Digital Edition: September / October 2012
From The Editor
It is not supposed to be easy. I have been told this countless times through the years, and I have to remind myself of this from time to time. I imagine no matter what someone is trying hard to make happen, everyone reaches a point where they want to take the easy way.
To complete the magazine, I made a last minute trip to the Dodge County Historical Society. Typically I would be rather stressed, but when I got there and settled in I found no sense of urgency – only a fulfilling sense of calm. I began shuffling through the stacks of photos, and my mind settled down to where I was simply just curious, looking through scenes of Front Street in the time when on any given night the streets were packed.
I had this thought as I was walking downtown. There is always an easy side of the hard way and vice versa. The truly difficult thing is to decide what is most important. Walking through the downtown district of our hometown makes it far easier to appreciate the history. Something easy to forget and dismiss when you are disconnected from it.
Every time I sit down to write this note I have a similar feeling. A definite struggle between what is easy to say and what is hard to say. The easy way presents itself but I have to work hard to move beyond it. What I find helps the most is to put aside the easy option. The path of least resistance is hardly ever true when it comes to life’s most important work. Taking the extra time to explore other options can sometimes seem trivial when I have my mind made up but oftentimes I discover the perfect answer. This only happens at the point where I have exhausted what I think to be all the options and I have spent hours legitimizing my decision and debating the benefits and downsides. Not until all that is done do I then have the opportunity to sit back and see clearly through the dust that settles. All but defeated, I have a sense of clarity to make a decision.
I know what is hard to say but I maintain a level of precaution – always gauging the reaction of the reader. That mentality plagues me in everyday life but serves me well. That high level of monitoring is definitely the hard way – but it is the only easy way I have. I guess the best way to explain it is this: Sometimes the right way is the easy way – but you don’t know for sure until you try the hard way.
In This Issue
Feature: History at our Feet
Beaver Dam is unusual in that we don’t have the most common street name in America, Second Street. Read more
Feature Artist: Terrill Knaack
Terrill can be much like a royal’s spouse: Celebrity and neighbor, common and uncommon, noble yet ordinary. Read more
The Tanzanian Education Project
As I walked into the meager classrooms, my eyes scanned over the broken desks and lopsided chairs with disbelief. Read more
Retired? Now What?
We prepare for retirement with financial planning, but sometimes we forget to make plans for ourselves. Read more
Community: Let your Optimism Ring True
I found a group that thought like me nad believed that optimism can be grown in adults, but is infectious in youth. Read more
Legend & Lore: Judy (Bell) Hein
Put on a cape, find a comfy chair, and sit back and enjoy reading about Jerry Bell. Read more
Viewfinder: Vicki Hollenberg
Vicki Hollenberg shares how her love of photography grew by a little self-teaching. Read more
This & That: Vote Early, Vote Often (Not Really)
No matter what your political affiliation, exercise that right to vote. Read more
The Wandering Man: Summer is Almost Gone
As the song goes: “Where will we be? When the summer’s gone?” Read more
Fortune: A Short Story
A short story about a piece of paper that brings hope for what life has to offer. Read more
Parting Thoughts: September/October 2012
Bringing attention to things important to each of us, before they are lost.Read more