I spend the entire month of June on a boat watching the sunrise and sunset. I do this because I am leading wildlife photography tours, to capture images of Loons. I am so fortunate to be outside, surrounded by nature for such a sustained amount of time. I see and hear so many cool birds and …
The Great Seal of the United States bears the Latin phrase “E Pluribus Unum,” meaning “out of the many, one.” In 1776 it championed the union of the separate American colonies, a union severely tested during the War between the States. One may wonder if our union is as close to cracking apar…
One of the gentlest men in the world said so nicely,
Retirement offers a new lifestyle, daily schedule, and rhythm of activities. After two years, I find that I don’t just look, I see more things. I don’t just hear, I listen to more details. I’m discovering new plants, smelling new flowers, trying new recipes, and developing new friendships.
Last week, while leading a wildlife photography workshop to capture images of American black bears (Ursus americanus), we experienced a cuteness overload. Over three and half days, we saw many mother bears with spring cubs.
A couple of weeks ago our small congregation held a potluck lunch. While thinking about what to bring, I decided to bring Helen Swanson’s rice pudding. It’s a food I cherish because it brings back memories of my life as a young rural Wisconsin pastor. I found the recipe that she had written …
I’ve actually been to Uvalde, Texas. It’s a dusty Texas border town located on the edge of the Texas Hill Country. The food and flavor of the town is heavily Hispanic (78% according to the 2020 Census). Border Patrol agents are ubiquitous in the area. They have a famous Opera House and it’s …
Recently I have been spending some time photographing a pair of trumpeter swans (Cygnus buccinator) with six little cygnets. This swan family is not in a wilderness setting, but a suburban backyard pond.
I was the victim of a scam over three years ago. After all of this time I still feel the embarrassment and the pit in my stomach from that disturbing day.
The key to “seeing” nature is to stop and look. I know that seems rather obvious but it’s true. The simple act of stopping and looking is really all it takes to start to see more nature. This is something I learned a long time ago, but it seems that I need to stop and remember it every now a…
Warrior Dog Rescue is a dog rescue that fosters connections between dog owners across the state of Minnesota.
With a steaming hot cup of coffee in hand, I sit on my back deck and enjoy the morning. The rising sun brightens through the trees. Songbirds, hidden in the canopy of the trees, serenade with piercing shrills while geese honk in the distance. It is music not only to my ears but also to my soul.
Most Americans expect their children to have a better life and standard of living than themselves. Whether it was the impoverished parents arriving in Ellis Island, the family who survived the struggles of the Great Depression, or the GIs who were returning home after the horrors of WWII, th…
Yesterday I washed the windows in my kitchen. It’s a bit of a clumsy and heavy spring-time job, these windows being somewhat large and requiring care to unlock from their frames, fold in and down so I can carefully clean both sides of the panes. I love the view these windows provide, looking…
Not everything in nature appears the way you see it! I’ve said it over and over again in various ways. We see the natural world through the lens of a human and all of the things that go into being a human.
As we near the close of the 2021-22 school year, I have been reflecting not only on this year, but also on my seven-year career at Prior Lake-Savage Area Schools (PLSAS) that has been filled with meaningful relationships, wonderful accomplishments and complex challenges. Throughout it all, I…
“Blessed are the peacemakers,” Jesus taught his followers (Matthew 5:9). “Ubiquitous are the division-makers,” we might justly add.
We are not red states and blue states, we are the United States of America.
Last summer I was envious of my son, who had a breeding pair of sandhill cranes at his farm in Wisconsin. He sent me pictures of the pair with their gawky colt, but when I went to visit, they were nowhere to be found. I’d never seen one in the wild, so I was disappointed.
Admittedly, I was muttering profanity as I ran into the garage barefoot stepping on something wet and slimy, searching for the tin snips.
Looking up into the dark Wyoming night sky, all the stars in the Milky Way were shining so brightly it looked like white paint had been splashed across the sky from horizon to horizon.
A few weeks ago a long-time friend emailed inviting me to join her for lunch. When I asked her where, her comment was “Savage, as you have so many choices.”
Thomas Jefferson said, “I have looked on our present state of liberty as a short-lived possession, unless the mass of the people could be informed to a certain degree.”
Ending racism in America is a widely supported mission. Americans who despise this mission, embracing racist ideology, seem to comprise a dwindling minority.
It seems like there are as many different strategies employed for a bird’s survival as there are species of bird.
I am fascinated by the diversity of mother nature. And this was abundantly clear to me the other day while I sat in a tiny chair blind, in the dark, waiting for the sun to come up and for a ruffed grouse to enter the habitat that lay before me.
Ketanji Brown Jackson has been nominated by the president of the United States to fill an upcoming vacancy on the Supreme Court.
War in Europe? Once the Cold War ended, I never thought I’d see something like this. But here we are. Again. Tanks, missiles, and bombs. Some of us feel like we have already seen this movie.
Recently while leading a photo tour throughout Florida to photograph birds, it occurred to me how much things have changed. I don’t mean how much things have become worse, or crowded, but rather how much several species have increased in population.
When I think about the war in Ukraine and the humanitarian crises that it has produced in Europe, my heart is heavy. The unprovoked Russian invasion, including the bombing and shelling of cities and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people, is a clear example of the presence of evil.
What is the state of our state’s 87 counties? The word that most resonates with me when I contemplate this is “resolute.”
I have always thought that suffering makes theologians of us all. In times of crisis or despair, we turn to religious traditions or an intuitive sense of meaning to understand our experience.
Last week while leading a photo workshop in warm and sunny Florida, I was walking down a long stretch of beach with my group of photographers in tow.
Don’t you think it is wonderful to experience positive representative democracy in action?
I was thinking about the wide array of choices available to us for careers, and what variables someone considers before choosing a career.
As I digest the TV images from Ukraine, my mind goes back to 1971 when I found myself in the middle of a civil war in Bangladesh.
Once again, I found myself sitting outside in my small photo blind trying to capture a handful of images of birds in a winter/snowy setting. The temperatures were a balmy 5 below zero and I was starting to feel the cold penetrate my many layers of clothing.
I’ve been paying attention to sunrises and sunsets more lately. Now this new attentiveness could be because a friend on Facebook keeps posting amazing sunrise pictures and seeing those posted pictures has impelled me into a new practice of paying attention to the sun’s rising and falling.
It was just by chance that I recently found myself at Tumacácori in Arizona. My husband and I were on vacation shopping in Tubac, a cute artist village south of Tucson, but we got bored. Down the highway was the only other touristy thing around — Tumacácori.
Like other school districts and industries, Prior Lake-Savage Area Schools continues to experience staffing shortages unlike any the district has seen in its history.
Having just returned from three weeks in Yellowstone leading photo tours and workshops, I am tempted to write more about the several encounters I had with the large charismatic predator, the gray wolf. However, this time I think I will write about a small, rather un-charismatic predator. A p…
I genuinely believe that every single person has the capacity to change the world for better or for worse. We live in a time where so many Americans are hurting in many ways with the pandemic crisis, increased competition for jobs and economic security, and the pressure to simply survive is …
I have been happily retired for almost a year. I was a pediatric nurse for over 43 years — the last four or five spent supporting nurses with documentation and computer issues. I was sure that I would be back in a few months working in some kind of capacity. However, life had other plans for me.
During one of the longer dark nights this winter while watching television, I came across an interview with a well-known criminal defense attorney. It caught my attention, as I recognized her name from one or two famous trials that made news over the years. I listened as familiar questions g…
Last week I worked at an apartment building in a poorer section of town. The building was a two-story brick building with 37 apartments. While I was there, I saw all kinds of people moving in and out of the building. Many of them stopped on the front steps to share a cigarette, some walked a…
I once attended a high school graduation ceremony on a beautiful evening in June. Prior to the awarding of degrees, a graduating senior delivered a memorable speech. The content was mostly boilerplate, but the impassioned insistence with which he drove home his thesis left an indelible impre…
I’m not sure how long I had lived in Scott County before I discovered the Household Hazardous Waste Facility located on Highway 282 between Prior Lake and Jordan. Once I did, the facility became a destination. You would not think that a place that recycles hazardous waste would bring as much…
The complexity of nature is often hard to understand and even harder to witness. Sure, we learn about it in school, read about it in a book, or watch it on a TV nature documentary, but it isn’t until you see it firsthand that you start to understand and appreciate the complexity of nature. I…
One of the common aspects of being a military veteran and an attorney is that I have a duty to respect and uphold the Constitution of the United States. Every candidate for public office also has a duty to respect and uphold the Constitution.
