There are certain times of the year when it seems like everyone takes a collective deep breath…and then starts running. The kids are back in school. Fall schedules are filling up. Summer projects are being finished—or at least being moved to the "next year" list. On the farm, hay season is winding down and there is always one more fence to fix, one more thing to put away, one more job that needs doing. And suddenly, the calendar is full. So what is usually the first thing we

There are certain days that make you stop and think about how short and unpredictable life really is. September 11 is one of those days. Twenty-five years ago today, people woke up and went about their morning expecting an ordinary day. They went to work. They took their children to school. They kissed their spouses goodbye. They made plans for later that day. They had no idea their lives were about to change forever. And every September 11, I find myself thinking about that.

The cicadas have been singing outside my door lately. And every time I hear them, I am taken right back to being a little girl at my Granny's beach cottage in Northern Wisconsin. There was something about the sound of cicadas there in August that told me summer was coming to an end. I didn't need a calendar. I didn't need someone to tell me. I just knew. Soon there would be school supplies to buy, new Buster Browns to break in, (yes, I'm THAT old) earlier bedtimes, and the fa