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Our School Year Wish
At Walmart, I see a girl, age 9 or 10, accompanied by her mother, filling a cart with school supplies. I’m immediately transported back to the fourth-grade classroom. “Mrs. Laundrie,” a nine-year-old boy says, rubbing his forehead, “I’ve been working so hard on this measurement problem, my brain hurts.” I smile. “Everyone’s been working hard, […]
Time to Play!
photo credit: Tara Draper “What would bring you joy today?” That question is one that life coach and yoga instructor, Kristen (Omkari) Kloostra, would have us ask ourselves daily. “Are we reconnecting with our inner child and allowing ourselves to “play?” My mind flashed back to my own childhood. I fondly remember excitedly coming home […]
Life Lessons Learned From a Quaking Bog
It would have been easy to stay curled up in the recliner, but I’d signed my husband and me up for a Wisconsin Natural Resources class “Beautiful Bogs: Bog Ecology & Tour,” and it was time to grab our tall rubber boots. We gathered at Eagle River’s environmental center, Trees for Tomorrow. Once we met […]
Thrill of the Hunt
August 10th is National Garage Sale Day and August 17th is National Thrift Shop Day. Besides being fun, “thrifting” helps reduce waste that normally would end up in our landfills, so I’m all for it. And I’m not alone. According to the 2024 ThredUp Resale Report, the used apparel market worldwide is growing three times […]
Tales From the Old Tamarack Tree
The sun drops low in the sky over the lake and casts a golden glow on my trunk and limbs. They are brittle now. My sap has stopped flowing, and the end is near. The years of harsh northern Wisconsin winters, the heavy rains, and the passage of time have taken their toll. I couldn’t […]
Savor Summer’s Magic
I’ve been watching my hedgehog cactus and knew it would bloom in a day or two. This morning I awoke and there it was! A magical white burst of color. I took several photos and then sighed. I know it will only last a day. Like summer in Wisconsin, we anticipate it, and then, like […]
A Hair-Raising Hike in the Woods
My daughter and two grandsons joined me on a nature walk over our Fourth of July vacation at our northern Wisconsin cabin. It’s difficult to hold the attention of a ten- and thirteen-year-old boy, so I planned a scavenger hunt that would include wildlife stories. The first challenge was to spot “the hanging tree.” My […]