Thirteen years ago, almost exactly, I got the idea to start writing this column. I imagined it would be entertaining to the folks who lived in and around my tiny town, and it would give me a creative …
Growing up in Michigan, Easter almost always arrived during the first full blush of spring. Our side garden would be alive with daffodils and pastel tulips; our Easter outfits were worn with light …
There is perhaps no greater sign of spring in these parts than the arrival of baby chicks to the local feed store. I say this because some years spring brings blizzards, some years dry wind and dust, …
I don’t remember which story about seed saving I heard first, but there are two that stick in my mind as the most memorable. One is about the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, the world’s largest …
I enjoyed hearing from quite a few of you about my column a few weeks back concerning the “fog calendar,” and its predictive abilities! Apparently, this knowledge has also proven useful to some …
Last year, our Jersey cow, Pumpkin, came up “open,” meaning she didn’t get pregnant after being with the bulls. She’s been a great mom and milk producer for us, so we decided her body needed …
New Year’s Eve day 2023, the fog was so thick we could barely see the red barn behind the house. New Year’s Day dawned bright and warm, but by the next day the fog was back. And the next day, and …
Tomorrow is my birthday! I’m holed up in the bedroom working on this very column while also eating the early birthday present of Girl Scout cookies I secretly stashed under the bed for exactly this …
Winter on the Northern Plains often includes a phenomenon called “false spring.” Because it represents a brief respite from the relentlessness of frigid winter temperatures, false spring is a …
In loving memory of our good friend, Pat Dinkins 11/11/39-1/31/26 Sometimes, when you are a little over a month away from giving birth, you wake up in the night, unable to sleep. You get up, let the dogs out, get a drink of water, let the dogs in, and climb back into bed. When you are lucky, you fall asleep again...
This morning, driving to his birthday lunch, my husband and I were talking about how, despite the fact that time does seem to be going faster and faster the older we get, January 2026 was somehow 10 …
In December, I made a short trip to Minneapolis to play a few shows and pick up my mom for a Christmas visit. The voyage was bookended by blizzards, but we had one glorious, clear morning in the …
The wind this week has been epic. Perhaps not as epic as in December when we had gusts blast through our yard at 90+ miles an hour, but still pretty darn epic. Anything that was loosened up by those …
I’ve been thinking a lot about motherhood this week. It will still be a few more months before we start seeing the motherhood rituals of the prairie on display: Robins piecing together their …
We made it, my friends—our passage from one calendar year to another is complete! Our celebrations were merry indeed. Nachos and bingo at the legion, late night pizza made in my new outdoor pizza …
A musician I used to tour with once introduced me by saying, “She writes quiet songs in a loud time. I think we need more quiet songs.” I remember being surprised– it was like catching sight of myself in a mirror I thought was a window, and I didn’t recognize myself at first. I’ve thought a lot about the comment over the intervening years, marveling at what an interesting thing that was to say, and also wondering if it is true. I have done more than a decade of creative work since then, work that spans geographies …
We made it! This week, we officially crossed over from winter into spring, a rite of passage that’s always worth celebrating. And while that passage means different things in different parts of …
I woke up the other night from a dream that seemed so important I couldn’t go back to sleep. “I have to remember this,” I told myself. Usually, my dreams fade before morning. …
I’ve been feeling a lot of nostalgia lately. My kids are suddenly helpful and independent so much of the time that parenting abruptly feels like a totally different job. It is utterly …
I’m sitting on the front porch with my daughter. I’m wearing jeans, a sweatshirt, and a straw hat, my feet bare, my pants rolled up to my knees, revealing the stunning brightness of my …
