Casting Stones

The first thing I do when I get to the cabin in the summer is cut the grass.

In the early days, this took about two and a half hours, but a zero-turn riding mower cut that time in half. 

Our cabin is located in Sawyer County, WI, on a Canadian Shield lake. The 132 lakes in Sawyer County were formed eighteen thousand years ago in kettle-like depressions filled by meltwater from the retreating ice-age glaciers. The geology of the area is characterized by some of the oldest bedrock in North America. When you stick a shovel in the ground, you usually hit rock.

Some of these rocks are pushed to the surface during seasonal freeze-thaw cycles. Every Spring, I walk around the yard, dig out those rocks, and toss them into the lake; they don’t mix with mower blades. 

Per the usual, I was preparing to dispense with one of the offenders, and the thought occurred to me that the stone had been lying in this very spot for eighteen thousand years, and then, I come along, dig it out, and toss it into the lake where it will probably never be seen again. 

It strikes me that the rock and I have quite a bit in common. 

Countless seasons preceded my arrival. Then, I gather sunshine for a fleeting moment before returning to the earth, never to be seen again.

Perhaps that’s a little melodramatic, but I think of it every time I toss a rock into the lake. 

Maybe a crawdad will crawl under that rock and make a home, or perhaps fish eggs will lie hidden in the sand at its margins and escape predators. One never knows the impact of their presence.

I’m currently writing a second book. It’s a labor of love, but a surprising amount of work. My first book sold around a hundred copies, not enough to make any lists, but enough for a meaningful donation to the Peace In Schools organization. The second book will be far better, life-changing, I might say ( at least for me).

My books are like stones cast into the lake. I won’t know the impact of their presence.  

I don’t have the mental capacity to come up with weekly posts and write a book simultaneously. I attempted a two-fer this year by posting chapters as I wrote them. Upon re-reading that material, it’s clear that it needs reworking. 

So, once again, I will be taking a summer sabbatical.

As an interesting aside, I shared my project objectives and the first 20 chapters of the new book with my favorite AI, Anthropic’s Claude 4 Sonnet, and she provided insightful feedback.  I have a friend, a fellow bicycle racing enthusiast, who says, “If you’re out-teched, your F—‘d.” He’s right. AI beats every college professor I’ve ever had! If you aren’t using it, you’re missing out! You can set up an account and try Claude for free here. 

At any rate, I will be reworking the first half of the book under a new framework as I complete the second half. 

And then, God-willing, another stone will sail into the lake!

I will return with regular posts on the first Sunday following Labor Day.

Have a great summer! 

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I am currently writing a second book, titled The Secret Within. First-draft Installments can be found here. 

Former blog posts can be found here by subject category and here chronologically. 

You can subscribe to my latest posts by filling out your email address at the bottom of this page.  

My first book, Towards A Life Well-Lived, can be purchased by clicking this link. Proceeds from sales are donated to Peace In Schools, a Portland, Oregon-based organization that supports mindfulness training in high schools.