Columnists
09/21/2026 · Mequon
The Tiny Reset That Keeps Your Day From Becoming One Long Blur
Your attention doesn’t instantly follow you from one task to the next. A two-minute closing ritual can help your brain put one thing down before you pick up another.
The Tiny Word That Makes Dickinson’s Hope Fly
Emily Dickinson doesn’t describe hope as a feeling, a plan, or a promise. She calls it “the thing with feathers”—and that oddly modest word, thing, is where the poem’s magic begins.
09/21/2026
The Radical Meaning of “Power Over Themselves”
Mary Wollstonecraft was not asking women to trade one kind of domination for another. In a sentence that still cuts through a great deal of noisy advice, she made autonomy—not superiority—the point.
09/21/2026
Washington’s Power Test, Wall Street’s Patience Problem
The president keeps pressing the limits of executive power while Congress searches for a way to keep the government funded. Meanwhile, households keep paying for an economy that looks stronger on paper than it feels at the checkout counter.
09/21/2026
Museum Labels Need to Stop Writing Novels
The tiny paragraph beside a painting should help us see the art, not challenge us to a hostage negotiation. Museums, please: fewer footnotes, more human beings.
09/21/2026
Davis, West Virginia: The Weekend Road Trip Where the Water Runs Black
Drive into Davis for mountain air, excellent pizza, and a waterfall the color of strong tea. It’s an easy weekend that feels much farther from civilization than it actually is.
09/21/2026
The Push-Up Fix: Make Your Chest Do the Work
A push-up is not just a moving plank. Small changes in hand position, body alignment, and shoulder control can turn it from a useful full-body exercise into a wobbly argument with gravity.
09/21/2026
The Crispiest Chicken Thighs Start in a Cold Cast-Iron Pan
Chicken thighs, cabbage, and an apple turn into a one-pan dinner with crackling skin and a sweet-salty pan sauce. The trick is wonderfully unglamorous: begin cold, and leave the chicken alone.
09/21/2026
Build a Better Birdhouse From One Fence Board
In one afternoon, you can turn a single cedar board into a sturdy nest box for small cavity-nesting birds. The trick is not a fancy roof—it’s the entrance hole, drainage, and one detail beginners nearly always forget.
09/21/2026
The Last Push of the Outgoing Tide Is Still the Best Bet
Cold water has fish acting stupid in all the right ways. Find moving water, throw something that looks injured, and quit worshiping the middle of the tide.
09/21/2026
Brunch Is Out: Go to a Swap Meet Like You Have a Personality
This week’s best plans involve dusty records, public arguments about movies, and buying a lamp you absolutely do not need. I am officially declaring the neighborhood swap meet superior to brunch.
09/21/2026
Emerald Lake: Rocky Mountain’s Greatest Hits, Without the Ego
The Emerald Lake Trail in Rocky Mountain National Park packs lodgepole pine, three mountain lakes, and a genuinely jaw-dropping view into 3.3 miles. It’s crowded, yes—but there’s a reason, and a few tricks make the walk much more enjoyable.
09/21/2026
Good News With a Toolbox, a Fridge, and a Lynx
Libraries lend more than books, neighbors stock food for strangers, and a wild cat has clawed its way back from the edge. Progress looks practical this week.
09/21/2026
Rainbow River: Florida’s Clear-Blue Conveyor Belt
The Rainbow River looks lazy until the current grabs your bow and starts making decisions for you. Here’s how to paddle its spring-fed miles without becoming an accidental float-trip passenger.
09/21/2026
Alligators at the Window, Libraries Under Review
A live alligator entered the drive-thru phase of its life, while a homeowners association discovered that a tiny public library can apparently threaten the structural integrity of a neighborhood.
09/21/2026
Tuesday’s Spring Sky Has Receipts
The Moon is stirring the group chat, Mars is tapping its foot, and the global news cycle is louder than a kettle left boiling. Read your sign before you answer that message with “per my last email.”
09/21/2026