A Thin Veneer — Birth of a New Companion

| February 1, 2026

Today we will look exclusively at the birth of my own khukuri, beginning with why I commissioned it to be made in the form that it is, and following it through the process as it was dutifully reported to me at every stage. My overall reasons that drove choosing it for integration into my garniture […]

A Thin Veneer — A New Companion

| January 24, 2026

The blade is but the tooth and claw That Nature never gave, So Man no longer hides in trees, Nor cowers in a cave. Why scrabble for what lives beneath The rocks and rotting logs? Take blade, go forth with Comrades bold, And Trusty Hunting Dogs! ~ Tooth and Claw ~ (Excerpt) If you’ve ever […]

A Recalibration for a Long Winter’s Night

| January 2, 2026

“Normally I would have asked a policeman or a minister of the Church, but finding no one available, I thought it better to consult a man with some professional qualifications, rather than rely on the possibly confused testimony of a passer-by.” ~ In the wake of a bicycle accident due his tire pump having got […]

A Long Winter’s Night for Eating With Your Fingers as a Sword Rests in your Lap

| December 24, 2025

My Esteemed Friend Jim Keating recently made a profound utterance in the matter of prevailing flaccid, and annually recurring, expressions of what’s branded to be in the “Spirit” of the “Season”, saying in part … “… How about songs, words, images which convey strength, power, confidence and faith in this time of Yule? Why not […]

Another Long Winter’s Night

| December 21, 2025

The Wild Hunt rode early this year, as its constituents bear full title to do, shredding the tops of the Hemlocks in my range throughout Friday night into Saturday afternoon, and joyously reintroducing a significant part of the local population to what “rural” living really means. The Solstice occurred at 11:03 Atlantic time today, from […]

A Thin Veneer — An Introduction to Knowledge, Methods, and Means

| November 17, 2025

“Everything in Nature is about efficiency and balance, which is why life is, first and foremost, an exercise in energy management. For example, the Way of the Wild demands of each parent that their offspring be made self-sufficient as quickly and efficiently as possible. A tool need not be a physical artifact – rest assured […]

The Fencing Lesson of the Leaning Hemlock

| April 13, 2025

This poem was inspired by two utterances of Wisdom from wellsprings I drink from routinely. The first is this segment from Maestro Adam Crown‘s exquisite Swordmastery YouTube channel, being a four minute video titled The Law of Conservation of Combat — Bogart’s Fencing Lesson. The other is a story from the website of the Ronin […]

T’ick o’ Fog (Part 1)

| January 8, 2025

2025 blew in over the shore with its own version of the vapours, alleging worldwide envelopment in mystery obscurants portending doom, and offering me an invitation, if not an outright demand, to give the situation a sniff of my own. At first, I was inspired to recall the intro to this episode of Get Smart […]

A Long Winter’s Night — Advice As We Embark

| January 1, 2025

Greetings Goode and Weary Pilgrims as we embark together on another Hunt, joyous in the comradeship of our Worthy fellows even as many among our number may have been lamed by the vicissitudes of months past. We aren’t dead yet. An odd time this. In my travels upon the land, I find even the Wise […]

Dark Sentiments Season 15 — Day 16: It Is All Really About You

| October 16, 2024

Does the World exist to torment you and trample your dreams, along with your best efforts to achieve them, into the dust with a cackle? If you answered yes, then tonight’s Feature Artist is here to help.