Local author Anne-Marie Oomen steers us on a journey of discovery

By Nadine Gilmer Sun contributor When Anne-Marie Oomen found the book International Code of Signals in the lifesaver’s museum at Glen Haven in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, she “was fascinated by these hundreds of codes to guide the ships and sailors,” she recalls. The book, prepared and published by the Defense Mapping Agency […]

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Manoominikgiizis, Ricing Moon

By Lois Beardslee Excerpted from Lois Beardslee’s forthcoming book of poetry titled We Live Here. Past excerpts by Beardslee in the Glen Arbor Sun are from Not Far Away, The Real Life Adventures of Ima Pipiig (AltaMira Press), which is due out in September. Morning. Before the wind was up. Before the angriest of her […]

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Wiigwasimakakoon Birch Bark Baskets

Excerpted from Lois Beardslee’s forthcoming book of poetry titled “We Live Here.” Past excerpts by Beardslee in the Glen Arbor Sun are from “Not Far Away, The Real Life Adventures of Ima Pipiig” (AltaMira Press), which is due out in September. Curiously, the individual who was chosen by the Great Mystery to accurately share the […]

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Toward Inter-dependence: Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness in a Difficult World

By Holly Wren Spaulding Sun contributor On the fourth of July we were 20 friends gathered around a long wooden table for a meal of moussaka, rice and greens from the garden. It was a time for collective reflection, not for blowing things up. We didn’t miss the fireworks even slightly. Harriet Barlow, the great […]

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It Can Change Your Heart

By Holly Wren Spaulding Sun contributor “I never notice flowers,” says Ted. He’s a composer, a musician, and I’m a little baffled by this. “Don’t all artists pay attention to such things.” I had cut what I could from the droughty garden — the last of the white peonies, some margarita daisies, flowering mint, violets. […]

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Travels in the present

By Holly Wren Spaulding Sun contributor I took a road trip recently, driving out of Cedar on a hot and humid afternoon, the sort of day that had me wondering why we’d be going anywhere other than the beach. I was traveling with two Irish friends, which is important to this story because often the […]

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Living in Two Worlds

By Steve Goldman Sun contributor “Dad? How much longer?” For what seems like the millionth time, I try to patiently answer the question. “We’re in Cadillac, we’ve got another hour and a half,” or “we’re at M-37, so we’ve got another hour” have become stock answers over the years as I attempt to reassure my […]

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A world that’s not beneath our notice

By Holly Wren Spaulding Sun contributor Being a writer, I spend a good deal of time in the rooms of my head, the dark corridors of contemplation. The obvious hazard, although there are many others, is that such a lifestyle often takes me away from the vigor of the body and the sense of my […]

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2007 Empire Asparagus Festival Poetry Contest winners

Adult category Tom Ulrich Spare Gus My grandfather grew asparagus. Not in raised beds, or rows, But in a chaos of well-rotted manure And a ragged forest of spears. He called it by name, with affection. When I was younger I thought “Spare Gus” Was the nickname for an old friend of his Who came […]

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Before We Hibernate: Leaves, Wood, Food

By Holly Wren Spaulding Sun contributor Each fall my mood takes a plunge when things start dying off around me. At the end of the growing year, there is a thread of despair as I remember my own mortality and the end that comes in the cycle all living things. Low pressure or the stirring […]

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