Our Wisconsin

Someday, I intend to submit a photo or short reflection to Our Wisconsin Magazine because they pay their freelancers with a fresh Amish pie. Sure, I could buy a pie from Yoder’s Bakery, but I really want to earn one and I’m probably going to brag when I do.

Because, I know who bakes those pies. I read about them in my favorite column, the Amish Family Diary. Owen and Treva Yoder, whose farm we pass everytime we drive up to our cabin, bake the pies, and Owen writes the updates with a wink and a chuckle. Here’s an excerpt from the issue I received yesterday:

“Treva starts the laundry and hints about me helping out. I’d best do so! That’s because I’ve just returned from three days at a draft horse auction held at the fairgrounds in Jefferson…and enjoyed every minute of it. Kaufman Farms had a 30-head dispersal there. Our son-in-law John Wayne Kaufman and daughter Katie Mae invited me to join them at this event, and that was a great treat.

“On Thursday, we saw 150 draft horses sold. The top price was $70,000 for a Percheron gelding! Over the course of three days we dished out 45 gallons of homemade ice cream to the crowd. Today, I’ll clean up my ice cream trailer so it’s ready for its next use…that is after I help Treva with the laundry.”

I don’t know Owen but I feel like I do so I give their farm a little nod everytime we pass.

I love that magazine so much I gave subscriptions to it for Christmas. My people love it too.

“I’m reading about two loons that raised an orphan duckling in Our Wisconsin Magazine right now,” my son Charlie texted the family chain last month.

I loved that story too! Katherine’s favorite was a piece about cookie recipe that connected a birth mother with her adult child.

I keep my back issues at our cabin because it’s the kind of magazine that should be read on a porch swing or in front of a crackling fire.

I enjoy the historical pieces, the photography and the short memories. In fact, reading that magazine is my favorite ways to wind down at the end of the day.

I’d love to see some of the more diverse aspects of Wisconsin culture highlighted in the magazine as well.

If you know anyone who gets homesick for Wisconsin, this magazine will cheer them up. And, if you have a good story to tell, submit it! Treva and Owen will bake you a pie.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go read about a dedicated gladiola gardner and the Waldorf of the Wilderness.