The Contemplative Paddler's Fireside Companion

Here is a fine companion for any paddler, wanderer, or dreamer with a love for the wild. What you have here is not one more how-to manual for paddlers. These pages comprise a why-do volume exploring the spiritual core of paddle trip experience. Tim McDonnell writes with clarity, spirit, and self-effacing good humor, taking you along on several amazing wilderness journeys. Here you will share explorations into the wild that are fueled by something far more substantial than mere adrenaline and far more significant than mere ego. Wonder, playfulness, gratitude, and introspection are the key ingredients of this well-crafted book. Each of his essays flares a bit and then lingers with you, just as you would expect from a good fire.

Timothy McDonnell of Bloomington, MN Timothy McDonnell grew up in the wilderness of northeastern Minnesota on the periphery of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. He spent decades teaching English and reading skills to deaf and hard-of-hearing students in suburban Minneapolis. By avocation, he is an avid paddle tripper, writer, and dreamer. Since his retirement, Timothy spends his time writing and doing volunteer work for a Twin Cities non-profit organization that helps individuals transition out of homeless shelters and into independent living. When not in the woods, Timothy is either writing about the woods or dreaming about his next paddle journey. His first book, The Whole Forest for a Backyard: A Gunflint Trail Wilderness Memoir, was published by North Star Press in 2013.