Research, Research

Not all of writing is putting words on paper. My monthly newspaper column, "Get Off the Couch," is due Monday. I know what I plan to write about: the history of the Nordhouse Dunes Wilderness. But I can't do that out of my head, cold. I know enough to have a casual conversation with a friend, but certainly not enough to commit words to paper with details and expectations of authority.

So I talked with a National Forest ranger on Wednesday, and got some literature, and some personal observations. Next project, to find pictures I knew I had taken of a beautiful and slightly unusual plant that grows there, the Hairy Pucccon. Took me two hours, but I finally located them.

This is all part of writing!