The Fox Trails

I've been deep on the trails but I'm back with a new computer and a cozy cabin to work from. This winter I'll write you a book about freedom and I'll share about my time in prison.

These are my reflections from a week in the wild, canoeing in the headwaters wilderness. We went out there with no matches or lighters, no pots or pans, no electronics, just a small group with a lot to learn. Give this a read and check out the photos.

p.s. my website has a new look, what do you think?

The 8-day Wilderness Canoe Immersion Dear friends, It's Fox here and I'd like to share about my experience in the first session of the 8-day Wilderness Canoe Immersion, a course designed and guided by Abel Bean with the Teaching Drum ...

Been busy up here, library presentations, wild rice season, a music video, new friends, an 8-day canoe immersion, the black walnut harvest, winterizing cabins.. we start constructing 2 wigwams tomorrow and I just gave my website a revamp. For those of you who follow my blog, lots of interesting articles in the works..

The Fox Trails Exploring Nature and Society

I make a few appearances in this video. Check it out and learn about the community I live in :) Happy Sunday.

The Gokhale Method Comes to Teaching Drum In June 2015, Janine Farzin came to share life at the Teaching Drum and instruct on the Gokhale Method - a technique for dealing with back pain through posture.

work less, bike more

35-year-old American who thinks modern life is too stressful works 6 months a year, then lives... This free spirit has truly taken the road less traveled.

These are two of my most recent creations in the Northwoods Bling collection: a pine burl talisman with a corked chamber and a deer clan necklace with whitetail vertebra and an antler bead. Agates to be incorporated soon.

I have a new guitar and a 2 year warranty that covers all damages! It's already been riding around pretty tough, dangling off the handlebar of my bike on wild adventures.

A four minute video on bicycle touring...I wonder what I'll say when I make a video?

The Thousand Year Journey Oregon To Patagonia Jedidiah quit a job that he loved to ride his bicycle from Oregon to the southern tip of South America. Filmmaker Kenny Laubbacher joined him for his month-a...

I have an interesting relationship with embarrassment.

Vulnerability Dear Friends, I was laying in bed the other morning -manic- and I couldn't get up. Crippled with a stream of negative thoughts that clouded my usually positive outlook, I just kept laying there, mi...

Bike rides, editing a book on Animal Guides (spirit animals), playing chess, a new pt job, preparing canoes for the summer, studying whitetail deer, getting ready for Chicago this weekend...Sorry I haven't been checking in lately but I do have some website updates to share with you starting tomorrow.

It's a nice day to be kind to each other.

New Bike : Big Fun

How I Got My Bike Dear Friends, Happy Friday. I just bought a bicycle! Check it out.... I found it on Craigslist. The gentlemen selling it wanted a little more than I was willing to pay. It was his wife's bike and s...

A new book review came in today. This one is touching and not just because it came from a librarian. I appreciate the vulnerability that the reader shares in her process (click the photo link for what she shares). I would love to see some more reviews come in. Leave one on the amazon page (follow the blue link); all criticism is welcomed. http://www.amazon.com/The-Fox-Trails-Adventure-Mississippi/dp/1499734166

Adventurous Read The Fox Trails: A Bicycle Adventure Along the Mississippi River by Michael Jason Fox was a wild ride! When I first picked up the book, I figured it would be a typical travel guide highlighting de...

#1 Washington #2 Minnesota - Bicycle Friendly States
I agree. The North Cascades are hard to top, but I romanticize Minneapolis and Lake of the Isles.

ANNOUNCING: 2015 Bicycle Friendly State ranking http://bit.ly/1IwvnZq

How does your state rank?

Jesus, carpentry, dream interpretation, and new photos...

Under Construction Dear Friends, Another work week begins, another Monday, and another chance to find meaning in the mundane...Do you enjoy going to work? I moved to the Northwoods to live the simple life and I find...

“The biggest challenge we face is shifting human consciousness, not saving the planet,” Roske-Martinez says. “Because the planet doesn't need saving; we do.”

Colorado Teenager Rallies Youth Around The World To Protect The Planet Xiuhtezcatl Roske-Martinez is only 14 years old, but he's committed to changing the world. The Colorado teen is the youth director of Earth Guardians, a nonprofit that encourages young people to connect and become involved in environmental activi...

kind and curious today

Happy Friday! It was a busy week but we finished the tracking conference here and I did a fun book signing event at the library. Website updates coming soon. Singing you a sweet song from the woods.

What a day.

Wolf Walking Dear friends, Gentle giant snowflakes fell upon the Northwoods all day, as if to taunt Spring. A fresh white blanket brings us another chance to wolf walk (to walk in each others footsteps). As I m...

A woman was leading a Goat down the lane with a rope. Tugging and biting at the rope, the Goat obviously had something else in mind other than walking down the lane with the woman.

Coming from the other direction was a group of Nuns. When they approached the woman and Goat, the eldest Nun said, "Kind Goat tender, we are Wisdomseekers, and we ask if you will be part of a Teaching we wish to gain."

"I would be honored," she replied.

"Let us begin with determining who here is leading whom," said the oldest Nun. Everyone agreed that the woman was clearly the lead. "She is in control," one of them said, "as she is forcing her will upon the Goat."

The oldest Nun then drew her knife and cut the rope. The Goat took off across the fields, with the woman running frantically after him.

"Who now appears to have the rope around her neck, being dragged along against her will?" asked the Nun. "Such is the way the mind works. Always look at the shadow side of what it tells you."

Yes, those are tassels.

Training Dear friends, The Guardian Intensive at-home training is about to begin. I signed up. What is it? Check out this website for more information... *** I look forward to meeting this challenge and sid...

"And the end to all of our exploring will be to return to the place where we began, and know it for the first time." -T.S. Eliot

Reminds me of my return to Teaching Drum. I just read the book/watched the movie: Chased By The Light, A Photographic Journey with Jim Brandenburg. He went to the Northwoods and shot a single photo every day for three months. Only one frame a day, sometimes at sunset. Amazing work. Zen-like photography.

Chased by the Light A Photographic Journey with Jim Brandenburg MUSIC AND IMAGES ARE USED UNDER THE GUIDELINES OF "FAIR USE" IN TITLE 17 § 107 OF THE UNITED STATES CODE. SUCH MATERIAL REMAINS THE COPYRIGHT OF THE ORIGINAL...

Are you willing to peel off layers of unconscious habit, find your intrinsic self, and be always at-the-ready to serve? The Guardian Intensive At-home Training begins on March 14th. I applied. Here's a sneak peak...

Only Actions Speak Take a sneak peek at the Guardian Intensive At-Home Training. Are you willing to peel off layers of unconscious habit, find your intrinsic self, and be alway...

How to walk like a fox...

Fox Walking Greetings from the Northwoods, Bright stars and mustache icicles, the snow and the silence...I love these. There's a certain quiet cold that you get up here in this part of the country. Community a...

My website had a birthday. The Fox Trails blog is 1. Thanks for reading. You can subscribe to the email list at http://michaeljasonfox.com/

Knee deep...Settled in and loving it. I'll send you an update soon.

Peace out, Atlanta. I didn't get to chill with Outkast while I was in Decatur :( Oh well, I'll come visit again someday.

Adventures with Greyhound Dear friends, Not that I'm trying to smuggle guns or drugs, but the Johnny-Depp-in-Blow days are long gone and airport security remains in full-patriot force like 9/11 just happened. The Atlanta ai...

About a week and I'll be knee deep.

Life update: I'm returning to the Northwoods and the Teaching Drum Outdoor School. I left a lot unlearned there; I suppose I'm leaving much unlearned here as well. The journey comes full circle at the end of the month!

Another Bittersweet Farewell Dear friends, This is about love, and the journey home... My time in the South is nearly over again and I'm preparing to say another bittersweet farewell. The weather is exceptional, quite the cont...