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Last week we went with my two Metamophosis clients and their families up to Carl’s cabin, which I’ve come to call Camp Osprey after the fish-eagles that are always calling from their nest nearby.

This adventure brought us to far northern Minnesota, near the Canadian border, in the heart of the Superior National Forest. While I had some nefarious plans for my clients, we also had time for some other adventures.

This is Rory and I just after a turtle-catching expedition that went bad. The canoe capsized, we landed in viscous mud, and had to drag ourselves and the swamped canoe to shore. We got home shivering, started a fire, and had to clean ourselves with buckets of lake water. Luckily Rebecca and Ashley came to our rescue and did the dousing for us.

A more successful turtle expedition graced us with this little cutie.

There were plenty of dragonflies to rescue from the water. The mosquitoes were bad, so the dragonflies were our friends. They’d swiftly vibrate their wings after they were pulled from the lake in order to dry them off for flight.

Here, Andrew and Ashley stand in front of their shelter, which kept them dry and helped to collect the heat from a specially-designed fire pit they constructed in front of their shelter.

Both Sara and Andrew encountered three experiences I helped to facilitate for them. The first was a situation where they could get ‘lost’, but both were able to utilize their direction-finding skills, including songlines, tracking, and intuitive direction-sense, to find their way home through the tangled forest.

The second was a ‘Vision Quest’ — a day, a night, and a day spent alone in the forest with minimal food and almost no equipment. This was a chance to have some ‘nothing-time’, which is a rare commodity in our culture. They both spent about 30 hours of Just Being in a small area, communing with nature, experiencing their surroundings, and existing in a state where there is nothing to do and nowhere to go. They both returned with powerful observations.

The third was a ‘Survival Night’ — again, about 30 hours spent in a setting where their goal was to live as comfortably as they could with a minimum of equipment. Sara took her husband Rick, and Andrew took his wife Ashley. They had along no matches, no sleeping bags, no tent, no food, no water. They returned with great stories and much learned — Sara and Rick managed to catch perch, which they prepared in various ways (including Perch Tea =), Andrew and Ashley crafted a magnificent shelter, and all of them managed to create fire and obtain safe drinking water. Way to go!

First of all, for all the people who expressed their concern for Gryphon, thank you for the well-wishes! He’s doing great =) Back to his old self, romping around and having mock battles with Suka.

On another note, I returned today from an adventure with ‘S’, one of my Metamorphosis clients, in search of the legendary Cathedral of Stone. It was an adventure to be remembered. Our journey began early, leaving home at about 8 in the morning and driving the hour or so to the launch-point of the adventure. From there, we hit a ridge-top, dropping once or twice into the jungle of nettles and cow-parsnip (yum!) below. The ridge-top was beautiful travelling, though there was no  lack of cut-away ravines to add to the challenge. We discovered a ‘stair-case’ waterfall, dry at the moment, but with eight or ten layers of drops. It would be spectacular in the spring melt. Then there was a small ravine where darkness seemed to cloak everything. We were greatly surprised at how dim it was in the ravine (which did not have terribly steep walls) and at how light it became once we climbed out of it.

After much adventure, we arrived at the Cathedral itself. It begins, riverside, with a cenote-like rock formation, and then moves in steps up and around a corner to a breathtaking bowl of stone. My memory of the place (15 or 20 years past?) paled in comparison to the reality — it is surely one of the most beautiful and spectacular places in Wisconsin.

I won’t post a video of the Cathedral itself, but here is the area just before you enter it –

‘S’ hadn’t quite had enough adventure, apparently, because she decided we should do a swim to the other side of the river, and make our way back on the opposite shore. The swim involved holding our packs over our heads, and the water was not only very deep, but grey and dirty with floodwaters. Exhausted, we climbed up onto the opposite shore, waded through an expanse of flooded forest, and climbed back up onto the ridges. The way home was long and adventurous, up and down ravines. We found the ‘walk-through cave’, discovered some strange plants we didn’t recognize, and finally came back to the car hungry and weary.

Wading through the flooded forests –

We celebrated the re-discovery of the Cathedral by picking up a pizza and some designer beer to take back to Rebecca while we shared the tale. Of course, the pizza was half-gone by the time we arrived home . . .

It was a sickening feeling as I got into the driver’s seat, shifted into reverse, and immediately felt the tire roll up onto something soft and squishy and . . . alive. I threw it into forward, rolled off, and immediately the victim ran out. It was Gryphon.

He had never in his life slept under the car before. It was totally unexpected.

Rebecca sprang out to see how he was. He was walking slowly,  head held low, and he didn’t look good. Still, he had a tail wag for Rebecca. What a sweetie he is.

Then it was an emergency call in to the vet, since it was after-hours. The drive seemed very long, punctuated by coughing and wheezing from Gryphon. He didn’t sound good. Then it was x-rays and a blood test as Gryphon sat shaking and coughing on the x-ray table. Blood came from his mouth. But despite my fears, the vet returned with good news. Bleeding in the lungs, but no broken bones and his other organs seemed intact and healthy. He could return home with us.

Now it’s been a few days since I ran him over. He’s still sore, and spends most of his time resting, but he’s doing great. I, however, am trying to develop a new habit of looking under and behind the car each time before I start driving . . .

Every Metamorphosis client has the chance to go on the quest for the Cathedral of Stone. This is an immense ‘devil’s punchbowl’ formation that my brother and I once discovered, some 15 or 20 years ago, in one of our favorite wilderness areas. Since then, many attempts have been made to reach it, but all have failed.

This quest tests people on all levels. Balance and agility are needed to navigate the extreme terrain. Endurance is needed to reach it (it’s a day-long trek), and quiet-of-mind is essential in order to deal with the frustrations and exhaustion encountered along the way. This quest throws a lot in your path — cliffs, nettles, ravines, endless hills, and river crossings are standard fare. In addition, there seems to be a ‘curse’ on the quest, so that everyone who attempts it encounters a significant obstacle. The last time we tried it, the obstacle was thigh-deep snow that soon wore down one’s body and spirit. This time, as ‘A’ and I attempted the quest, we met with flooding, which eventually barred any further progress. The quest remains unattained.

‘A’ and I did, however, find some marvelous rock formations, skulls, and adventures along the way.

Wisconsin or Middle Earth?

Stopping for a drink from Living Water that flows from a tiny cleft in the rock.

An undead creature tried to crawl from its stinking den and attack us. It was apparently blind, however, and could only snap at the air.

Deep in the forests, stone is shaped by water, wind and snow.

These adventure-quests are an important part of Metamorphosis — they take all the skills that we’ve developed and honed back at the Training Hall and the Hundred Acre Woods and give us a chance to put them to real use, where our skills and new strengths give us the ability to visit natural wonders that might have been inaccessible to us before. The secret treasures that lie along the path to the Cathedral of Stone are a perfect example. And perhaps one day, someone will once again reach the Cathedral itself . . .

Rebecca’s first dance teacher, Jocelyn Gorham, had a profound effect on Rebecca’s life. Bellydance and Bharatanatyam seeped into her life, and that led to teaching bellydance after Jocelyn entrusted her with a beginner’s class. That opened so many doors. Since then, Jocelyn, her husband Rich, and Rowan (our Godson) have become good friends of ours, though we don’t see them nearly often enough. This week we got to visit them, and upon arrival we were welcomed into Rowan’s backyard restaurant.

The menu? ANYTHING you want. Place your order, and leaves and sticks are mixed with a dash of imagination to create egg rolls, pizza, ice cream, and all manner of culinary delights. I left quite full, though I needed a toothpick to get some of the bark out from between my teeth.

We also had a great adventure up a ravine near their properties, where two ancient trees stood over the first spring green things peeking up — Dutchman’s breeches, wintercress (yum), and wood anemone. At home, Jocelyn also treated us to a meal, and Rowan played the violin for us.

Mirabelle, all this time, was just taking things in. She loved watching Rowan in his bright shirt as he ran about, making sticks into swords during our ravine-walk. She swung on the swings, and talked on and on as we hiked (one of her current favorite things to do.)

Is there anything, we reflected on the way home, more precious than good friends?

It’s early spring on the hillsides, and we try to get out each day with Mirabelle to see the little green growing things and the first of the flying bugs. We’ve been working on our winter tree identification as well, and are using the last leafless weeks to sharpen up our skills.

Today, a fly answered our call for a flying bug, and there were plenty of little green growing things. We found a ‘bouncy log’ for Mirabelle, and had some good times bouncing up and down.

After the bouncing, she found a stick that looked quite yummy.

She had a couple of pees in the woods, soaked up some sun and wind, and walked barefoot on a big log. All in all, a pretty adventurous day!

Well, not quite =) But we were honored to be awarded 2nd place in the Wisconsin Newspaper Association’s annual awards, for Local Outdoor Column.

It’s been a great adventure writing for the Dunn County News. A friend, Erica Hanson, set up the connection that got us in the door, and since then we’ve written over 50 articles for the Dunn County News. Not ones to miss an opportunity to have some fun, we’ve been playful with the column, often seeing how much we can ‘get away with’ by writing about non-conventional subjects. We’ve written about the role of poop in nature (and in coffee drinking), about eating bugs, about the end of the world, about drinking breast milk, and much, much more. We’ve taken a broad view of what ‘nature’ is all about, including speculations on aliens, the origins of some of our modern crops, and how blindness can open up our appreciation of nature. Rebecca is the photographer, and I’m the writer (although, as always, my writing goes through the Rebecca-edit before it’s seen by the public).

At some point we hope to either post all of our articles on this site, or to self-publish a book. We’ll let you know if and when that comes about!

For a moment it seemed that winter was leaving us,

Green things slipping up through moist soil,

The smell of last autumn’s leaves,

And then . . .

The snow fell Just So,

Piling in ridges along each branch and stem,

Leaving us to walk through a Wonderland.

It’s been a couple months since Oliver and Mirabelle saw each other. Last time they laid next to each other, their only interaction consisted of accidentally smacking each other with flailing hands. This time, however, was different.

With senses developing and the ability to reach out and grab things, the two of them spent quite a bit of time looking into each others’ faces, grabbing each others’ hands, and speaking in baby-talk (though Oliver was much more vocal, letting out some impressive high-pitched sounds that got everyone giggling).

It was fascinating to see how many things are similar, and how many things are different. Oliver is much taller and thinner, making Mirabelle look like a little dumpling. Oliver is a great stander, while Mirabelle is mastering the sit. And of course Oliver has lots of dark hair, while Mirabelle’s light downy hair still gives her the impression of being bald.

Overall, they seem to be getting along just fine, which is wonderful since we hope that they will have many adventures together as they grow!

After Mirabelle’s birth, we took a break from our signing lessons, though we’ve kept up signing on our own and sign to Mirabelle every day. (Mirabelle is giving the sign for ‘potty’ in the picture posted.)

This week, however, our friend and teacher Nichole came over for a lesson in foods. Broccoli, lemons, mayo, pork, and all manner of comestibles were learned. (With meats, though, I think I still prefer to take after our friend Eric and call them in their more truthful form, such as ‘Dead Pig’, or ‘Dead Cow’ =)

The more we learn of ASL, the more we discover that it is truly its own language — not just a replacement for English. It has its own subtleties, sentence structure, and methods of expressing ideas. We’ll end up using a hybrid of ASL, Signing American English, and American Indian sign language (since ASL seems to be missing many of the detailed nature signs that we use in the woods to indicate animal species, track patterns, and other aspects of nature).

It’s great to be back learning again. After our lesson, Nichole and I went down to the Training Hall, since we trade signing lessons for kickboxing lessons. She’s been working out a lot, and is stronger than ever. Let’s just say that the day after our sparring, I was feeling the effects of a few hundred impacts. Now I just need a sign for Uuugh.