Roland's Campfire Culture Archives - 2007
January 2, 2007
It pains me to share with you this critical piece of information: You can't always trust what you read. If you read it here, however, it'll be because I'm flat mistaken. I'll apologize now so my failure won't get in the way later on.
January 9, 2007
It was a little over 22 years ago when I first penciled the following column on the back of wadded-up scrap paper, using my saddlehorn for a writing desk. . . .
January 16, 2007
You go to sleep right after you're born, live 60, 70, maybe even 80 years, wake up and find you've seen a bunch and done a bunch, but don't know a thing.
January 23, 2007
Forget all the tripe about one must write in order to become a writer. Bull pucky! There's but one guarantee that a person will become a writer and that's when that person cannot NOT write.
January 30, 2007
Any red-blooded masculine male who lusted for a field hunting companion should've had grave reservations about bringing home a three-months-old pup from the hyper-wild bitch, sired by the fraidy cat daddy. . . .
February 6, 2007
I discovered there's no way to measure desire and heart by merely eyeballing the guy. And what about his love for the unsullied beauty of the land? Where's the measuring cup to judge that?
February 13, 2007
Half the hunters passing through our camps wanted to take her home with them. Their problem was that they had to get in line -- and I have no intention of trading her in for a new model.
February 20, 2007
They claimed their tipi was the ticket for spending a week in the wilds, and when Stan and I arrived the evening before carrying the guys and their gear back to civilization it seemed they had a right to brag.
February 27, 2007
I glanced back down the runway at Western Hanover's stall-- at the horse who'd brought Hanover Farms millions at winner's circles. What an abused animal -- no swimming pool!
March 6, 2007
Am I somehow short of a full deck by assuming we'll solve our illegal alien problem when the last of America's jobs flees off-shore?
March 13, 2007
March was the "Hunger Moon" to the Indians, a time of hardship and want, not only for themselves but for most of the wild creatures sharing the land with them.
March 20, 2007
If the cavemen enjoyed the benefits of healthy living, why were they so short lived?
March 27, 2007
Jane says I should put my money on dogs. She says dogs show old guys like me more affection than girls.
April 3, 2007
My generation has it better than the one before. And the next will have it even better because . . . .
April 10, 2007
I don't remember when I first began losing the ability to hear a rattlesnake's whirr . . . but I clearly recall when I discovered it!
April 17, 2007
Chris Christensen's "Valhalla" differs considerably from his Danish ancestors. His is a rattlesnake den.
April 24, 2007
When we train a dog to shake hands, do we really think Rover does so because he's happy to see us? He does not. Given his choice, he'd much rather lick us in the chops.
May 1, 2007
Some people think one book is all anyone needs. Those who hijacked airplanes and flew them into tall buildings on Sept. 11 belonged to such a group.
May 8, 2007
Mothers live and love and share and care, and their kids achievements have little to do with quantifying their own love for them.
May 15, 2007
Bruno's parents were Jerka and Joze. They were of Slovenian origin by way of the Italian Alps. But Austria laid claim, Switzerland hosted, and Germany preempted him.
May 22, 2007
Biologists from four nations pursued him, journalists and photographers lusted after him, and hordes of townfolk ached simply to see him.
May 29, 2007
The similarities between European Bruno and his American grizzly bear cousins is stunning.
June 5, 2007
I'm a skeptic when it comes to the supernatural--if I can't see it or hear it or smell it or feel it, my logical side says it ain't there.
June 12, 2007
The Chinese invented both silk and gunpowder. Silk was profitable, so they kept its secret. Gunpowder they gave to the first European who chanced by.
June 19, 2007
I admire today's trend of families engaging in outdoors adventure together. And I'd like to go back and do more of it with our family....
June 26, 2007
I find it repulsive to read of children starving, then pick up a real estate brochure and see how far the very rich of our time are obsessing with their wealth.
July 3, 2007
One's patriotism is, in the final analysis, a personal thing. I choose to think it's all part of MY contract with MY MAKER.
July 10, 2007
My kids cannot recollect life before television; their kids can't imagine how civilization existed before computers.
July 17, 2007
My point? I don't know the answer to most questions. Which is why I'm wondering how God does it.
July 24, 2007
An open scaffold on a hilltop where, after I'm dead, I can ogle my beloved mountains and all their creatures has a nice ring to it....
July 31, 2007
None of the folks you think of as outdoors giants had much expertise when they first ventured into the unknown
August 7, 2007
God wasn't there! He'd jumped out minutes before!
August 14, 2007
What happened to Smokey the Bear?
August 21, 2007
Backpack: Medieval torture device; holdover from the Spanish Inquisition. Used sparingly, the device hurts but little . . . .
August 28, 2007
The DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE targeted the important stuff -- the same important stuff the ancients targeted. May God help us stay focused.
September 11, 2007
It's much easier to destroy than to construct. Just ask the administrator who practices destruction under the guise of doing the public good.
September 18, 2007
"Ain't no wonder we can't find elk," Kenny said, leaning across his saddle's horn and staring at the lost horses.
September 25, 2007
I was, am, and always will be a hunter. But I believe the prey should have a chance.
October 2, 2007
I've seen some drastic weather changes during a lifetime outdoors. A few could've been fatal. A couple nearly were.
October 9, 2007
The maddened bull came with a rush, breaking cover only forty feet away.
October 16, 2007
Tell the truth, hunting dogs need more than big breakfasts on opening day to supply the energy they need.
October 23, 2007
No hunter worth his salt will abandon the search for a wounded animal until every avenue is exhausted.
October 30, 2007
Our
flimsy tents were pitch in the middle of a Hansel and Gretel forest of gloomy spurce trees, each of which cast three-foot shadows during a witch's moon.
November 6, 2007
Raised in rural Oregon, transplanted to Montana, I'm a westerner, and was, for several years, an outfitter and guide in the Bob Marshall Wilderness. A hunter? Yes.
November 13, 2007
We did several things wrong, and survival may have been more tenuous than I'm willing yet to admit. . . .
November 20, 2007
We have a lot to be thankful for, especially that we weren't there for that first Thanksgiving. We'd ought to be thankful, though, that SOMEBODY was there!
November 27, 2007
It was back on November 27, 1954 when I said "I do" and she said "I do" and our shared journey began. We began married life without a clue.
December 4, 2007
Like Midas, I have a touch . . . sort of. But mine's more in reverse. Instead of gold, most things I touch turn to . . . well, it ain't good.
December 18, 2007
If receiving gifts were were the point of Christmas, we'd all soon give it up -- who needs another gold-and-black-striped tie?
December 25, 2007
I'm just naturally skeptical of people who pretend they have few (or no) bad habits. Way I figure, I skin out close to average.