To say that we need to re-make our relationship with fire is both accurate and dangerous. Accurate because, well, not so many folks cook or heat with wood anymore. I suspect a lot of people’s only experience with it comes once or twice a year,...
Bare branches, you were dark lead around each colored pane. You outlined every piece of winter blue, then the wet violets and gold crocuses of spring. You caged gray flocks of mourning doves, embraced the satin strips of green breaking through black dirt, cupped a cloud, scored the yellow...
In The Stone Sister (Black Lawrence Press, $25.95), Caroline Patterson offers a kaleidoscopic story of loss and redemption centered around a deep family secret and a state institution’s dark past. In the 1950s, infants with Down syndrome were routinely institutionalized, and their parents were told...
In an essay on the history of storytelling, writer Ursula Le Guin posits that, as a species, we have prioritized tales of adventure and action, drama and conflict. Paleolithic hunters returned not just with mammoth meat, but also — and perhaps just as importantly —...
The wind is a river that cannot be dammed up; it flows Through life here in this Chinook country, and you Can embrace its sound or it crazies you. It forever Funnels through that high pass to the Southwest, snaps tall evergreens And bends young saplings to the ground, brings On...
Ryan Busse’s memoir, Gun Fight: My Battle Against the Industry that Radicalized America (Public-Affairs, $29), provides an unflinching view into the modern gun industry. The origin of Busse’s connection to gun culture is perhaps similar to that of many Americans: drawn from a family tradition...
As a resident of Big Sky, Montana for more than 20 years, I’ve learned to appreciate all of the recent additions to the area’s commercial landscape. More restaurants and shops mean more choices and, overall, that’s a good thing for those of us who live...
In 1832, at the age of 23, Swiss painter Karl Bodmer was commissioned by naturalist, ethnographer, and explorer Prince Maximilian of Wied-Neuwied to create a pictorial record of what would later be known as one of the most important ethnographic expeditions in North America during...
“Snow isn’t just pretty. It also cleanses our world and our senses…” — john burnside There’s nothing like waking up to a landscape covered in fresh snow. Even for those who loathe winter and the precipitation that comes with it, there’s no denying that a pristine...
It’s 4:30 on a chilly morning in mid-February. The first floorboard in my bedroom is the loudest, and I carefully step over it, knowing that each creak and groan threatens to wake my dad and stepmom. At my mom’s house, I don’t have to worry...