Father’s Day 2025 On another June morning four years ago, I was seated on the front porch of a coffee shop just a few feet from where I now write this. It was the hottest and brightest that a Driftless summer day can get. My laptop screen reflected the sun’s glare as customers filtered pastContinue reading “Simple Gifts”
Author Archives: Driftless Grace
Social Fabric
May 30, 2025 The last graduating class of Northland College walked the stage this past weekend. I have written about how my time at Northland taught me to take an active role in my community and to leave it better than I found it. There is a direct line leading from my professors’ exhortations ofContinue reading “Social Fabric”
The Plot Thickens
May 12, 2025 I finally broke through my recent bout with uncertainty to find that I had a lot of very certain work to do in my garden. It’s mid-May, and I’m still working to prepare the plot so I can plant my future charges. Luckily, the folks at the community garden couldn’t make itContinue reading “The Plot Thickens”
Outcome Unknown
April 27, 2025 I have a confession that will shock no one: uncertainty is very, very difficult for me. Even as several positive transformations have been taking place in my life, I feel concern about the unknowns and the things that are left to do. I could have 98 percent of my day planned butContinue reading “Outcome Unknown”
Human, Kind
April 5, 2025 I have often found myself acting as an ambassador for the places I live, work, or frequent. Even before I moved to this tourist town — where we spend the summer eating lunch and drinking coffee with thousands of our closest friends — I had a number of jobs that put meContinue reading “Human, Kind”
Screen Time
March 26, 2025 I have spent a great deal of time in this still-new year reflecting on my use of technology. While I’m choosing to rely less on electronics in my life outside of work, news from the wider world shows technology playing a bigger role than ever in human existence. A friend recently gaveContinue reading “Screen Time”
Going Out
March 8, 2025 (Happy almost-birthday to this blog, upon which I embarked on March 21, 2020!) My latest meeting with a friend over coffee touched on a favorite topic of mine: the events that mark the change of seasons in a small town. I was pleased when, like me, this friend lumped both human andContinue reading “Going Out”
The Brighter Pathway
February 26, 2025 My mind and heart have relocated to a place three hundred miles north of here since I learned that Northland College is set to close at the end of May. A year of drastic cuts has failed to address the long history of mismanagement that helped bring about these cuts in theContinue reading “The Brighter Pathway”
Gathering Strength
February 12, 2025 I haven’t checked my social media feeds in a few days – a rare accomplishment for someone who grew up while this technology was taking off. It’s not the platform itself that bothers me; it’s the intrusion of the fraught news cycle into every moment of my life. Even a quick glanceContinue reading “Gathering Strength”
Wintermezzo
January 28, 2025 I received an unintended compliment at the gas station a few weeks ago when a friend told me, “I didn’t know you had a car!”. It’s true that I try to make most trips on foot in this town where most of the amenities are on the same few blocks. It wasContinue reading “Wintermezzo”
Driftless Grace 