How fortunate that throughout the ages of reason, December's magic prevails. You see it everywhere -- on modest lawns brilliant with holiday displays, in the twinkle of a crossing guard's eye, within the arms of a high school Santa Claus, in a tidy stall of a brand new stable. December's magic rises like the moon [...]
Light can mesmerize us in almost any form -- the sun's rise or set, the long stretch of our shadow on the sidewalk, the rainbow prism of a lead glass window, shadow puppets on a ceiling. It both reveals and creates the kind of art that changes each time you look. It can define a [...]
Seasons don't mess around here in Wisconsin. They either show up to play, or they sit the bench. Spring, for instance, redshirted this year and we jumped right into summer, which is a glorious development, if you ask me. I like to think of summer as the Giannis of seasons, the kind you revel in [...]
Just east of Harry Houdini's synagogue and the newspaper building Edna Ferber once roamed, a photogenic owl family has become Appleton's newest Who's hoo hoo hoooo. Birders, photographers and curious wanderers flock to the park to study and capture the unusual scene. Science enthusiasts and small children study the pellets they leave behind. And, high [...]
Note: I wrote this piece before the tragic events unfolded at the Waukesha parade last week and I considered dumping it in the face of such inexplicable heartache. I'm still not sure posting it is the right thing to do, but I want to acknowledge all the hard work that went into last Saturday's event [...]