In Pursuit of Wonder

The wind whispering across the open, flatness of the pothole prairie defines Morris, MN. Sometimes it whispers like an excited child telling a secret, growing louder and harsher with the excitement. Other times it is a bobcat screeching with rage or a lone wolf howling at the moon. No matter…

  I rolled the snake skin carefully in my hand. It was dry, with a texture like paper. The soft noise it makes when rubbed against itself resemblances crinkling tissue paper but softer. If it had a color it would be white or light gray. The skin is diaphanous, even…

In the late afternoon, bundled up against the bitter cold, my friend Becky and I went on a walk, each with camera in hand. We walked past the sheds, along the fence, through the rested pasture to the fence separating the pasture and our small woods. Pushing the top wire…

It was overcast and snowy this morning; a wet, sticky, heavy snow. The snow fell so fast, in two hours my tracks were completely covered. The snow stopped by 11:00 am, it was still overcast though. The air seemed still and peaceful, not a breeze stirred. By noon, however, the…

The sun wasn’t quite as bright in the afternoon as it had been in the morning and the wind blew fiercely. Mom and I, accompanied by our two golden retrievers, walked out to our prairie. We strolled along the fence line, past the calves and greenhouse, past the shed and…

Leaving the house for a walk, I passed the barn, granary, and sheds on either side of the driveway, the far shed ahead of me. Behind a fence to my left, young heifers and steers graze. On my right is a greenhouse. I followed along the fence to the corner,…

Along my daily walk to the greenhouse is a horse chestnut tree. I stooped down, grasping a chestnut in my hand. I rolled it around in my hand just to feel its smoothness, both the texture and the shape was delightful, calling out to the child in me. I have…