When it snows, I mean really snows, our little town totally changes. The atmosphere completely shifts. Our town often has an air of depression surrounding it, but when it snows, that lifts immediately and those snowflakes bring in a feeling of celebration that is palpable. For the last week, the snow has heralded a beautiful …
You can’t have a light without a dark to stick it in. ~Arlo Guthrie Believing only in light and in the sun that drenches us more than 300 days a year in an attempt to avoid the shadows of real life distorts the real life we lead. An integral view of darkness and light, understanding them as …
Fifteen years ago when I moved from St. Louis out west, one thing I learned was that a home was something that many folks built themselves, even if they weren't contractors as a profession. This concept was new to me - that people who worked full-time in other jobs would build themselves a home. They …
Generally research states that people who live in urban areas are happier than those in rural areas. Most indicators of health mirror this research; urban children generally have brighter health status than rural children. Unless the question of crime comes up, most indicators of happiness and health status are higher among urbanites. That begs the question …
There are many folks in my small town learning to cultivate bees. There is more and more awareness that we have responsibility to save honey bees and those of us in the country will probably be the ones to do it. It is sticky business literally but also figuratively when we live with bears and …
Birds are crafty creatures. They’re busy bodies too. After a year of raising chickens my son have a pretty thriving business going. We have steady egg clients, and we have grown to enjoy our chickens like backyard pets. We have found that chickens are strange and beautiful creatures. They spend their days sunbathing–spreading their wings …
Dirt Road Journal 