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12/11/2009 1:02:41 PM
Winter Woes
“BLIZZARD WARNING!” “Snow accumulations of eight to 14 inches!” “Heavy wind may push drifts to seven feet or higher!” More...
10/27/2009 3:37:21 PM
Living Large
With yet another birthday under my belt, I’m even more aware of the relentless, groaning approach of my own mortality. More...
10/2/2009 10:59:30 AM
My "Worthless" Dog
Is there a difference between “farm dogs” and “city dogs”? I realized recently that there must be to some people, after my daughter and I met fellow animal-lover while volunteering at a Des Moines animal shelter. More...
9/23/2009 4:21:27 PM
The Chicken AND the Egg
If you asked a child what a “Frizzle” is, they’d probably guess some type of candy on a stick. An Araucana? Maybe some kind of anaconda-sized snake from the Amazon? More...
9/15/2009 3:09:43 PM
Thank You, Norman
“Thank you”; two little words that we don’t say often enough, but by uttering, have the power to motivate or change the world around us. More...
8/5/2009 10:28:47 AM
Organic Or Conventional? Choice Is Yours
It was a slender, frosted, bejeweled wonder of a bottle - promising refreshment, class and sophistication in a single sip. More...
7/13/2009 3:07:59 PM
Meat Is Sexy
“Young Idols With Cleavers Rule the Stage” screamed a recent New York Times headline. Apparently, in places where customers are not likely to ever see a cow or farm in their lives, meat is cool and the men who serve it up, sexy. More...
6/22/2009 11:02:39 AM
Giving Credit Where Credit is Due
The air was sticky with humidity as my daughter and I took a walk with our dog around beautiful Gray’s Lake in Des Moines. More...
6/12/2009 11:08:02 AM
Life Smells Better Without Television
I don’t like television. I mean, I can’t believe I’m writing that, especially since I made my living on TV all those years…. More...
6/3/2009 4:23:49 PM
I Try, Therefore I Am
Another school year is drawing to an end and with it, I have a certain sense of marvel and mixed regret when I look at my beautiful 12-year-old daughter. More...
5/11/2009 3:15:26 PM
Crowbars, Flu & Scary Things
It was four-feet long, rusted, with a vicious-looking hook on one end; yep—it was a crowbar. My husband found it in our backyard, resting up against the fence like it had been there for years—belonged there. But we knew better. More...
4/13/2009 1:02:23 PM
Ketchup Sandwiches
Remember what it was like when you were 12? I remember doing chores on the farm, ‘befriending’ barn mice and catching frogs in the nearby stream (no wonder my mom would frequently lock us out of the house until we emptied our pockets!). More...
4/2/2009 2:37:56 PM
Ode To The Return of Spring
With the 2009 legislature winding into the final stretch, you’ll be hearing more about what should be included in the budget and what we could probably do without. More...
3/26/2009 1:47:15 PM
A Cow Is Not A Dog
When someone tells you they have a little dog at home, what’s the first image that comes to mind - a “barky-barky” pacing-the-floor-like-a-maniac dog that pees on the carpet every time the doorbell rings? More...
2/18/2009 2:48:08 PM
The Compassionate Farmer
It was a love affair that started at the age of 11. In fact, the first time Jennifer Allen saw Molly she was hooked. More...
12/11/2008 3:16:23 PM
Teachable Moments
A valuable part of being a parent is taking advantage of those ‘Life Lessons’ when they come along. My daughter had one such lesson this Thanksgiving. More...
10/17/2008 3:15:12 PM
Choosing Chickens Over Children
The world’s population; 6.7 billion: the number of hungry people in our world today: 923 million. Oprah’s daily audience for her TV talk show: 7 million. What it would mean for Oprah to realize that starving children are more important than chickens: priceless. More...
9/29/2008 2:03:54 PM
Chasing Butterflies
Guided by nothing but 25 million years of instinct, a tiny, fragile creature that weighs less than a dime flies thousands of miles to a place it’s never been to find its ‘true love’. More...
9/22/2008 3:13:54 PM
Ode To Hamster Funerals, Cat Tiaras and Doggie Beds
We had a funeral for a hamster this week. No, seriously. One of my 11-year-old’s hamsters got out of its cage and one of our cats, well, ate it (part of it, anyway). More...
8/1/2008 2:40:31 PM
Change; What's in a Name?
How do you feel about change? Once you think about it, there are two kinds of change; the slow kind that creeps up on you gradually, almost imperceptibly like a wrinkle; one you didn’t notice until the day that 20-year-old makeup counter girl tried to sell you “miracle eraser cream” for crow’s feet you never knew you had. More...
6/17/2008 10:04:49 PM
Farmers Rise Above the Challenge of Floodwaters
This is just all a little too familiar: network journalists in hip waders, skirting the edge of a rising river; kids diving into the ‘deep end’ of a flooded playground; sandbags and kybos dotting the streets everywhere. Yes, the floods are back and they’re looking ‘bigger and badder’ than those most Iowans remember in 1993. But then, as now, Iowans are proving their mettle. More...
5/13/2008 12:30:28 PM
AN IOWAN'S ARGUMENT FOR COMMON SENSE
I’ve decided that I’m NOT going to go outside ever again. I’m also going to throw out all my Tupperware, any and all products containing corn or ‘corn syrup’, my microwave and my cats. More...
4/18/2008 10:06:37 AM
THE PRICE OF PROGRESS
I had to rush to the grocery store to pick up a few things for my daughter’s 11th birthday party, and I did what any busy Mom does when shopping for her family; convenience guided my choice. More...
3/10/2008 10:26:47 AM
WE ALL LIVE IN A WATERSHED
Zeus wasn’t looking so good. My 10-year-old daughter and I hand-picked the somewhat studious-looking, playful goldfish because we read that Black Moores are easy to care for and hardy. The water temperature was just right. He wasn’t overfed. So why had Zeus resigned himself to the bottom of our tank, fin tails hanging limply by his side? More...
2/25/2008 11:12:14 AM
PUTTING ANIMALS FIRST
It was one of those days; I overslept; scorched my shirt on the ironing board; the dog apparently thought it more fun to sniff and root through yellow spots in a nearby snowdrift than do ‘his business’; my daughter suddenly decided that she hated toaster waffles and refused to eat; I missed breakfast (my daughter served her ‘boring’ waffle to the un-repentant dog) and lunch (skipped to write a report which was unexpectedly requested). More...
1/7/2008 10:02:53 AM
2008: A New Perspective on the New Year
Now that your 2007 calendar is in the garbage and your 2008 one is tacked to the wall, it’s only natural that we look back at what we’ve learned in the past year, and plan for what we hope to glean from the new one. More...
10/31/2007 12:11:30 PM
DON'T LOOK BACK
Birthdays are welcome but humbling events for Baby Boomers like me. More...
9/28/2007 4:14:22 PM
WHAT IS NEWSWORTHY?
I was 18 when I started my news career at a small radio station in north-central Iowa. Twenty-two years, six radio and two television newsrooms later; I can say that experience gave me an inside look at what makes issues ‘newsworthy’. More...
8/28/2007 8:21:38 AM
THE ETHANOL 'BLAME GAME'
As my 10-year-old prepares for a new school year, I’m reminded of the value versus the cost of items which she considers “must have’s” for school: $90 for a backpack with wheels, $100 for a reading lamp that fits by her bed, $40 for a pair of ‘cool’ jeans with sparkles…and so on. More...
6/15/2007 8:54:37 AM
HANGIN' WITH THE TEUTULS -- IOWA'S GREEN SIDE MAKES NATIONAL TV
It was a day like many this Spring in Iowa; it had poured the night before and the day before that, idling farmers who were trying to wrap up Spring planting. More...
5/18/2007 9:35:27 AM
FOOD FOR THOUGHT IN NATIONAL BEEF MONTH
May is National Beef Month and it’s times like these that anti-meat-eater headlines capture the nation’s attention. More...
3/22/2007 3:10:59 PM
WHEN THE GOIN' GETS TOUGH...
Now that it’s officially Spring, it should be ‘safe’ to look back and pat ourselves on the back for making it through a particularly long and harsh winter. More...
3/1/2007 8:17:34 AM
IOWA: THE STATE WE LOVE
Another Valentine’s Day has come and gone. My daughter’s handmade Valentine’s box has become a forlorn kind of centerpiece on our dining room table. More...
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