Little Pasture on the Prairie

I’ve lived mostly in northern climates where long, cold winters are expected. In Minnesota and South Dakota, the two states in which I’ve spent the most time, one can expect winter to last through April and sometimes even well into May.

The parable of the croaking frogs

A man came to town and asked the owner of a restaurant if he could use a million frog legs. The proprietor asked where he could find so many frogs. “I’ve got a pond at home just full of them,” the man replied. “They drive me crazy day and night!

Reminiscence (Part 2)

Sometimes we measure our days not by what has been gained, but by what has been lost. When I was a young kid growing up on the reservation, it was a common daily experience to hear people speaking in their native languages around town, be it Lakota, German or one of the Scandinavian languages.

Medicaid expansion: A positive for South Dakota

South Dakota voters will go to the polls this November to decide if our state should become the 39th state to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act.

Little Pasture on the Prairie

I don’t remember the first time I read ‘All Creatures Great and Small,’ the famous semi-autobiographical book written by a country vet, but I remember that I loved it.

Reminiscence (Part 1)

I often find myself looking backward more than forward the older I get, and with good reason. I remember not so long ago, everyone watched kids. If any kid was doing something that would break something or hurt someone, any person within earshot would do whatever it took to stop that kid.

Little Pasture on the Prairie

We are only halfway through, but this has already been the Januariest January we’ve had in a while. Day after day of deep cold, high winds, no new snow but plenty of new drifts, and we are all feeling chilled to the bone and more than a little weary.

Stray Thoughts: The Hollow

We love the whole process of Christmas. Getting the house decorated, preparing for the kids to return, all the activities that go into making a dozen meals during their time off from college, and the actual events of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing

Imagine a condition with symptoms that present differently in each person who has it and no currently approved lab test can definitively confirm the diagnosis. Imagine that the symptoms can flare up and then mysteriously disappear, including fatigue, low grade fevers, joint pain, and mouth sores.

Little Pasture on the Prairie

This morning, as I sat down to work on my column, I found a small scrap of paper on my desk with the following words scrawled on it: See Joy Seek Joy I’d written the words a few days before, contemplating New Year’s resolutions, and then forgotten all about them.