Heartland

One of the Most Important Choices in Life

In this month of Thanksgiving, we can give thanks that there are miners and sailors and steelworkers and factory workers who provide for us without knowing who we are

Survival in Tough Times, Let it come. The snowbirds have made it safely and we will feed them well for their journey back to the True North when April comes around

Survival in Tough Times: The Golden Guides

Survival in Tough Times: Skills for healthcare today

This morning they’re perfection itself, with old fashioned sweetness in their scent

Survival in Tough Times: I’m here to say that taking advantage of the seasonal bounty is likely a good thing

During that pause we can look philosophically at the slings and arrows we endured today from our adversaries and count our victories, however small

Survival in Tough Times: Bobby Vinton Ray Anthony, Blue Velvet, Bunny Hop, Hokey Pokey

Survival in Tough Times

I do my best thinking when I am staring out a window.

As you go about your day, please look for the late summer flowers and enjoy them. Be sure to savor the moment. Like the summer of 1913, or the summer of ’39 or ’41, especially when we don’t know what lies ahead we can always thank God for today

Here in South Dakota the vine remains inextricably entwined in the memories of my childhood—bittersweet memories, rekindled in these bittersweet woods

Survival in Tough Times: As you read this, dear reader, that little burg is still there, like a thousand others scattered across the Heartland, and good people live and work there

Legends die hard, and this one is no different. But I have learned a valuable lesson from this experience. This year I am placing several hedge balls outside my house--to draw these little critters out. After all, even crickets need homes

The Indiana University: I had landed at a place that turned out to be wonderful, and I had only just arrived

Survival in Tough Times: The Ultimate Weapon

Survival in Tough Times: Unequal justice is no justice at all

Survival in Tough Times: A gaggle this nice is something you don’t see every day.

Survival in Tough Times: Last week was the last week of July. That means here in the Heartland it’s supposed to be hot and humid so we can have lots of corn. It’s July. It’s supposed to be hot and humid, thank God!

Reminders may be found in antique shops, junkyards, old barns, thrift shops, cemeteries, and proper museums. I may run into you coming around the corner where the player piano rolls and the Blackhawk corn shellers are waiting for us

Survival in Tough Times: It was part of a world long gone, but a world we can recall at will. The memories are in color, I just realized

Survival in Tough Times: So they’re murmuring and tut-tutting about Biden, but I don’t hear them saying they’d do anything different. Strange, isn’t it? What would you bet there’s another election year coming up soon? Don’t be fooled

Survival in Tough Times: We should not let a day go by that we don’t thank our lucky stars that we came along after the miracle of the Industrial Revolution

So anyone wishing to avoid responsibility will find the capabilities of AI mesmerizing. For the rest of us the only sensible response to this isn’t just “No.” It’s “Oh, Hell no!”

Survival in Tough Times: Crackle’s lyrics and his guitar part are the best to my way of thinking, and what I always sing. Which is your favorite, dear reader?

Survival in Tough Times: Lessons the old Studebaker taught me

Survival in Tough Times: My paternal grandfather was just Grandpa Smith to me

So it is a solemn duty bequeathed to us by those who served. Go find them. Recall their sacrifice. Never forget

Survival in Tough Times: If you’re out hiking or looking for mushrooms, there are often nostalgic discoveries around the foundations or grounds of old homes and farms. Please share your own favorites in the comment section