THE SPRUCE TREE JOURNAL

A place of refuge, a time of peace, a message of hope.

February 2026

I spent the latter part of January leaving my boot tracks along miles of trails in Colorado and taking care of my daughter’s chickens (her flock of “mother cluckers,” as she calls them) back at the “farm” while she and her husband vacationed in the Caribbean. Surprisingly, there was little snow where she lives, but central Massachusetts, where I hang my hat, got LOTS of snow. While I was sad to leave Colorado after two and a half weeks, I couldn’t wait to get back home to strap on the snowshoes.

My first day out on the ‘shoes, with the whipped-up snow and cold numbing my face and fingers, I had the forest all to myself. I thought of my friend Jim, who left us way too early in life. We’d both be retired now and he’d probably be out with me on a day like this. No, not probably, he’d definitely be out with me on a day like this.

Many years ago, under an earlier version of this blog, I wrote about Jim. I don’t know what it was - The snowshoes? The cold? Hiking in the Rockies? - but he’s been on my mind lately. And so, I posted an edited version of the original for this month’s blog.

Blog

Jim, Forever Young

Jim’s mother called me on a Wednesday night in late October 1997 to give me the news. Jim was dead. His note, found next to his body, gave reasons, but no excuses. It was a hard night to get through.

In our youth, Jim and I spent countless hours in the woods together. We both made our Eagle Scout rank and even shared the same ceremony for this achievement. As older teens, we backpacked over 100 miles together in the foothills of the Rockies.

Monthly Mantra

Nothing has ever been said about God that hasn’t already been said better by the wind in the pines.

Thomas Merton

Word Search

Be aware of this month's word manifestation during your travels over the next few weeks.

Apricity /uh-pri-si-tee/ noun - the warmth of the sun in winter.

My grandcat Chip enveloped in that comforting feeling of apricity while sneaking a nap on my daughter’s bed.

This Month's Photo

Just Because...

A photo from my files.

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Second Helping

Green Bean, Blue Cheese, Walnut Pasta

When I first made a similar recipe many years ago, I questioned whether I should substitute the blue cheese with feta or any other cheese for that matter. I wasn’t a fan of blue cheese - trying it in salads, dressings for chicken wings, on crackers, and mixed with hamburger patties for grilling. I really wanted to like blue cheese. Really. Then I made the recipe, giving the blue cheese one last appeal hearing. I was sold. Since then, I’ve tweaked the recipe a little to make it, in my opinion, better. I share that tweaked recipe below.

Click the link below for full recipe.

Full Recipe

In other news, my essay Spirit Wind was published in the Winter edition of The Wild Roof Journal. Click the button below to check it out.

Spirit Wind

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More information, including the past Blogs, Second Helping recipes, and my publication history, is found at www.thespurcetreejournal.com.