“No man should work for what another man can print.” @jack mallers
I don't know if I want to improve. I want to deepen. I want to look deeper into the mystery. Grow down into this earth like the roots of a red oak. Be here now. Improvement is maybe for the first half of life. The second half about decay, deepening, and moving towards the Eternal. Photo of the Bean Brook on the mail trail at Noon on 12.10.25. image
I don't know if I want to improve. I want to deepen. I want to look deeper into the mystery. Grow down into this earth like the roots of a red oak. Be here now. Improvement is maybe for the first half of life. The second half about decay, deepening, and moving towards the Eternal.
The mail trail. Tranus Lake Rd. Afternoon clouds breaking to bring below zero weather. 12.11.25 image
GM! It's 5:45 AM. I've been up since 4:15. No alarm clock. My body gets me up. It's just below zero out there. The snow quit falling yesterday morning. When I got home from delivering mail and loading my mom's wood stove I blew snow and plowed it. It was soft, easy to work with. It was dark. It's always dark when I'm not working on workdays. I had a powerful headlamp on, so I could see what I was doing. About 8 PM I shut the tractor off, and called it a day. Then it's run, stretch, lift light weights to keep this body fit. I eventually sat down for dinner at 9:30 PM. The rest of the family there as always. I'm lucky in that regard. It's good to be together with people you love on cold, dark days. Back to this morning. I was interrupted in my morning meditation. Sadie, the cat, climbed the Christmas Tree with about two minutes left in my sit. I thought I could sit through it. The gnawing of plastic needles and maybe the electric cord got to me though. So I got up, grabbed the spray bottle, and before I could shoot a stream of water at her she was out of the tree. I took a couple shots at her on the run. Didn't need to, but I did anyway. Just like that she goes from the great forgetting to the great remembering. Did she know better? I don't think so. Did she think she was getting away something? I don't think so. I think her desire got the best of her. It's easy to forget when that happens. I assume this because I have desires too. And have done things I probably shouldn't have done. Morning Fire 61 12.11.25 image
Jack pine looking over the Bean Brook. 12.8.25 image
GM. I'm in front of morning fire 60. It's 6:15. Anxious. There has to be over 6" of fresh snow out there. I haven't been out there since I ran in it last night. With the headlamp on it was hard to see. It was coming down hard. Nothing I haven't been through before. This might be my 17th winter delivering mail. I quit keeping track. Hoping for no breakdowns. And thankful for good snow tires, 4 wheel drive, and patience. Hope you have a great day! 12.10.25 image