that required assembly. I’m an instruction-follower, but I don’t know why.

Fiction Comes from Somewhere

Posted by Scott Stowell on April 17, 2018 | Add new comment

Quality art is meant to be experienced in perpetuity. The good stuff unfailingly renders deeper elements that might have previously gone unnoticed, do well to experience again or offer significance to the context of our current circumstances. Such is the case with the television series Northern Exposure.

My wife, DyAnne, and I just finished our annual Northern Exposure party. It’s a weekend-long affair that began as a single-day event with family when the series was in its heyday.

Act Your Age: The Rivalry Runs Deep

Posted by Scott Stowell on February 09, 2018 | 1 Comment

So, I’m in a bar. Billy’s to be exact. It’s a family kind of place, warm, welcoming, spacious and in the country. It’s also the finish line for the John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon that ended last week. Billy’s features outstanding food and servers almost as fun as a young man I met.

The final dog team had arrived and Billy’s was packed with mushers, handlers, race officials, volunteers, and fans like my wife and me.

Careful with Your Carcass

Posted by Scott Stowell on January 02, 2018 | 1 Comment

Holiday trimmings aren’t just décor at our house. In keeping with the holiday spirit, we occasionally share food trimmings from the bones of animals who gave themselves to us with our neighbor ravens. Now that the holidays have wrapped up, we’d like to think the ravens had a bountiful season from our yard.

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