5 Outdoorsy Activities For Midwest Winters

These are dark times for lovers of the great outdoors. I mean literally, dark times. Winter has some stinkin’ short days. If you winter in the Midwest, you also have to put up with gray cloud cover, air capable of freezing your soul, dead plants as far as the eye can see, and bad weather killing your travel plans. With less beauty to enjoy and temperatures that seem to preclude leisurely walks...

The Last Star Wars Review (for awhile)

**INITIAL DISCLAIMERS** Spoilers abound in this review. Duh. Fair warning: if the two newest Star Wars movies are a source of inspiration and hope to you, don’t let me be a rainy hater on your parade. You keep hoping and being inspired. But do at least hear out and consider my comments about the integrity of art and the weird relationship I’m seeing between truth-telling narratives and...

Charlottesville Is Not So Very Far From Home

When I was about 8 or 9 years old, we heard that a chapter of the KKK planned to hold a white supremacy rally in my small Midwestern town. Whether this was planned or just rumored I’m not sure, but we took the threat seriously. My father heard that concerned citizens intended to protest the rally to show their disapproval of white supremacy, to show the KKK that they could not claim our town as...