Viewing a travel destination not only in terms of what it is, but what it once was and has now become, can give us the perspective to fly above the crowds.
Culture
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Don’t let go of the Wickelfisch
Even in today's overconnected world, there are pockets of society where unique technologies remain unique to the locale, and show no signs of fading away. The Wickelfisch is one of them.
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Lost and found
One of the mildly endearing traits of a Midwest winter is the January thaw -- when the accumulation of several snowfalls momentarily reverses itself, teasing us with a head fake toward a still-distant spring. But as icy sidewalks begin to clear, what becomes of the items we've lost?
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No room for cream, please
What's in that glass? An examination of what we're getting, and not getting, with the standard conical pint glass.
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The patience of the projectile point
Variations on a theme of Thanksgiving, as related by the sandy loam.
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Knocking off wild apples
Just as springtime brings the roadside forager to stalk the wild asparagus, fall-time conjures visions of wild apples -- the tart and teasing sugar-plums of this evocative, transitional season.
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Postmodernism and the family farm
What could be more postmodern than a farm that shifts from producing produce, to producing the performance of producing produce?
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The last shift at Cunningham’s
Often, a photograph reaches its true potential only in the fullness of time. These previously unseen images from a Cunningham's Drug Store of the 1950s show that neglected negatives can emerge from hibernation to find a second life that is every bit as robust as the first.
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The forcing function of fire
Any public place where people can freely meet can support socialization — with the people you’ve come with, that is. What is missing is some element that allows groups to break out of their self-containment, and interact in a spontaneous, genuine, and uncontrived manner, with people they didn’t come with. On a cold evening, a shared fire pit can be a social forcing function.
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The extraordinary, ordinary postcard
Despite the ongoing decline of what many disparagingly refer to as “snail mail,” there remains a segment of the population that has not yet lost touch with its unique qualities, and fears the prospect of losing this supposedly archaic medium forever.
