Category Archives: Uncategorized

Collisions with the future

Posted on May 10, 2016 by Jerry Johnson

Life is a series of collisions with the future; it is not the sum of what we have been, but what we yearn to be.             – José Ortega y Gasset (1883-1955), Spanish philosopher and essayist, author of Meditations on … Continue reading →

Posted in Hometowns, Uncategorized | Tagged | 2 Comments

A writer’s role

Posted on March 18, 2016 by Jerry Johnson

One of the roles of a true writer is to bring all the gifts of their being to the task of creating art which though conscious of history and artistic tradition demands that you attend to how it feels to … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized, Writing | Tagged | 2 Comments

Library support

Posted on March 9, 2016 by Jerry Johnson

Thanks to all the readers of the Old Coot who attended the February book signing for my latest book, Coot Stews, with proceeds going to Friends of the Decorah Public Library. Royalties check arrived yesterday, and today FDPL received a donation … Continue reading →

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Doo-doo diligence

Posted on March 8, 2016 by Jerry Johnson

March is the month of pooh patrol. Doo-doo duty. Poop scoopin’. Crap collection. Dung drudgery. Shyte shoveling. Manure maintenance. Doo diligence. Call it what you will, it’s the labor of cleaning up all the piles of dog poop that have … Continue reading →

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Late winter doldrums

Posted on March 3, 2016 by Jerry Johnson

No animal, according to the rules of animal-etiquette, is ever expected to do anything strenuous, or heroic, or even moderately active during the off-season of winter.      – from The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame (1859-1932), British writer … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized, winter | Tagged | 4 Comments

Hush

Posted on February 16, 2016 by Jerry Johnson

  There is a way that nature speaks, that land speaks. Most of the time we are simply not patient enough, quiet enough, to pay attention to the story.           – Linda K. Hogan (b. 1947), … Continue reading →

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Valorcats

Posted on February 8, 2016 by Jerry Johnson

 …our goal as scientists working in this field is not to create monsters or to induce ecological catastrophe but to restore interactions between species and preserve biodiversity.   — from How to Clone a Mammoth – The Science of De-Extinction … Continue reading →

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Snow trout

Posted on February 5, 2016 by Jerry Johnson

The fish and I were both stunned and disbelieving to find ourselves connected by a line. – from The Armchair Angler by William Humphrey (1924-97), American novelist Fish are, of course, indispensable to the angler. They give him an excuse … Continue reading →

Posted in Fly Fishing, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Below zero

Posted on January 13, 2016 by Jerry Johnson

Winter in the North Country can be bitterly cold, but it is also a season of great beauty, a source of aesthetic nourishment for the mind and soul. Below zero Winter in the North Country is a season of wonder … Continue reading →

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Coot Stews

Posted on January 2, 2016 by Jerry Johnson

Obscurity and a competence — that is the life that is best worth living.      – Mark Twain (1835-1910), American writer and humorist Coot Stews Mark Twain would admire the “competent and obscure” life I have achieved. A one-trick … Continue reading →

Posted in Coot Stews, Uncategorized | Tagged | 3 Comments