lori sorenson
By Lori Sorenson, editorDecember 07, 2021Those who know me know I wear my Dutch heritage like a badge of honor. I’m frugal to the core in such a way that I’ve made a sport out of finding the best deals and recycling household items. Like plastic service ware. Most plastic forks, knives and spoons in my pantry have been used, washed in the dishwater and reused more times than I can count. I get laughed at, but no one knows the difference…
By Lori SorensonNovember 16, 2021I clearly can’t be trusted alone in the office with leftover Halloween candy. This was evidenced last week during general office cleaning when contents of our wastebaskets were emptied. And apparently examined. And judged. As it turns out, my trash speaks volumes about my willpower — or lack thereof. Following the Nov. 1 Trunk ‘N Treat event, the Star Herald ended up with leftover Halloween candy…
By Lori Sorenson, editorOctober 26, 2021Carson and Gracie carved a Jack-o-lantern one crisp autumn day in early October. They selected a well-shaped, nicely textured pumpkin with a well-positioned flat spot for optimal display. On a Saturday between college homework, they scooped out the innards, baked the seeds and carved a toothy smile that they illuminated with a battery-powered votive candle. And life was good. It grinned proudly…
October 05, 2021It’s time to organize my Star Herald plans for 2022. I know this because our month-at-a-glance, 14-month spiral-bound 2022 calendar planners were distributed this week at the office. Did I prefer a teal- or raspberry-colored plastic cover? I didn’t care. My planner is propped open on my desk so the cover is never visible. “Pick one.” I chose raspberry, but it looked more like cranberry. Not that…
By Lori Sorenson, editorSeptember 14, 2021Don’t tell anyone, but I miss our old sports guy. By old, I mean he was the only one left there who’d been there longer than I had. I’ve been at the paper for 28 years if that tells you how old he is. I used to tell people we were like an old married couple. Our desks were next to each other with a short divider wall between us. He could hear me munching on snacks, and I could smell cigarettes…
By Lori Sorenson, editorAugust 17, 2021As a first-year gardener I’ve made plenty of rookie mistakes this growing season. … Planting too late in the spring, spacing plants too closely together, and not reading the directions on the seed labels. Actually, the garden wasn’t intended to be a garden in the first place. It started as a swath of dirt our neighbor turned over for us with his tiller. “How big do you want it your garden?” he…
By Lori SorensonJuly 20, 2021Our sports reporter is leaving the Star Herald to move with his wife to Portland, Oregon. It’s a beautiful part of the country where they met each other and where their close friends live. And, he said, “We’d like to do some things while we’re still young and before we have children.” He assured me he’s not leaving because his editor got after him about missing box scores and photos with feet…
By Lori Sorenson, editorJune 22, 2021I stood at the bottom of the inflatable water slide with my cell phone camera pointed at the kids tumbling through the spray and landing in a laughing heap in a puddle at the bottom. I was there on official business as the Star Herald photographer covering Hills Friendship Days, but the kids didn’t know this. A few of them looked sideways at me as they pivoted their bare feet in the muddy grass…
By Lori Sorenson, editorMay 25, 2021Hunting season is upon us, and I don’t mean pheasants or deer. I’m talking about asparagus — spotting it in its natural environment, camouflaged in roadside ditches and grassy field driveways. Asparagus hunting involves special wild game hunting instincts not utilized with big game or birds. It requires an eagle eye and heightened peripheral vision in order to spot a single green stalk among tall…
By Lori Sorenson, editorMay 04, 2021There’s a reason music therapy is popular in nursing homes. Songs have a way of stirring memories that carry us back in time, often to happy moments of our youth. Today’s 85-year-olds still enjoy the “big band” sounds that they once danced to, and 75-year-olds may smile to hear Elvis Presley or Johnny Cash. I’ve thought about which songs would stir happy memories when I’m older and needing some…
By Lori Sorenson, editorApril 13, 2021Gray, rainy weather, combined with some minor sleep deprivation, prompted a recent pity party in my honor. Why does metabolism slow to a crawl after 50? For that matter, why is gravity so ruthless and gray roots so stubborn? Are my children happy? Was I a good mom in the fleeting years when I had a chance? Had I been a good daughter and made the most of those final days with my parents? And there…
By Lori Sorenson, editorMarch 16, 2021The community received long-awaited news last week from the Sheriff’s Office that suspects had been arrested in connection with the holiday vandalism at the city park. Businesses, organizations and individuals had put careful, creative consideration into their lighted displays, not to mention long hours and personal expense. And it paid off in a big way. Anyone who showed up for the fireworks and…
By Lori Sorenson, editorFebruary 23, 2021While recently signing farm paperwork for my late parents’ estate, I came across some documents with both Mom’s and Dad’s signatures that were dated decades ago. I ran my finger lightly over the ink they had pressed into the paper, and my mind briefly wandered to their younger years when conservation reserve acres were part of their farm planning. Their side-by-side signatures were neat and fluid…
By Lori Sorenson, editorJanuary 25, 2021In my early days at the paper, my friend and fellow writer, Carole Olson, wrote a Star Herald column about the NIMBY phenomenon — Not In My Back Yard. I don’t remember what the issue was — perhaps the airport runway expansion, and the nimbys had been articulate. They supported the project in general, as long as it didn’t affect them directly. The words in Carole’s column gently reminded us that a…
By Lori Sorenson, editorJanuary 05, 2021My sisters and I met Sunday afternoon at the farm for an impromptu social gathering. There are five of us, but only four could make it on short notice, and it was just us — no husbands, no kids, no grandkids and, of course, no Mom and Dad. Mom died in September of 2019, and Dad died in August of 2020. The sisters and our families spent a lot of time at the farm last fall going through things in…
By Lori Sorenson, editorDecember 15, 2020We have a leg lamp on display in our western Rock County neighborhood, proudly illuminated in a highway-facing window. It was a highly-anticipated mail-order gift, and the neighbors (our friends) documented its delivery in a series of group text images. First came a photo of the “major award” assembled and plugged in. Then, to prove its authenticity, came a photo of the delivery box with large…
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