Fearing death can cause suffering

When in life does one come to confront the tough truth that each of us will eventually die? In my years as an internist caring for young and old alike, some people understand this early, and some people never get it. In denying death, we intensify our fear of it.

Little Pasture on the Prairie

Barn cat politics are complicated. They are full of alliances, double-crossing, and violent overthrows. My personal introduction to all this began my first summer on the ranch when a young beauty named Roxy arrived without fanfare to our barn.

Stray Thoughts: Parenthood 1

They start off so small and it all worries you so. Unable to do anything themselves and looking up at you for everything. It is clear they can’t succeed without you. But within days, they can hold things. Within months, they begin to form words. Soon after, they move freely without help.

Well Done!

If you have never restarted life in a new community, you may not understand the complexities involved in learning the names, nicknames, maiden names, past and current relationships, alliances, allegiances, significant places, spaces, dates, and a wide range of political, ethnic, and cultural...

Little Pasture on the Prairie

Lately, I’ve been touting the virtues of daily chores to whomever will listen.

Is all high blood pressure hypertension?

Many people find themselves being told, “Your blood pressure is pretty high today!” You might be at the dentist’s office for a filling, in the emergency room getting stitches after an avocado mishap, or maybe you’re at your annual physical appointment.

Stray Thoughts: Go Figure

Just about the time the mounds of snow from what seemed like the last ice age finished melting and refreezing continuously, daily, all over my sidewalk, and the thousand or so pounds of snow trapped on my roof between my eaves and gutters finally crashed to earth, the boxelder bugs came out of...

Little Pasture on the Prairie

February is full of cultural holidays that celebrate cleaning and decluttering your house. For several years in a row, I tried to use Imbolc, which is at the beginning of the month, as a good deadline to have everything from Christmas and the closed-in winter months thoroughly eradicated.

Stray Thoughts: Upon a Star

The lure of the exotic is real. We’ve all felt it. Faraway places…beautiful settings…unimaginable sights. Being present where we have never been has its own appeal that is difficult to put into words. But the lure of the familiar is more powerful.

Letter to the editor

February is National Career and Technical Education Month. Northwest Area Schools wants to take this opportunity to recognize and thank the NWAS Career and Technical Education Instructors for their dedication and service to the member schools and communities of Northwest Area Schools.