Author: Fred D

  • The Gift of the One

    From our Smoky Mountain home up on the mountain – down in the ‘holler – by the ‘crick’ . . . to wherever you and yours may be this Christmas . . . we wish you the Gift of the One who left Heaven for earth 2,000 years ago to bring “Peace on earth, good…

  • Mind-Boggling Travel

    Last week, some 5,000 miles north-by-northwest, found me gliding through freshly fallen snow. Shortly thereafter, some 35,000 ft. above terra-firma, found me zooming through the skies at 600 mph in high-speed-aluminum tubing. This afternoon, some 2,000 ft. up in the Great Smoky Mountains, found me shuffling through fall’s fallen leaves . . .  fictional Star…

  • “The Manuscripts of God”

    A ½” of virgin, unmarked snow . . . a cool, gentle breeze . . . a pinking hour sunset brushed across distant snowcaps  – the wilderness wonder postcard God created for me to glide through before hanging up my skis and heading off to rejoin my life partner in the Great Smoky Mountains tomorrow.…

  • Frigid Fun

    The thermometer registered an ‘invigorating’ minus 15 when sun peeked above the horizon at 9:30 AM today, but by 11 AM has risen to a ‘balmy’ minus 5 😊 Noting the impending heat wave, Grant and I layered-up headed out to romp through the wilderness around Girdwood, AK, where lotsa’ white stuff has fallen. We…

  • Happiness is . . .

    Happiness is zero degrees and a pair of skis . . . gliding over a wilderness lake, snow whispering beneath, winter’s sun above sinking behind distant mountain monarchs . . . Life is Good! . . . wish you could have joined me. “He gives snow like wool; He scatter the frost like ashes.” –…

  • Before You Pass the Gravy . . .

    Before you pass the gravy . . . as you celebrate Thanksgiving tomorrow I’d ask you look around at those who have gathered with you, your children, and thankfully contemplate but for the undeserved grace of God . . . you – they – we . . . could each be among those outside our…

  • Midnight Sun

    The Land of the Midnight Sun is rapidly entering its Midnight Moon season, as seen in this 4 PM/4-degree wilderness wander picture. Watching the sun begin to silently slip below the distant Chugach Range conjured a somewhat ambivalent thought of peaceful melancholy . . . this scene is somewhat analogous to my life . .…

  • Lunar Eclipse

    Last night, for the first time since I hired on as a water boy in the construction of Machu Picchu, the longest partial lunar eclipse in 580 years occurred. Yep, I snoozed through it. However, the adage, “You snooze, you lose” is totally valid . . . miss the moon, shoot for the s😊n .…

  • Sunrise Splendor

    My soul was awed at sunrise . . . a glimpse of God’s majesty . . . proof that He exists “How great are your works Lord” -Psalm 92:5 Keep Looking Up . . . His best is yet to come!

  • Solitude of Silence

    Everyone has a special place of comfort, peace and inner healing their soul calls home. What’s yours? Living in Alaska, where this morning the temperature begins another day of residence below zero, it’s a question I’ve often been asked, and now sit here pondering before a blazing wood stove. A myriad of reasons flash to…