My backyard in Hastings, Minnesota, was the Vermilion River. Countless, carefree childhood hours were spent there immersed in the adventure of that diminutive, little rural stream.
A soul-felt connection with water began there and continued through boyhood years with time spent on the Mississippi and the St. Croix Rivers. At sixteen years of age, along with my brother, a chance get away led me to Northern Wisconsin where I was confronted with the breath taking immensity and beauty of Lake Superior. That singular experience was life directing, for at seventy-one, I am still here combing those white sand beaches, hearing the gull cry and diving from my old 26 foot Trawler with my aging Golden Retriever, “Big Red”, into that vast, cool, crystal inland sea, where close by, most of my life has been spent.