File this under alumni doing awesome things. Pat Wilson was a student on the spring semester and stayed on to work with me this summer. He started talking about doing a big canoe trip before winter, and got it in his head to canoe the length of the Mississippi river. After lots of planning and carving a new white ash paddle, he left Maine a few weeks ago, put in on Lake Itasca in Minnesota, and is currently on the river and approaching Bemidji. He sent me this photo of the beginning of his journey on the water.

We have a lot of amazing alumni who are doing awesome things.

In other news, we’re one week out from the start of the fall Wilderness Bushcraft Semester and the weather has been slipping into that amazing pattern that fall brings to Aroostook County with warm days and cool nights in the upper 40’s. The season of bounty is here with cherries and apples ripe on the trees. My raven family, who raised young in a nest 22 feet from my door, have moved on. This is the second year in a row that the ravens had a nest in the yard. As this year’s nest was closer to the house than last year’s, I’m figuring next year they might be on the roof. In other nature news I’ve been spending a lot of time watching the American kestrels hunt a nearby field. Their flight patterns are so fast and dramatic, simply amazing to see. So far not much of a mushroom crop around here. This time last year I was eating boletes most nights. There is still plenty of time and I’m hopeful we’ll still get a big harvest. That’s about all from this end. Just enjoying a lazy Sunday afternoon.