Howdy, folks!  It is good to be with you one more time.   To review, my name is Jack.  I am a German Shepherd.  I was invited to live in southern Wisconsin, and I adopted a boy.  He comes with a mom and a dad, so they are mine, too.  I grew up there, and I am the king. I am three years old.  Folks remark at how handsome I am.  I have silver-sable coloring.  But that is not my … [Read more...]

Long before the current AI craze, farmers were knee-deep in “AI” every single day – but this was a whole different kind of artificial intelligence. It wasn’t the kind of thing that could run algorithms to predict the stock market, or write you a Shakespearean sonnet on demand. Nope, this was the real deal: Artificial Insemination. And I’ll tell you what, if they’re giving out … [Read more...]

I recently heard one of my daughters tell someone; “You’re famous-er than Taylor Swift!” What a crazy thought! It got me thinking about fame and things in my life that are most important. How would I act if I were to spend a day with someone who I admired and who was most famous to me? Sometimes we like to imagine what it would be like to host a famous person for a day. How … [Read more...]

“You learn to cook so that  you don’t have to be a slave  to recipes” – Julia Child I am a combination of a man of a certain age, self-employed for 20 some years, and kind of retired.  Together over the years it has allowed me to do a lot more cooking.  Moving from the Twin Cities some 20 years ago, and living in the country without a new fun and interesting ethnic … [Read more...]

Howdy there, folks!  I am glad to meet you.  My name is Jack.  I am a German Shepherd.  I came from Northern Wisconsin.  I was invited to live in southern Wisconsin, and I adopted a boy.  He comes with a mom and dad, so they are mine, too. I grew up there, and I learned my new territory well.  I am the king.  My boy brings me water when I need it, and food when I want it.  … [Read more...]

“It feels like we’ve been sick most of the cold and flu season,” she sighed.  Forced to skip two of their favorite weekly activities, she stayed home with sick kiddos while being sick herself. Personally, I vote that moms shouldn’t be allowed to take care of sick kids while being sick themselves, but colds don’t care to listen to me. Seems like everyone needs mom even … [Read more...]

By Angela Denstad Time and again a new year dawns and we’re urged to identify areas in which we might improve ourselves. And just as quickly, we’re presented with grim statistics of how few of us reach our goals. “Quitter’s Day” was last Friday and, if you failed to observe it, good for you! But are the majority of us just lazy and uninspired? I choose to believe … [Read more...]