Columns
From the Back Porch
For as long as I can remember, a year’s calendar has been both a necessity and a pleasure. Late December or early January a new calendar would appear, picked up in town or mailed...
The Coffee Table
Southern Comfort?
There’s an interesting Texas politician popping up in the news these days: James Talarico. My Australian daughter brought him to my attention back in January. In February, Stephen Colbert interviewed Talarico, but CBS blocked...
American Insights
Words Worth Remembering: Washington’s Warning of the Love of Power
George Washington was once again in the spotlight. It was nothing new. Years earlier, in late December 1783, George III, once Washington’s king, described the...
Dinner for Six
A Seat at the Table
A quick-fire Q&A with the people who make our town interesting, and six people they would invite to dinner.
Rae Hahn is a devoted Chicago Cubs and Bears fan who moved...
Back Porch Thoughts
The magic of White Street is low right now, re-energizing for the months ahead. Last fall I saw magic as I stood in the parking lot at Ermilio’s. I saw humans become butterflies.
A half...
The Coffee Table
From Between the Sheets
Most mornings I wake up slowly with cafe au lait and online puzzles while nestled between the sheets. I love Squaredle, a fairly sophisticated word-search puzzle requiring a healthy vocabulary and morphological proficiency....
This Week’s Independent Thinker
Athletic teams representing a sovereign country or territory showed up in Italy on Feb. 6 for a quadrennial event that brought more than 93 countries of the world together. What a concept.
Competitors were out...
The Reel News
Pictured is guide Robert Kennedy with Busch Mountain Fishing Guide Service, with an awesome walleye.
Beaver tailwaters
Fishing hasn’t been easy lately — no point sugarcoating it — but anglers who stay patient and fish clean...
The Dirt on Nicky
Plants in their own words
There are a multitude of things in the dang universe, and some of them are plants. I can’t speak about lichens because I’m not that smart, but plants I encounter...
Esoteric Astrology as news for week February 25 – March 3, 2026
A Retrograde, an Eclipse, the Lantern Festival & Extraterrestrials!
Wednesday, February 25, the first Mercury retrograde of 2026 begins at 22 degrees Pisces, moving back to 8 degrees Pisces. Mercury stations direct at the Equinox,...
