I recently celebrated my bachelor party in Minnesota’s Arrowhead region. As a part of the trip, we paddled 5.5 miles down the Little Fork River. The Little Fork River is a north woods river through-and-through. It’s remote and beautiful. We did not see or hear another soul during our time on or near the river. Even traffic on the bridges over the river was very sparse. There were only a few homes and farms along this route. The river’s flow rate was only scrapable during our trip, but we forced the issue since it was my bachelor party. It was a bit of a risk: “Scrapable” for the Little Fork is 100 cfs or less, and we’d be trying it at 50 cfs. Would there be many portages? Would everyone be miserable? I wanted my friends to experience my favorite outdoor activity, but the risk of a day full carrying canoes and kayaks over water only a couple inches deep would ruin it. We decided to give it a whirl. Normally I head up and plan my kayaking trips. On this trip I abdicated that responsibility to my soon-to-be father-in-law. He did a great job finding us a scenic part…Continue reading A bachelor party in the North Country (and the Little Fork River)
A short trip on the Crow Wing River
Along with my soon-to-be father-in-law and fiancé, I took a short, half-day trip on Minnesota ’s Crow Wing River. We were on a camping trip in Park Rapids, Minnesota and needed an easy trip to keep us occupied. I researched this map and we settled on a 5.5 mile trip. We put in at the Anderson’s Crossing, just below mile marker 71 and landed at the bridge in Nimrod. To launch out of Anderson’s Crossing, drive north out of Nimrod on County Road 14. About three miles north of the town, you’ll see a sign for Anderson’s Crossing. Turn right and you’ll follow a bumpy, curving dirt road 1.5 miles until you reach the country campground on the river. The campground was big enough to support at least five different groups of campers with no problem. It does have outhouses. The county maintains the campground and even provides campers with complimentary firewood. The Crow Wing is one of Minnesota’s so called Minnesota State Water Trails. Whether county, state, or federal, these trails are made with thru-paddlers in mind. Because of this, the rivers have abundant public campgrounds. On the Crow Wing, there’s some sort of public campground at least every seven…Continue reading A short trip on the Crow Wing River
An Independence Day homily on simplicity and eternity
The longtime pastor at my church retired a few years ago. The new pastor is a wonderful man I’ve grown fond of and close to. The old pastor still occasionally says mass. Two weeks ago, his homily struck me with a force that rarely occurs to me. Short on deep theology but long on meaning, I asked him for a copy–which I’ve posted below. I think the homily was especially meaningful as I move through an increasingly stressful and busy season of life. I am obsessed with the idea of simplifying (in everything), but I nonetheless continue to overcomplicate life…as time marches on. Here’s the text of the homily: “Tis a Blessing to Be Simple” At about the time America was becoming a nation, a small religious movement, the Shakers, was coming to these shores. If you know about the Shakers, you may feel some of their ideas were odd. But they got one thing very right; they believed in being simple. They produced furniture that is still imitated today because of its elegant simplicity. So, too, with their poetry and their music; they had a genius for finding the beauty that dwells in simplicity. The hymn for which they…Continue reading An Independence Day homily on simplicity and eternity
How I lost over 17 pounds in five days
I’m going to explain the method I used to drop 17 pounds here, but first a caveat. This is not the way to lose weight for aesthetics. If you want to look good, the method I outline below is not the best way to lose weight. That’s because the vast majority of the weight I lost doing this was just water weight. You’ll see below how much and how fast I put the weight back on. This method can be helpful for combat sports, weightlifting competitions, and bodybuilding. You could also use this method for the last few days before a photoshoot, but you better already be lean going in. In the Fall of 2015, I competed in my first powerlifting competition. The competition was nine days after Thanksgiving, so it was not ideal for cutting weight. Thanksgiving is a high holiday to those of us in the North Country. And while you could definitely have a big eating day on Thanksgiving and make weight nine days later, I made the rookie mistake of letting my “It’s Thanksgiving” excuse bleed over into the Friday, Saturday, and (gulp) Sunday after Thanksgiving. Sunday night — 214 On that Sunday, I feasted on…Continue reading How I lost over 17 pounds in five days