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A 2,000 Word Day
I’ll be filling in for editor Trish Nelson at Blog for Iowa the next two weeks while she takes a well-deserved break. To meet a daily posting requirement I wrote four posts Saturday in between...
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Winds of Change
Just as the election of Barack Obama encouraged me to leave a 25-year career in transportation and logistics, the presidency of Donald J. Trump is stirring winds of change. Where they will take our...
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Defining Moments in an Iowa Life
Editor’s Note: This series of nine posts was written from Jan. 18, 2009 until March 15, 2009 as I considered my life and what else I might accomplish. They are consolidated below unedited and in the...
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Practical Gardening
Gardening is of light and shade, moisture and soil health, seed genetics and cultivation. It is an endeavor in which we can invest personal effort and a few resources to see practical results. We...
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Apple Weekend
Best news of the week arrived Friday afternoon via email. The Cedar Rapids Gazette decided to publish my opinion piece on the local food system at risk. A writer lives for exposure to an audience and...
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Drawer of Ingredients
Our household had no shortage of fresh food this year. Barter agreements with two farms, my work at the orchard, and a garden that produces more food each year created a kitchen full of ingredients to...
View ArticleWaking and the Imagination
I’m not a fan of human physiology. Given a Cartesian outlook toward life, I’d rather not think about or acknowledge my physicality even exists. Yet there it is, influencing my daily affairs in ways I...
View ArticleThanksgiving Chili Bowl
We discussed plans for Thanksgiving dinner exactly three minutes. It’s the two of us and we haven’t had chili with cornbread for a long time. We haven’t had an apple crisp this season either, so that...
View ArticleHoliday Fun
Hard frost and cooler temperatures make way for end of year holidays. Stress diminishes as plans for outdoor work become moot. Diversity in the United States means holidays differ among social groups...
View ArticleTen Years of Blogging
On Nov. 10, 2007 I launched a blog called Big Grove News, named after the rural township where I live. I made three posts that day: a brief welcome announcement; a copy of a letter to the editor of the...
View ArticleGoing Home – 2018
I’m going home now that my applications to the U.S. federal retirement program are approved. My first payment from Social Security is scheduled around Jan. 24, 2018. We both have health coverage...
View ArticleGoing Home – Book Reading
On several occasions, friends and family politely informed me I must downsize my book collection. I resisted. The specific enjoyment of working at a desk, surrounded by books, may not be everyone’s...
View Article2017 in Big Grove
BIG GROVE TOWNSHIP — I found a quart jar of whole bean coffee in the pantry, ground a quarter cup, and made a pot with my French press — a bitter yet delicious treat while reflecting on the past year....
View Article2018 and Beyond
“Each moment is different from any before it. Each moment is different, it’s now.”~ Incredible String Band Best wishes for a happy 2018! The ambient temperature is 23 degrees below zero outside, the...
View ArticleFive Easy Things to Improve Our Politics
In a hopeful year, the U.S. Congress is back to work, on Jan. 8 the state legislature convenes the second half of the 87th Iowa General Assembly, and grassroots politics begins another cycle with the...
View ArticleJambalaya Reprise
In a throwback to my work at a major logistics company I made a batch of vegetarian jambalaya for this week’s lunches. The dish was born in Thomas County, Georgia as I was sequestered in a hotel for...
View ArticleA Stop En Route to the Finish
My supervisor at the home, farm and auto supply store unexpectedly called me to the office and offered a salary commensurate with the work I do. “Commensurate with the work,” means closer to the...
View Article12 Days But Who’s Counting
After tangling with a schedule to reduce hours at the home, farm and auto supply store I concluded there were only three immutable weekly activities: writing (26 hours), paid work (16 hours), and farm...
View ArticleGreen Up is Coming
“Good navigators are always skeptical, not of the presences of things, but of what they see and understand. Good navigators are almost always lost.” ~Robert Finley Green up has begun and everything...
View ArticleA Place Built on Hope
As one makes one’s bed, so one finds it. ~ French Proverb ca. 1590 Today is my last day as a full-time employee at the home, farm and auto supply store. Reducing my schedule from five to two days a …...
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