Borders: Camryn Hay & Vishe’ Rabb
Driving across the state border from Minnesota into South Dakota should be uneventful. There’s no toll road and no fence separating the two states – just a small billboard that welcomes you with the faces of former presidents. Yet, for a native Minnesotan, putting that road sign behind me instantly tenses my shoulders. South Dakota,…
Lydia Lieber: Where is a Future Teacher’s Place
At Garfield Elementary, I sit in a highly decorated classroom listening to my practicum teacher explain the lattice method of multiplication to a diverse group of fifth graders. The walls are lined with posters showing math tips, vocabulary, and various projects. The students sit at their desks in groups of four. Many of them forget…
Morgan Hanson: Wind on the Prairie
I live about two miles away from this beautiful, open-grassland field, so I grew up taking in its beauty daily. My great-grandparents parents also grew up here. An old, abandoned house that sits surrounded by rolling grass lands. Coming from this native area, my family and I are well aware of how important wind is…
Connor McSherry: Questions The Wind Asks
Dakota is a land of both unmatched natural beauty and untapped potential. One potential that exists here is the potential for wind energy. By using wind energy, we will be less dependant on fossil fuels which pollute the atmosphere. By using the energy inherent in the air, we are able to keep the air clean….
Nathan Johnson: Dakota
Dakota I found no home here Everything is grey and colorless I miss the colors Where are the colors? The town falls asleep at nine o’clock The traffic is relentless — for a town of twelve citizens Why is everything so cold? I wanted the personal attention of a small town I wanted the anonymity…
Beau Keeve: Seeing Dakota
Calling South Dakota, “home,” is a unique statement. A statement that I would have never imagined that I would be saying. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would ever even visit this state set somewhere in the middle of the United States, let alone would I live in it? It takes time…
Chantelle Stucky: Horses of My Childhood
In-between Marion, South Dakota and Parker, South Dakota there is a farm surrounded by cornfields and pastures. This is the land that my grandparents moved to so many years ago. My grandfather plowed and harvested these fields for 45 years. He milked hundreds to thousands of cows here. My grandmother raised five healthy kids here,…
James Willard: E(mind)scape
I wander about, on a road to nowhere, in the midst of a landscape blanketed with corn in all directions. My thoughts become louder than my voice. They begin to resonate with the land for no-one to hear. I am reminded of what it is that makes Dakota special. I think people often associate this…
Jacob Harlow: Lost But Not Forgotten
“Our dead are never dead to us, until we have forgotten them. – George Eliot” If one was to walk into the cemetery, the signs of grief would be all around. The physical signs of grief are perhaps the most prominent, flowers left to wither and die on the tombstone being the most common. As…
Molly McIntyre: Big Stinky Sioux
A long time ago in a land before white people, the Big Sioux River was clean. The water provided fertile farmland and attracted animals that would provide food, clothing, and shelter. Believe it or not, there even used to be fish that were able to live in the Big Sioux, an abstract idea for a…
Katie Schroeder, Taylor Lepke, Gabrielle DeVries: Nurturing Rain
“Rain is grace; rain is the sky descending to the earth; without rain, there would be not life.” ~John Updike This picture was taken from a window in the Froiland Science Center on the Augustana University campus, the place where natural and health science classes take place. Since we are all second year nursing majors,…
Lily Monroe: Single Strand of Grass
I am a single strand of grass. I sprout through the Earth and take a deep breath of crisp, Dakota air. New life surrounds me as the harsh winter conditions subside for the year—spring is finally upon us. Sunlight feeds my tissue, helping me reach toward the sky and sway as the wind takes hold…
Sleep and Solitude: Annika Paulsen & Sydney Dixen
As I have grown up, I learned not to fight sleep, but rather try to embrace it. However, since college has begun, late night conversations with my roommate in our cold dorm room, wet with rain, because I forgot to close the window, keep me up so late that I miss my eight o’clock class…
Thomas Whittenburg: The Tree
Alone in a field, the great tree spreads its branches in each direction. It has taken years to grow strong and vast. Its archaic frame tells a story of hardships, but its wide trunk and spiraling branches have grown into a testament of the perseverance of life. Surely, this tree is a zenith of God’s…
Jenna Spellerberg: Presence
The summit of Black Elk Peak is a sight that will never fade from my memory. Towering above the earth at 7,242 feet, the view from the peak one sacred September dawn made my spirit soar. On a spontaneous camping trip with my brother, we decided to venture on the eight mile Black Elk Peak…
Reed Kurak: The Beauty from Inside Tomar Park
Every week I spend at least 2 hours here at Tomar Park. This however is the first time looking through it in a natural lens. I have always found it to be a pretty cool place but I have never noticed anything anything particularly special about the park. However, now I feel as though I…
Caryn Brakke: My Father the Farmer
On July 12th this year, my father sent me a photo that made my jaw drop. In the photo the sky is filled with bulky, intimidating clouds. The luscious field of wheat stands strikingly yellow. In the field of wheat, a tractor is left motionless. Off on the distance a brilliant bolt of lightning pierces…
Alex Woods: Steadfast and Abounding Love
One of the fantastic things about God is that his love applies to all of creation and not simply humanity. Throughout the Bible, there are examples where God showcases and reaffirms His love for creation. To use an incredibly simplified metaphor, God is a kid on a beach vacation and creation is His sandcastle that…
Hannah Hankinson: A Spiritual Walk
A golf course is an amazing representation of God’s beautiful creation because it is crafted with an emphasis on the natural terrain. Playing golf allows us to take a step back from our productivity-driven society and simply be. There is no agenda or multitasking involved. There are no distractions from the outside world. There’s no…
Avery Schupner: Sunrise in Highmore
Sunrise in Highmore – A small, rural farming town in South Dakota When I witness a sunrise in Highmore, I am calm, relaxed, and uplifted. The sunrise signifies the commencement of a new day—a new adventure—especially out at the farm when tasks that need to be completed seem endless and things to do never seem…
Shannon McKnight: What Lies Beneath
I could tell right when I got out of my car that something wasn’t right with the Big Sioux. The smell was strong, alarming me with the stench of sewage even far from the river’s shore in the parking lot. As I crept closer, the smell worsened almost repelling me from nearing the water, but…
Jameson Cosgrove: El Sol
People always say that college will be the best four years of your life. While I knew that college would be fun, I never was quite ready to try and overcome my introverted personality to go out and meet new people. Eventually, I decided to attend Augustana with one of my best friends. We concocted…
Chloe Cox Bartels: Acts of Contrition
In the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, generations are lost and a culture abandoned— in His name. A language discarded and traditions pushed aside for fear of those who’ve come to spread His word to the savages of the plains. Forgotten names of the Mothers, Daughters, and the Great Spirit We…