Cabin by the Pond

About the Book

BOOK DESCRIPTION “Cabin by the Pond” takes the reader on a wilderness journey through the seasons. The main mode of travel is the canoe, but the reader will find the occasional footpath or roadway leads to a journey of discovery and enjoyment. Winter is a time of bitter cold amid the frozen beauty of a snowfall. But city snow is no fun to play in. Spring brings the time of snowmelt and renewal. Night paddling on a northern lake, watching the auroras, braving the hoards of mosquitoes are the pleasures of summer. While autumn offers time for reflection and the changing season prepares one for the new winter. The chapter “Urban Interlude” plays counterpoint to the beauty of wilderness. A brief prose piece, “An Old Log Cabin in Quetico”, introduces the inspiration for the book’s title. Several photographs illustrate poems in the book. While one can be enthralled by the beauty of the natural world the author gives balance with descriptions of the winter and summer storms and the predator/prey relationship. And as George can ooh and awe with the spectacle of the auroras, he is an experienced woodsman who has survived the full brunt of several wild country storms, three most recently, that with seventy mile an hour winds nearly took him and his tent to Oz.

About the Author

I began my outdoor adventures as a youth visiting the Chicago shores of Lake Michigan. As a college cross country runner I did much of my training along those same shores. I began taking wilderness canoe trips in the early 1970’s. My hobby of outdoor photography began at the same time. I began writing poetry about canoe country during a June trip in 1975 on the Poets chain of lakes in Quetico. That first piece was a frivolous bit, ”Ode to Pierre’s Fish Mix”, inspired by a seasonal ritual. My first serious venture, The Last Portage”, came a few weeks later.