Thoughts from the Sweat Lodge

Thoughts from the Sweat Lodge presents some of the articles Jack Apfelbaum has written over the last seventeen years. The series includes memories, opinions on questions of sustainability, family memoirs, life as lived now, views of nature, some political views as well as recollections of army days and observations while traveling. The title of this series arose one day in 1995 during a ski vacation in Vermont. My wife and I were sitting on one of the chair lifts bringing us back to the top. As we smoothly rode upwards there was this lovely melodic interval as melting icicles dropped from the branches next to the lift and hit other icicles, creating a lovely sound pattern. Had I been a composer I might have noted down the melody. As it was, once I reached our lodge that evening and was ensconced in a nice hot and steamy sauna, my mind began to create the first of these commentaries and the title, Thoughts from the Sweat Lodge was born.