Weekend in the Big City

Ron, my stepdad, is in his mid-eighties. He has never lived more than five miles from his childhood farmhouse. He rarely leaves Wisconsin. He had been to Madison only once in his life and that was to watch his granddaughter play in a softball game. Ron is a good guy,...

Sink or Swim

In March I wrote a blog about changing fitness centers. My former gym, the recreation center on the UW-La Crosse campus, is a wonderful place, but it has limited hours when students are on break. I did switch facilities, and I am now with an organization that seems to...

Urban Wildlife

A large patch of my front yard died over the winter. I am not sure why. The damaged area is directly below a maple tree, so maybe the grass doesn’t receive enough direct sunlight. Maybe the lack of snow this past January failed to insulate parts of my yard from...

Catch and Release

As usually happens, I came back from my annual Canadian fishing trip with the fishing bug. Last Saturday Dennis, Buzz, and I went fishing on the Upper Mississippi in Dennis’ boat. The sky was blue, the fishing was lousy, and the day was a good reminder that retired...

Follow Up

Each one of our Lake of the Woods fishing trips generates a fishing story or two. This is what happens when seven guys fish ten hours a day for six straight days. Our most recent outing generated more than the usual number of good stories, but the best ones did not...
Steven Simpson