Down on the Farm

Although I live in the woods, my awareness of nature has been expanded by a trail four miles distant that follows the path of an old rail bed. I remember...

As science finds cures for many diseases, people live longer. However, the longer we live, the more likely we will acquire the disease for which, as yet, there is no...

According to some in the business, Minnesota's nursing home system is in financial trouble because people seem to think that no matter what their net worth, when it comes time...

Every culture thinks it has everything figured out and that the world would be a better place if everybody were more like us. In rural Minnesota we pride ourselves on...

About twenty years ago, I reached a fork in the road. It was time to either commit to the small town, join the family business and try to make a...

As the swamp in front of my house in Minnesota springs back to life, I think back to the truly odd history of wildlife in New Zealand. Completely isolated for...

Nothing like a spell of incredibly good weather to bring out the inherent pessimism of the good folks on the northern Great Plains. As the temperature climbs into the 70s...

In 1980, New Zealand farmers were amongst the most highly-subsidized in the world. A complex system of price supports, tariffs and government payments kept things at a fairly even keel...

New Zealand has nearly eradicated change. By change, I mean the stuff that jingles in your pocket when you come home from town, rattles in the drier, piles up on...

While passing through the capitol of New Zealand, Wellington, we visited some of the people who hosted me during my last visit as a student twenty-five years ago. Marcus was...

The sparsely-populated South Island of New Zealand lies about as close to Antarctica as you can get without a plane or boat. Yet, it contains a gaudy variety of scenery...

First stop in New Zealand: The coastal town of Mangawhai, north of Auckland, on the east coast, looking out towards several islands. We scheduled two days in a small coastal...

After fifteen years of loyalty to Arizona, this winter brings a new warm weather destination: New Zealand. By going to New Zealand in February, you don't just escape to warmth,...

Turns out, finding oil on your land is a little like winning the lottery. Everybody dreams they'll win the lottery, but most all lottery winners soon come to rue the...

Provocative Korean-born violinist Hahn-bin pranced and preened his way across the wood floor of the North Dakota Museum of Art in Grand Forks last Sunday as a part of the...