Sports can be the social glue in a small town
From avoiding the ball as a kid to cheering on her own children, one mother rediscovers the joy and community found in small-town team sports.
Finding renewal in a quiet pasture campout
A night camping in the pasture becomes a quiet pilgrimage of stillness, a rediscovery of peace and connection to the land beneath the stars.
Tackling a Midwest corn maze
A family’s first corn maze adventure turns into a funny fall memory filled with wrong turns, warm sunshine and a valuable left-hand vs. right-hand lesson.
Letting the night come
Eliza Blue reflects on middle age, change and acceptance, trading flight for rootedness and learning to let go like trees in autumn.
The things that hold real value to us are never actually things
Selling calves marks a year’s work measured in a single day — a reminder that real wealth isn’t money, but meaning, community and the love we share.
Helping others is its own reward
A final harvest at the community garden brought potatoes, beets and joy, despite relentless mosquitoes.
Embrace those who disagree
Eliza Blue considers viewpoints in line with her own and those that starkly contrast her values at the South Dakota Festival of the Book.
Look up at the sky, not down at your phone
Fall lambing, cool rains, sheep in the yard and a murmuration in the sky — Eliza Blue finds balance between simple joys and the pull of the digital world.
‘Life is like driving on unfamiliar roads’
At a wedding and on a stormy drive home, reflections on aging, parenting and marriage remind us that life’s journey is full of unknowns and gratitude.
Happily toiling in community garden
Tending a community garden proved harder — and more joyful — than expected, yielding friendship, shared meals, and the simple rewards of working the soil.
