A clean sheet of paper contains the set of all possibilities. The blank page can become a picture, a story, a poem. Anything that can be imagined can be represented on this blank sheet of paper. Because there are no limits to the possibilities that can be contained on a single sheet of paper, this…
This week journalist Farhad Manjoo attempted a noble experiment – taking a week away from news about Donald Trump. In his weekly New York Times column Manjoo describes an eye-opening discovery he made during the week – Coverage of Mr. Trump may eclipse that of any single human being ever. That’s a pretty bold statement.…
Business Insider’s title for their urban round-up is a little off – 15 of the most beautiful public spaces in the world, according to urban designers makes you think you’ll be seeing a dozen parks or outdoor malls. In fact what you’re getting is an overview of how insightful urban planning can transform a city…
We’ve gotten to the point where it’s hard to imagine going anywhere without our phones. And it just so happens that there is a great crop of apps to enhance your experience outdoors. But just so we’re clear on this, no app is going to take the place of basic woodcraft skills. Think about it…
Death isn’t something we like to think about much. But in 2016 it feels like death has been all up in our faces. This shouldn’t be surprising. The Baby Boomers are coming of age. As a society we’ve held death at bay for a long while now, but here it is, death is catching up…
Now that we no longer have the Mayan calendar to kick around where can we turn for our year-end doomsday predictions? One place to start is the blood of San Gennaro. Every year the dried blood of Saint Januarius is presented in a ceremony of the Roman Catholic Church in Naples, Italy. And every year…
How did 2016 stack up here at Wild Rye? A lot of the year’s most popular posts were evergreen topics from years gone by, but the dominant theme seems to be “if you’ve got an itch you gotta scratch it.” Use Witch Hazel to Cure Posion Oak Rash – Witch Hazel acts as a mild…
So much of Christmas is supposed to by happy, jolly and filled with thoughts of prancing reindeer that we often overlook the darker side of winter solstice. But if we think about it for a while we start to realize that Dickens’ A Christmas Carol is certainly a ghost story. The Nutcracker, especially E.T.A. Hoffman’s…
I recently had a conversation with my wife, her sister and her brother about the value of a good old fashioned paper map. While GPS systems are convenient they don’t help you get the big picture of your surroundings. National Geographic, known for its amazing maps, serves up the best maps of 2016. Along with…
Consider the picture above – several children running along a meadow path. It may not be the obvious image to illustrate organized resistance to the power structures of the world. But it illustrates clearly the reasons you might want to “fight the power.” From all appearances the next four years of politics in the United…
Members of the Hunkpapa Lakota tribe and their supporters have been protesting the construction of the Dakota Access oil pipeline since April of 2016. At times up to 4000 protesters have been occupying land at the Sacred Stone Camp, a remote place with very little habitable shelter. Recently supporters have been equipping protesters to continue…
I’m taking a break from the regular topics of this blog (camping, hiking, adventure, urban design, etc.) Instead I’m going to start praying. It was hard to have a prayer time this morning. My mind was jumping like a monkey. I’m stunned that Donald Trump has been elected President of the United States. I’m not…
BuzzFeed’s list of 30 Insanely Useful Camping Products You’ll Wish You Knew About Sooner is an awesome assortment of good, bad and ugly outdoor equipment that you either need or need to avoid. The Good Water Filter. The MSR Miniworks water filter is fantastic. I’ve used it on numerous trips and it works great. Be…
So you want to venture into the wilderness but you don’t want to fork out the dough to build an ultimate adventure rig? No problemo. Outside Magazine tips you to what you need to venture off the beaten path no matter what kind of car you’re driving. At the top of their list is traction…
You’ve heard of urban sprawl. Chances are you’re quite at home with it. But you might not be aware of how fast it spreads – an acre of land is lost to human development every 2-1/2 minutes according to the website Disappearing West. An interactive map of disappearing open space gives a county-by-county view of…
