A Writing Project
Two years ago I conceived a plan to write an autobiography in 50,000 words. It’s time to refine and execute that plan. Even as the whole thing seems unrealistic. What caught my attention was...
View ArticleA First Effort
(Editor’s Note: This article was written July 3, 2009, shortly after my first retirement. It has been lightly edited to remove misspellings and grammatical errors I can’t bear to promulgate). It begins...
View ArticleHealing in Big Grove
A thick, wet snow blanketed the landscape overnight. Being a lifelong Iowan, driving on snowy roads across the lakes to today’s political convention shouldn’t be an issue if I take it slowly. I am on...
View ArticleMorning Coffee, Climate Change and the 2018 Midterms
I first drank coffee in the Army… on top of a hill… during the dead of winter… from a mermite can. Steam rising from the lid proved irresistible when ambient temperatures were below zero and we had...
View ArticleWanting to Wake Up
At retirement plus 19 days I thought I’d be more productive. Yesterday, after a shift at my desk and an hour-long visit with a neighbor and a team of surveyors, I took a nap… with long, deep sleep....
View ArticleSpring Reset
We’re behind at the greenhouses. The high tunnel is fully planted. The ground is too cold for transplants. Cooler temperatures retard growth of fledgling vegetable sprouts. There is no place to go with...
View ArticleSpring Burn Pile
Part of yesterday was spent outside — in the garden, working compost, cleaning buckets, collecting the bits of drainage tile used to support celery plants, tending the garlic, planting turnips and...
View ArticleFeel the Breeze
I’d rather have spent both of this week’s days at the home, farm and auto supply store in our garden. Temperatures were warm enough to work in shirtsleeves and the garden is way behind. Outdoors tasks...
View ArticleSoft Landing
It’s been 30 days since retirement and I’m up to my old tricks. Like a hungry dog, I see things and want to be a part of them. “I’ll do this,” I say to myself and others. I run the … Continue reading →
View ArticleEarth Day Weekend 2018
Earth Day is and will always be about this photo taken by the Apollo 8 astronauts on the first manned mission to the moon. “The vast loneliness is awe-inspiring and it makes you realize just what you...
View ArticleA Sense of Place
Hearing the laughter of children; seeing wildlife in the backyard; digging dirt turned to soil by one’s hands; feeling a breeze, getting frostbite, dancing in the rain, watering a garden with our own...
View ArticleBack to the Garden
No food is more local than a kitchen garden. I’ve got to get moving on mine after a late spring. Everyone was in a good mood at the farms when I soil blocked Friday and Sunday. My farmer friends caught...
View ArticleGreen Washing and a Local Food System
Wind came up yesterday and would not relent. I planted onions and cilantro in the garden, transplanted some seedlings to larger pots, but that’s about it. The septic tank service arrived and pumped our...
View ArticleFoundation for Writing
When the Catholic Church built the new school, seventh and eighth graders were segregated from friends with whom we had been growing up. A group of us were mixed together in an advanced program for...
View ArticleIn Fractions of an Inch
A couple of weeks ago our association held a community cleanup. We own a well, a wastewater treatment plant, two vacant lots, 25 acres of woods, roads, and sundry open spaces which require attention...
View ArticleFriday in Spring
Fridays in Spring I soil-block for a farmer. Yesterday I made 4,944 soil blocks which were planted in winter share. Leeks, broccoli and the like. It took four hours. While driving north on Highway One...
View ArticleGetting Started
I was born in a hospital established in 1869 by the Sisters of Mercy on Marquette Street in Davenport, Iowa. Marquette was one of the first streets laid out by city founder Antoine Le Claire. I...
View ArticlePatriotism
Patriotism does not belong to a political party. Veterans pay attention to where the country is going, engage in public discourse, and believe it is our responsibility to do so. Patriotism, concerns...
View ArticleLast Day of the Season 2018
Beginning on Feb. 25, and 862 trays of soil blocks later, my 2018 farm work season ended today at Sundog Farm. I finished at Wild Woods Farm on Friday. More than anything, farm work has been time with...
View ArticleUnder a Rainbow
Clouds broke while I watched it rain through the west-facing garage door. It was a slow, steady, gentle and soaking rain of the kind remembered from childhood. Realizing there might be a rainbow I...
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