By Pastor Bridget Sheely Co-Pastor of Prairieland Parish As we walk through each day and navigate our way through ups and downs, joys and concerns, happy moments and heartache, it becomes very clear that this earthly life is anything but redundant, mundane or one dimensional. Yes, we can feel at times that we are stuck in a rut. But the truth is we all have our peak and … [Read more...]
Peering at the Past – Coulee Region’s Poet Laureate from Looney Valley
When she stopped at the homes of friends and found no one home, she would spontaneously pen a short poem and leave it at the door so they would know that Edith Thompson had stopped to call. Far beyond her friends’ doors, the Houston County native influenced countless lives, coast to coast, directly as a teacher and social worker. Indirectly, even more knew her as a soil … [Read more...]
Thyme & Again – A Good Go-Around
By Angela Denstad Stigeler Time and again as winter trudges along, my tastebuds begin to grow a little weary of slow-braised roasts and hearty stews, as if there’s only so much culinary comfort one can stand. A first-world problem, to be sure, about which I’m fortunate to be able to complain. But nevertheless, somewhere along midwinter, I find it’s time for a break from the … [Read more...]
Money Can’t Buy Happiness Unless you Buy a Backscratcher
We are spoiled. I once sat around a dimming campfire, holding a flashlight under my chin and telling my grandchildren that I’d once left home without my phone. That scary story provided nightmares for years. I watched a dairy cow. She wasn’t holding a flashlight under her chin and telling frightening stories to calves about eating hay with a thistle in it. She was … [Read more...]
Journal Writing Project – The Northern Lights and the Solar Cycle
By Sarah Schneekloth Over this past year I was able to witness and enjoy the northern lights multiple times. This awe inspiring sight reminded me of the stories about the lights that my parents told me throughout my childhood; where the lights would dance across the sky and light up the entire area. From their stories I always thought that the northern lights were something … [Read more...]
Pastor Devotions – The Word of the Lord Endures Forever
By Pastor Mark Geselle Valley Christian Center “For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. For, “all people are like grass, and all their glory (like the K. C. Chiefs) is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord endures forever. And this is … [Read more...]
Fillmore County Flashback – Native American Mounds
By Sally Ryman Rushford Historical Society Native American mounds in the Driftless region are generally massive earthen effigy mounds that are concentrated on high bluffs and ridge crests overlooking rivers. If you’ve been lucky enough to watch “Decoding the Driftless,” you’ve seen them photographed from the air. Created by various Native Americans hundreds to … [Read more...]
Call it Opossum or Possum – it’s Not Coming When you Call
The dog wouldn’t fetch. So, I pulled the Sunday newspaper from our rural mailbox. I lugged it to my father, who read the comics to me. The funny pages were a wonderland of color and wit. My father added voices that brought “Dennis the Menace,” “Marmaduke,” “Peanuts,” “Beetle Bailey,” “Mark Trail” and “Dick Tracy” to life. I enjoyed “Pogo” and “Li’l Abner,” but I didn’t … [Read more...]
The Messy Apron Chronicals – Backyard Chickens
Making smart choices that mix practical benefits with timeless wisdom from the past for a joyful and fulfilling lifestyle! In 1918, the phrase “Two hens in the backyard for every person” was popularized by Uncle Sam as part of a campaign to encourage citizens to raise backyard chickens during World War I. The U.S. government promoted this initiative to help individuals … [Read more...]
Peering at the Past – From Footpaths to Train Tracks in the Root River Valley
Before white settlers arrived, the Root River Valley was known as the “Land of Hokah,” and the Native Americans called the river, “Hokah.” They were nomadic hunters and gatherers, who also cultivated some crops. They moved from camp to camp, traveling mostly on foot, occasionally by canoe. Their horses, described by historian Alden O. Droivold as “round-bellied ponies,” were … [Read more...]