The Days on the Farm
During the 1960s and 70s in Wisconsin, farms were everywhere. As you drove down narrow country roads a familiar sight would be large red barns with rich green cornfields nearby. It always looked so serene. Many times the barn would be decorated with symbols above the door for good luck and in the front yard there'd usually be an old wooden swing hanging from a shagbark hickory or an old oak tree. My family had a few pets and some horses; we even had a small barn, but it wasn'
The Leaf Pile
The leaf pile lay silent on a September afternoon on my parent's lawn in 1969. All through the long days of summer the leaves had soaked up the sun. Absorbing it, converting it to glucose and creating the miracle of photosynthesis. Energy from the bright orb high above that had burned our arms and backs as we ran barefoot through the sprinklers, had provided growth and life to the giant oaks and maples on my parent's property in southeastern Wisconsin. The leaves blew back an
