Thanksgiving is the perfect time to discuss the benefits of keeping a gratitude journal. I’ve done this since April. Although fancy journals are available, I didn’t invest in one. I simply use a small spiral notebook to jot down five…
While hiking along the Wisconsin River, I see raccoon tracks. They’re distinctive because they’re shaped like human hands. I’m near the same ridge where, earlier in the spring, I heard the frantic cries of a baby raccoon in distress. I…
I’m happily whipping about, my arms full of sheets, when I turn the tight corner into the laundry room. Crash! My mood plummets. I grumble as I dump the sheets in the washer, grab the waste basket, and drop down…
I asked Veteran Marine combat engineer Joseph White Eagle, who enlisted in 1988 and served in Desert Storm and Desert Shield, to share stories about his military experience that would make us laugh, cry, and reflect. He generously did that…
I start the pork chops browning in a skillet. The weather has changed and with the onset of autumn and the stressful presidential campaign, I’m wanting comfort foods. As I turn the pork chops over so they brown on the…
I’m hiking into the woods near my home in the Dells at night, feeling eyes on me. My mission is to see if I can get the resident barred owl to call back to me, an annual event that, to…
I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. A famous columnist, blogger, speaker, podcaster, playwright, consultant, teacher, multiple Moth StorySLAM winner, and the internationally bestselling author of nine books, including Storyworthy: Engage, Teach, Persuade, and Change Your Life…
I’m retrieving balls at the Baraboo High School tennis courts before my partner and I begin a second set of doubles. Just outside the fence, three young girls sit cross-legged on the cement. Ah, the wonder of being that young…
My husband and I were in Cologne, Germany, last May, waiting in a long line to use the public restroom. The staff of our Rhine River Tour had warned us we’d need tokens (worth around $.50), so we’d gotten a…
A milestone birthday looms before me. While biking down a country road, Toby Keith’s classic, As Good As I Once Was, keeps echoing in my head. I ain’t as good as I once was; I got a few years on…