Murmuration

If lawns of bluegrass and fescue are ecological deserts, no one’s told the starlings. In late autumn, flocks of the birds suddenly appear in my front yard, peck for thirty, maybe forty seconds, then fly off for the lawn across the street. I don’t know what they are...

The Years Right After College

For a number of years right after college, I had very little money. My apartments were dumps; I usually had no car. I worked odd jobs (e.g., highway crew flagman, Kelly girl, library desk clerk, backpacking store employee). For two reasons, I never looked upon it as a...

Purple Oatmeal

Manyu has been dealing with a stomach ailment for the past couple of months. The primary treatment is a diet so restrictive that she and I now eat separately. The one exception is breakfast, where each morning she prepares a double batch of oatmeal with poached eggs...

A Quizzical Look and Two Thumbs Up

Three weeks ago I mentioned in my blog that I exercise at the recreation center on the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse campus. The facilities are for the students, but currently employed and retired staff can pay an annual fee and use the weight room and the running...

Education for Democracy

Every fall semester I meet (via Zoom) with fifteen to twenty graduate students from Western Carolina University. I always enjoy doing it, as the students, all majoring in experiential and outdoor education, remind me of me fifty years (a half century!) ago. Some of...
Steven Simpson