Author Archives: Martin
FREE RANGE: FOOD, NATURE, PLACE, AND MORE
The meaning of meat
“It is true, I came as near as is possible to come to being a hunter and miss it, myself….” (Henry David Thoreau) I spent last weekend in the company of six heavily armed women at Madroño Ranch. Don ’t worry; … Continue reading
Posted in Food
Tagged bison, Dai Due, deer, farmers markets, feral hogs, Henry David Thoreau, hunting, Jesse Griffiths, Madroño Ranch, meat, Morgan Angelone, Sarah Palin, Sir Paul McCartney, Tink Pinkard, vegetarianism
3 Comments
Second City, second harvest: pork bellies and bison blood
Sometimes this whole harebrained Madroño Ranch scheme of ours seems to manifest a distinctly split personality. Last week, for example, we experienced, vividly and in close conjunction, two contradictory extremes, one exhilarating, the other sobering. The resulting psychic whiplash has … Continue reading
Posted in More
Tagged Alliance of Artists Communities, bison, Chicago, Madroño Ranch, meat, pork belly
3 Comments
The Alliance conference: our first time in the Second City
The Windy City. Hog Butcher for the World. City of the Big Shoulders. The Second City. Mrs. O’Leary’s cow and Harry Caray’s “Holy cow!” Richard Daley and Mike Ditka. Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf. Frank Lloyd Wright and Al Capone. … Continue reading
Beyond the bottom line
During our recent backpacking trip across northern England, my buddy Bruce and I overcame mild hypothermia, frightening falls, nearly constant rain, gale-force winds, aching feet and ankles and knees, multiple blisters, blackened toenails, and one extremely crummy hotel with no … Continue reading
Posted in More
Tagged Big Box, capitalism, economics, England, locally owned business, The New Yorker
1 Comment
Bruce and Martin’s big adventure
In the three weeks since our last post, I’ve been off backpacking some 200 miles across northern England with my friend Bruce Bennett, a veteran of several previous coast-to-coast walks and a man who knows the Lake District better than … Continue reading
Ta ta for now!
We’re now into our third year of blogging; today marks the 106th consecutive Friday that we’ve published a new installment of our musings, including three guest posts, one by each of our kids. (We hope they’ll write more.) Today’s post, … Continue reading
Posted in More
Tagged bison, England, Isa Catto Shaw, Jenny Browne, Juli Berwald, Julia Clarke, Lewis Hyde, Melissa Gaskill, Sasha West, Stacy Sakoulas, Texas Monthly
2 Comments
Grape-Nuts, dynamite, and drought
This summer in Central Texas has been extraordinary even by our hellish standards. Yesterday the official state climatologist (did you even know we had one of those?), John Nielsen-Gammon, reported that July 2011 was the hottest month in Texas since … Continue reading
Posted in Nature
Tagged Aldo Leopold, Austin American-Statesman, C. W. Post, drought, Hugh Hammond Bennett, La Niña, Tim Egan
5 Comments
Unexpected connections
Only connect! (E. M. Forster) The world is getting smaller, we are told. New technologies are bringing what used to be distant, unknown, and unattainable, to our desktops and telephones; we can communicate instantly with people on different continents, sharing … Continue reading
A river runs through me
“Oh, it’s all very well to talk,” said the Mole, rather pettishly, he being new to a river and riverside life and its ways. A river, even one as dammed and sluggish as the Colorado in Austin, is a great … Continue reading
Posted in Nature
Tagged Austin, Colorado River, fly-fishing, Kenneth Grahame, stand-up paddling, Tink Pinkard
4 Comments