As hurried and busy as life seems these days, we still spend plenty of time waiting. Estimates are that we can spend an average of six months of our life waiting.   I thought about waiting recently...

A long, long time ago when I worked in newsrooms far, far away, I liked to tell aspiring journalists my definition of news: it’s what people are talking about.   It was justification and rationalization...

One constant I’ve noticed in myself as I’ve grown older is that I’ve become more reflective. Perhaps that comes with age, but there are times when I see or hear something and it makes me physically...

As we settle into winter and the appearance of that four-letter word that is both cherished and hated, I’d like to take a moment to thank J.W. Elliot.   It was Elliot, hailing from Toronto,...

All journeys begin with a step. I thought about that as I ventured outside for the first time since my left hip was replaced eight days ago. Slowly, one foot in front of the other, I walked without...

As we settle into winter and the appearance of that four-letter word that is both cherished and hated, I’d like to take a moment to thank J.W. Elliot. It was Elliot, hailing from Toronto, Canada who...

Regular and faithful readers of my meanderings will recall that my name does not come up with the mention of fashion icons. I dress seasonally with the notion that clothes serve a utilitarian purpose to...

The big combines of today make short work of combining corn, moving up and down the fields, harvesting several rows of stalks at a time. It’s a far cry from 50 years ago, when my father used a one-row...

I knew the rainfall was heavy when I spotted overflowing creeks while driving home the night of Oct. 24. It was raining steadily as we headed north from La Crosse but nothing like the wall of water that...

Let’s set the record straight – I am not an economist – which the Bureau of Labor Statistics defines as “an expert who studies the relationship between a society’s resources and its production...

Back Home by Chris Hardie Download this column as a Word document Download the photos that accompany this story Chris Hardie’s headshot   Last week I wrote about the remaining...

A year ago I wrote about some of the historic or memorable bridges that I have crossed or traveled to – including a few located near my home in western Wisconsin. The topic was a hit with readers,...