La Crosse Public Library

Last night I woke up at 4am. This happens only rarely now that I’ve retired, but when it does I know that just lying there and hoping to fall back to the sleep does not work well. Usually I get up, go into the TV room, and read. Fifteen minutes later, my eyelids droop...

ABC, ABA

Last weekend Manyu and I drove down to Iowa to hear Clare in concert.  She plays violin for Grinnell College’s orchestra.  After the concert, we took Clare and a friend out for an early dinner before Manyu and I started our four and a half hour drive back to La...

A Sand County

Last week was the anniversary of Aldo Leopold’s death in 1948.  As all Leopold fans know, he died of a heart attack fighting a grass fire on some neighbor’s land. Wisconsin has a total of 72 counties, and none of them is named Sand County. There is a Richland...

Work, Not Work

Last week my sister-in-law in Thailand told me her gardener returned to his hometown for the Thai New Year and never came back. She says that this happens to her on a regular basis. She pays well by Thai standards and also gives her worker a free place to live. About...
Steven Simpson