Sometimes, taking care means noticing small pieces of beauty and pockets of kindness, even when we are surrounded by immense cruelty.
Author Archives: Kathleen Cassen Mickelson
Minnesotans Keep Going
I struggled with what to write in this space this week. Since my last post, Alex Pretti was murdered, Greg Bovino left Minnesota, protests have gotten larger and louder and more insistent. The tear gas keeps flying, people keep getting detained, and neighbors keep helping neighbors. Journalists are now getting arrested. Clergy are getting arrested.Continue reading “Minnesotans Keep Going”
Notes from Minnesota
My friends, I am at a loss for words so much of the time right now. The fear that gnaws at my stomach, that clenches my heart, pushes language out of the way so something more primal erupts. There is sorrow, deep sorrow, over the state of our country in this moment.
Welcome 2026. Now Please be Quiet.
I’m writing this post in that sometimes-quiet space between Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve, when the presents have been unwrapped, too much food already consumed, and the idea of one more social engagement might put me right over the edge. I’m still listening to soft holiday music – Celtic instrumental holiday music to beContinue reading “Welcome 2026. Now Please be Quiet.”
My Holiday Gift to Myself: Curation
As 2025 draws to a close and we celebrate the holidays that are familiar to us, I’m curating what to include in my life as we move into a new year.
CONVERSATION WITH A POET – CONSTANCE BREWER
Today’s return to One Minnesota Crone’s Conversation with a Poet series celebrates the newly released poetry collection Astronomy Lessons by Constance Brewer (Gyroscope Press, $14.99 paperback). Constance Brewer and I have some good history. We met in 2009 as volunteer editors at Every Day Poets, a poetry website that published a new poem each day. When that site wentContinue reading “CONVERSATION WITH A POET – CONSTANCE BREWER”
November Lights
Light fills our lives in so many ways. The invitation to share light and warmth is strong at this time of year.
Welcome Long Nights
One of the gifts of being older and being outside the standard workforce with kids grown, is that I can often do things whenever it suits me. What time it gets dark isn’t an issue. I forget this fact until I have a conversation with someone who is not looking forward to the longer nights,Continue reading “Welcome Long Nights”
Quiet
The feeling I brought back from Iceland that I want to hang on to? Quiet.
To Iceland and Back
Iceland was on my list of places I wanted to visit for years. Specifically, I wanted to drive the Ring Road and see that volcanic landscape, experience the light that I imagined was unique to Iceland. I wanted to see northern lights. That I got to do all those things is a little miracle.
One Minnesota Crone 