The iron lung. I first saw one in the newsreel at a Saturday matinee. A young boy was encased in a cylinder like a silo on its side. His head rested on a pillow. A mirror hovered above his eyes so he could see the room behind him. The contraption breathed for him. He was there as long as he lived. Polio -- the scourge virus of our time. Damaging our nervous systems, withering limbs, taking our breath. Silently waiting a new host. Lurking in contaminated food or water or contact with an affected person. I feared polio: wasting away in a hollow chamber. Every drop of water a potential virus attack.

The iron lung. I first saw one in the newsreel at a Saturday matinee. A young boy was encased in a cylinder like a silo on its side. His head rested on a pillow. A mirror hovered above his eyes so he could see the room behind him. The contraption breathed for him. He was there as long as he lived. Polio -- the scourge virus of our time. Damaging our nervous systems, withering limbs, taking our breath. Silently waiting a new host. Lurking in contaminated food or water or contact with an affected

Fifty years ago, I halted my horse by the mandrakes, far from the house, so my parents would not hear my sobs. I stepped out of the saddle and sat on a maple, newly fallen. The National Guard shot thirteen students at Kent State. Four died. Just because they protested the Vietnam war.

Fifty years ago, I halted my horse by the mandrakes, far from the house, so my parents would not hear my sobs. I stepped out of the saddle and sat on a maple, newly fallen. The National Guard shot thirteen students at Kent State. Four died. Just because they protested the Vietnam war. As a toddler, my parents put me to bed before sunset. They left the radio on. I heard the words Castro. Khrushchev. Nuclear missile crisis. Cuba. The bald man Khrushchev shouted to America: “We will bury you.” My

Spoiler alert! No solutions are offered in what follows. Only problems are identified.

Spoiler alert! No solutions are offered in what follows. Only problems are identified. A national election looms. Elections require candidates, campaigns, and votes. All are now threatened by grave problems. What are these problems? First, candidates. Primaries remain; remember Wisconsin? Conventions remain; they nominee candidates and construct platforms. Yes cynics, platforms do matter. Mainly Presidential and Vice-Presidential nominations matter. How do we perform these essential democratic

I’ve been watching a pair of yellow-bellied sapsuckers excavate a cavity in a dead white oak behind the shed. Since I’m home all the time, I can wander over and look at them whenever I feel like it, which is more often than you might expect.

I’ve been watching a pair of yellow-bellied sapsuckers excavate a cavity in a dead white oak behind the shed. Since I’m home all the time, I can wander over and look at them whenever I feel like it, which is more often than you might expect. Sapsuckers, a kind of woodpecker, aren’t supposed to be here. They nest in northern Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Canada. In fact, according to the Wisconsin Breeding Bird Atlas, there has never been a confirmed nesting of yellow-bellied sapsuckers in my neck of

I love words. But sometimes this romance is a curse.

I love words. But sometimes this romance is a curse. I am not a word expert. But I should be. I read and write. A lot. Oh, and I’m a journalist. Words are my foundation — bricks for building stories. My touchstones for telling it as it is. And always, always my friends … for being there when I need them. But … I am not a word expert. I keep a dictionary nearby. If you’re in a newsroom you can just shout. “Help! Who knows the rule on lay vs. lie?” “No one!” someone shouts back. “Find a different