Off book

In May 1996, Medford’s Main Street was a gaping, muddy hole in the ground. Memorial Hospital of Taylor County announced a new cooperative network with hospitals in Merrill and Wausau. And, some know-it-all kid, barely a year out journalism school came to as the paper’s sports editor. Those first few weeks were terrifying. The diploma collecting dust on my bookshelf, and the massive stude...

I first noticed the nest. As nests go it was a well-constructed affair. It was solidly built with care and patience, obviously the work of experienced builders who had seen more than a single spring. It lacked the slapdash sloppiness that you often see in a bird’s first attempt at building a nest. For weeks we watched the nest take shape in the large bush along the path next to my garage, ...