Author Archives: Alan Kesselheim

Grasshopper Creek

Five years now this tradition of Memorial Day paddling has gone on. Every year, we pick three rivers, many of them only floatable for a brief interlude each summer, and a group of us go paddle them, camping between. Fifteen … Continue reading

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Takin’ A Walk

Less than a block from my front door I run into a neighbor, clumping down the sidewalk in one of those surgical boots. He tells me he’s had three foot surgeries in the past year, and that now his entire … Continue reading

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Rain

What is it about a rainstorm that draws me out the front door onto the porch to watch it wash down? It pelts the road like buckshot, gathering, rivering, heeding gravity into streams and pools. Everything glistens and moves and … Continue reading

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Spring Break Retirement Tour

Marypat and I were trying to figure how many times we’d gone to Utah over spring break. Has to be 15-20 since the early 80s. Canyonlands, Grand Gulch, Dark Canyon, Green River, Colorado River, San Juan River, Dirty Devil River, … Continue reading

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Mary Oliver

We’ve lost Mary Oliver; her pure and rampant voice comprised of simple observation, curiosity, and a kind of rapture based on wonderment. Not surprisingly, she said it best. When Death Comes When death comes like the hungry bear in autumn: … Continue reading

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Must Be Winter in Montana

This past Friday I decided to go paddling. We hadn’t seen snow in a couple of weeks, the temps were topping out in the high 30s and low 40s.Skiing around town was crusty and thin. I invited a friend I’d … Continue reading

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Voyages

What do you say when a relative announces that he has an apartment available in Hawaii whenever you want to come visit? In our case, we said we’ll be there in December, before the Christmas rush. We drove to Seattle … Continue reading

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This Schizophrenic Time

It hits me about a mile up the trail along the Lamar River in Yellowstone National Park. We pause there on the way to the Cache Creek junction. Utter quiet. Nothing stirs. Light snow falls from a gray sky. Specimen … Continue reading

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The Practice of Wandering

Mary Oliver wrote: “I don’t know exactly what a prayer is. I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass, how to be idle and blessed, how to … Continue reading

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Letter To The Editor

I am a writer. I take it personally when President Trump echoes fellow authoritarians, Joseph Stalin and Chairman Mao, and calls the media “the enemy of the people.” It is no accident that job one on the authoritarian “to-do” list … Continue reading

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