Meet Cooper

I've been thinking about adding Cooper's Corridor to the Scoot-O-Verse for some months but have shied away from it because, well, I am not worthy.

Cooper is "Just a gay man of the woods living in Northern BC ... father of two wonderful adopted sons, ardent naturalist, ecologist, a passionate lover of the earth's wild and hidden places." He is part native Ojibway and that heritage seems to instruct his life and his thinking. At least, that's the way it seems to this European-American.

I've hesitated linking to him because Scott's Take is so, well, crass. And political. And sometimes just about beefcake. Okay, I'm not going to apologize for the politics or the beefcake but the paths we walk here are ground glass to the soft leaves at Cooper's Corner. Which is not to suggest that Cooper doesn't have his struggles or pain. And certainly not to suggest that the gentler way of Cooper isn't strong. I am someone who has thrown a lot of sharp elbows in life, and I sense he has not, and I also get he is the stronger one.

Okay, I may be a little in love with him, but not in a romantic sense...in some ways his is the life I wish I could live.

Years ago I penned a poem about a camping trip I took in the Shenandoah, which included these lines:

The deer dance in the darkness
Their elvish eyes aglow.
And in my dreams I fancy
I'm dancing with the doe.

And ended with this:

My heart lies heavy with the thought -
This source of many ills:
My home is in the city;
But my heart lies in the hills.

There are many posts of Cooper's I could link to show you what I mean, but tonight this one touched me. I think there is a lot I could learn from him.

So, spend some time in the Corridor. You'll be a better person for it.