Essays

Six Canada geese glide across a calm river lined with autumn trees, their orange and gold foliage mirrored in the still water.

Essay | Summer, Spring, Winter and Fall, Water Calls to Us

A young girl wearing sunglasses, a pink hoodie, gloves, and colorful boots tosses a piece of firewood into a blue wood cart outdoors. She stands on a large pile of split logs next to evergreen trees, with bright sun shining behind her and a red barn in the background.

Essay | Putting Up Firewood: A Family Affair

Wide view of Stockholm’s waterfront with bridges, walkways, and historic buildings under a partly cloudy sky, with people walking and biking along the water’s edge.

Essay | The Pursuit of Happiness

Large group of people of all ages standing in line at a church or community-center buffet, filling their plates with Thanksgiving-style food in large roasters. The room is bright and busy, with casseroles, turkey, salads, and desserts laid out on long tables. The scene shows a warm, friendly small-town gathering.

Essay | Bringing Back Takkefest: Rushford Community Rebuilds a Beloved Thanksgiving Tradition

A close-up of an old arched window framed in peeling white paint above a weathered wooden door. Bare tree branches partly obscure the view, and sunlight highlights the cracked glass and faded blue-gray siding.

Essay | Haunted by Time: Southeastern Minnesota’s Forgotten Schoolhouses and Farmsteads

view from bluffs looking at river valley and beyond

ESSAY | Hiking Wisconsin’s Driftless Bluffs and Prairies

A clay pot with the word "mosquito" and a circle with slash through it handdrawn on the pot. A light blue watering can spout is in the right half of the photo.

Essay | Look Up in the Sky! It’s a Bird! It’s a Plane! No . . . It’s a Mosquito!”

two kids playing in muddy water

Essay | Creative Skills and Kids

A group of people, mostly women of multiple ages stand in a rustic barn. Each one is holding a tall painted pole.

Essay | “May Peace Prevail on Earth”

The garden in full bloom, ready for pollinators. (Photo by Loni Kemp)

Essay | Less-Work Gardening

A red-brown hairy calf with ears sticking out to the sides stands in front of a large black cow in a green pasture.

Essay | The Cows are Out!

An illustration of two large horses pulling farm equipment through a brown field with a dark gray and yellow cloudy sky behind them.

Essay | A Teacher, a Rooster and an Outhouse

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