Another time I realized I wasn’t in Iowa any more while I was traveling out East early this month was when we were driving in six lanes of pretty solid traffic in the Boston area. I was thankful not to be behind the wheel of our rental car. My traveling companion lives in Atlanta and deals ...

Carry out a random act of kindness, with no expectation of reward, safe in the knowledge that one day someone might do the same for you. -Princess Diana I’m always amazed by some of the acts of kindness I see in our community. People step up, share their talents, express their generosity, ...

Fall nights with freezing temperatures have returned, and while some gardeners welcome wrapping up garden chores for the winter, it is not time to relax yet. Now is the time to wrap young and newly planted trees for protection against sunscald or injury from deer, rabbits, rodents and other ...

(In observance of National Newspaper Month, I have asked Buford P. Inkster, publisher/editor of the Cornfield Weekly Sheller, to write a guest column. Mr. Inkster is reputed to be Iowa's oldest active newspaper publisher.) What a year 2018 has been, folks! Why, I can’t remember a harvest ...

“I’m not in Iowa anymore,” I thought last week as I sat on the middle deck of a ship enjoying a leisurely afternoon cruise on Lake George, the longest inland lake in the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York. We motored along at a steady pace that allowed plenty of time to see ...

Around the country last week, 4-H club members and volunteers celebrated National 4-H Week. Beginning more than 100 years ago, 4-H has become one of the nation's largest youth development organization. The 4‑H idea is simple: help young people and their families gain the skills needed to ...

I’m very fortunate to have been able to fish in a lot of different places during the past several decades. I’ve got lots of memories of outstanding fishing trips with wonderful people. Many of those memorable fishing trips occurred in the autumn. The fall months are a great time to be ...

With the deluge of rainfall we have received, many gardeners are feeling pressured and worry about getting fall garden work completed. But don't panic, some garden chores can wait until drier weather. Working wet garden soils can compact the soil, so don't play in the mud. Delay until ...

It seems like it’s getting colder earlier this year. While we’ll probably get some warmer weather before ice covers the lakes and ponds, the cold weather is a good reminder of what’s coming. Temperatures in the 40’s and 50’s can encourage the fish to go on the bite, and the ...

Fishing after the sun goes down is a foreign concept to a lot of anglers, and there’s good reason for that. An angler certainly can’t see as well as night as they can during the day, so simple tasks like tying on a new lure gets a little more complicated. There are lots of reasons why an ...

It’s National Coffee Day today! Time to celebrate! With a cup of coffee, of course. I am always amazed at how good that first cup of morning coffee tastes every single day. Somehow, I think that after so many of those mornings a cup of coffee would lose its appeal, but for me it ...

While listening to the radio recently I heard a commentator observe that we are living in a “highly charged political environment.” Wow! Talk about understatement. Now, I can’t say too much because I am an opinionated guy myself and have probably ignited as many political firestorms as ...

In walleye country, it’s apparent that autumn is not far away. The days are still warm, but not as warm as they were 2 weeks ago, and, most noticeably, the nights are cooling down. Autumn means different things to different people, but for walleye chasers, it’s maybe our favorite time ...

Fall is almost here! Does anyone else love autumn as much as I do? Just give me sweatshirt weather, a pretty spot to sit outside in the nice weather, a cat on my lap or a dog at my feet, a good book, and a cup of tea and I am set. I look forward to this time of year every single year, even ...

With cooler weather, fall is the time of year for planting spring blooming bulbs to add spring color to your garden. For best results, plant spring-flowering bulbs in clusters or groups to achieve the greatest visual impact in the garden. When planting daffodils and tulips, plant 10 or more ...

A good number of very successful anglers commit a lot of their fall fishing time to rivers, and for good reason. Most rivers are home to a wide variety of fish species. Those different species of fish will gather in the fall and they'll be hungry. If you can find the fish in the fall, you ...

Some 35 years ago I was asked a difficult question: “What are Iowans like?” The question came during a newspaper management training session in Rochester, New York. I was the westernmost participant among a group of some 50 folks, mostly from New England and the Mid-Atlantic ...

So it’s been almost twenty years now since the infamous Sept. 11 attack on the Twin Towers in New York City, as hard as that is to believe. That morning changed our country forever, in subtle ways stealing some of our trust that life would continue as it had always been. What happened that ...

Often when I’m watching television it seems like there are ads for organizations needing money from every part of the world.  Children from faraway places needing food and medical supplies, pet charities in big cities, food programs from the US and abroad, and a ton of assorted other ...

Now is the time to begin planning to bring houseplants that spent the summer out of doors for their safe return into your home. When night time temperatures fall below 45 degrees, plants will begin to stress. Begin their journey back inside before this by bringing them in at night, and ...