Essays

Essay | The Root River Anthology: Five Years Later

Regional writer and performing artist Catherine Glynn reflects on the process of producing a radio play during Covid-19 in this 2025 essay.

Young man wearing glasses and a white sweater with an American flag sits beside a lit Christmas tree indoors, looking to the side with a calm reflective expression.

Essay | Buon Natale! Christmas in Italy: Traditions, Food and Family

An Italian exchange student reflects on Christmas traditions in Italy while experiencing the holidays with his Minnesota host family.

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 reflective essay by John Weiss exploring our deep connection to water in all its beauty, its warnings and the vital role it plays in our landscape and lives.

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

Just in time for holiday gatherings…Greg Schieber’s original essay about putting up firewood for the winter, from memories of his own youthful years to the help lovingly shared by his own kids today.

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

Touring from Gothenburg to Stockholm, John Torgrimson explores firsthand why Sweden ranks among the world’s happiest nations – and has some “caring and sharing” observations for the holidays.

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

Kristin Burdey shares her story of reviving a beloved community holiday dinner and the healing it’s brought to families who’ve recently closed their Rushford-area restaurant businesses.

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

John Weiss explores Fillmore County’s time-haunted schoolhouses and farmsteads where fading paint and sagging walls still teach lessons.

view from bluffs looking at river valley and beyond

ESSAY | Hiking Wisconsin’s Driftless Bluffs and Prairies

Our scenic blufflands, valleys and trails aren’t restricted to Southeast Minnesota alone, as a day’s hike into Western Wisconsin’s Driftless Area will prove!

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!”

Steve Harris laments the recent hordes of unusual visitors we’re all battling in many parts of the Driftless.

Essay | Creative Skills and Kids

Essayist Renee Bergstrom’s formula for a “lifetime of joy” includes being creative – and it begins in our youth.

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”

Julie Little shares a unique Peace Pole art project recently completed by her garden club.

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

Essay | Less-Work Gardening

Loni Kemp shares her tips and tricks to growing, maintaining, and, most importantly, enjoying your garden.

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