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There’s joy out there

You know, even in times of trial and tribulation, there's joy to be found. It had been a bit of a downer day so I went for a stroll. I knew a new store that featured items for men was holding a grand opening, so I decided to see what it was all about. And I'm darn glad I did! As I viewed the numerous items on the store's shelves, the owner came over to me. We started a chat about the many unique gift items in the store, and he explained the sources of many of the items. They are all made in country and there's sustainability (growing trees) associated with one clothing item. It was ...

Calling spring

The call rang out from one side of the lake and was echoed from the other by a different set of voices as I finished off the morning’s work at the lake cabin. Having been a long winter, I had seemingly for just a second forgotten what the loud warbling was going on between the two sets of ...

Sweeping up the ladybugs

Pam and I have a nice house. It’s one of those old farmhouses that’s been remodeled a hundred different ways. Since the kids left, it’s just Pam and me. And a few thousands of ladybugs. Several times a day, I go around the house sweeping ladybugs into a dustpan and tossing them outside. Depending on the time of day, they gather around different windows. The siege of ladybugs is worse in the country. Townie friends report that some of the little buggers make it to the big city. If you don’t have them, be thankful for avoiding this pestilence. In the fall, they are ...

Military museums give much needed credit to veterans

I had an interesting experience this week on Monday morning, one that involved a wide panorama of Midwestern history. I was part of a bus tour group that went to the Gold Star Military Museum at Camp Dodge west of Des Moines, Iowa. The stop was the last segment of a three-day mystery tour trip to Des Moines, one that also included a Saturday night musical and a Sunday visit to a downtown arts center. The museum is one of the best I’ve ever seen. It tells the complete story of Iowa’s role in our nation’s wars, from frontier days to Afghanistan. The exhibit hall starts with ...

Suite Liv’n repairs reputation by giving back to the community

Eric Miller with Suite Liv’n sent me an email a couple weeks ago inviting the Independent to cover a community outreach event involving apartment residents. The email stated that volunteers would be gathering to paint small flower pots and then add the soil and seeds. The pots were ...

Congressional Republicans fail to protect the BWCA

Minnesota’s Republican members of Congress — Pete Stauber, Brad Finstad, Michelle Fischbach, and Tom Emmer — supported H.J. Res. 140, overturning protections for over 234,000 acres just outside the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCA) in Minnesota, thereby opening the door to potential copper-nickel sulfide mining next to the BWCA. As a registered Republican I am disgusted by their choice to support a foreign mining company rather than to protect Minnesota’s most pristine natural environment. The H.J. Res. 140 decision passed both houses of Congress along party lines ...