Attractions in Wisconsin

    Wisconsin Historical Museum

    30 N. Carroll Street on Madison's Capitol Square

    Discover Wisconsin's history and culture on four floors of exhibits. Open for public program. Admission is free.

    Open Tuesday through Saturday, 9:00 am—4:00 pm.

     ( 608) 264-6555  www.wisconsinhistory.org/museum

    Swiss Historical Village

    612 Seventh Ave., New Glares

    The Swiss Historical Village offers a delightful look at pioneer life in America's heartland.14 buildings in the village give a full picture of everyday life in the nineteenth-century Midwest.

    Tue. —Fri., May 1st —October 31st, 10:00 am—4:00 pm. Admission is $20

     ( 608) 527-2317  www.swisshistoricalvillage.com

    Artisan Gallery & Creamery Cafe`

    6858 Paoli Rd., Paoli, WI

    One of the largest collections of fine arts and crafts(手工艺品) in Wisconsin. Over 5000 sq. ft. of exhibition space in a historical creamery. While visiting, enjoy a wonderful prepared lunch at our cafe` overlooking the Sugar River. Just minutes from Madison!

    Gallery open Tue.—Sun., 10:00 am—5:00 pm

    Cafe` open Wed.—Sat, 11:00 am—3:00 pm

    Sun. brunch with wine, 10:00—3:00 pm

     ( 608) 845-6600  www.artisangal.com

    Christopher Columbus Museum

    239 Whitney St., Columbus

    World-class exhibit —2000 quality souvenirs marking Chicago's 1893 World Columbus Exhibition. Tour buses are always welcome.

    Open daily, 8:15 am—4:00 pm

     ( 608) 623-1992  www.columbusantiquemall.com

    It's a Saturday morning, and I am eager to fly away.My husband and I will meet up with our son on the other side of the country to learn and explore together.Sitting now at the airport gate,my husband wanders away to stretch his legs.Moments later,he returns and whispers in my ear.I rise and follow him around the comer toward a large window facing the landing area.

    On the road, Marines stand straight and the plane door is open.A white hearse(灵车）is parked nearby.A man and a soldier stand on either side of a woman,supporting her and waiting for what is to come.Airport personnel stand in reverent stillness.A few people place their hands over their hearts,as I have done.We're joined in witness,sending respect to an honorable soldier whose name we'll never know.

    The woman looks heartbroken. She cries, knowing she will never hear "Mom”from her son. She'll never feel his tender embrace or enjoy his sweet peck on her cheeks.Another man's face is twisted because of the grief.His son,the tiny boy he no doubt wrestled playfully,the teen he probably taught to drive,and the son he stood so proudly by,now lives only in his memory.

    Those behind the glass stay silent, reflecting on this loss, as the family and soldiers leave.Some of us women, with sorrowful expressions, move slowly away, sharing a mother's profound grief .Soon,each of us will fly off in planes and return to an ordinary life made extraordinary by this soldier's courage，by this family's sacrifice and by this love shared by all that look out of the window.

    We took a rare family road trip to the Adirondacks in late August，and it was as refreshing and exhausting as family vacations tend to be．Toward the end of our long drive home, even the kids were leaning forward in their seats urging my lead foot on．At that point in a road trip，even sixty-five miles per hour feels slow. We have become numb to our speed and numb to the road signs flashing by.

    My family lives on the edge of Lancaster County. Only thirty miles from home，I hit the brakes，and we began to roll，slowly，behind a horse-drawn carriage. We began to open our eyes again．We saw familiar green hills and the farm with the best watermelons. I rolled down the windows, and we breathed again．Just-cut hay and a barn full of dairy cattle．

    At five miles per hour，you remember what you forget at sixty-five．You are thinking about a place，even when you are moving from place to place．

    I am a placemaker. A homemaker, too. I am a mother of a young kid at home，and also a writer and a gardener．But，for me，those roles are wrapped up with the one big thing I want to do with the rest of my life：I want to cultivate a place and share it with others．

    The place I make with my family is a red-brick farmhouse built in l880. It has quite a few nineteenth-century bedrooms and a few acres of land，and we love nothing more than to fill them with neighbors and friends. We grow vegetables and flowers，keep a baker's dozen of egg—laying chickens，and，since we moved in three years ago，we have planted many，many trees．

    Living with my life's purpose does not allow for much travel. I need to be here，feeding the chickens and watering the tomatoes. Any extra in the budget，and we spend it on trees．

    But I learned something at the end of our family road trip．Travel can help me in the task of caring for my own place．When I slow down and pay attention to the road between here and there，travel tells me the connections between my place and all the other places．

    Charity is simple in theory：A heart warms, a hand reaches out. In practice, though, charity can become a troubled mix of motives and consequences. Giving can be driven by guilt, duty, praise, or perhaps the hope that giving will somehow make up for past cruelty or ignorance. Too little charity is far less than valuable. Too much can cause dependence which makes the receiver continuously ask for more.

    Giving from the heart is good. But critics have long worried about misdirected charity that does more harm than good. In his 2012 book, "Harmful Charity: How Churches and Charities Hurt Those They Help（And How to Solve the Problem）, "Robert Lupton, an experienced social worker of 40 years of community work in inner-city Atlanta, argues that charity must not do for the poor what they can do for themselves.

    Due to emergencies such as natural disasters, the afterward financial aid is greatly welcome. Mr. Lupton advocates it should focus on the development of self-supporting. The task can be carried out via, for instance, offering microloans, hiring local builders and suppliers, and trying to found self-supported, locally owned and operated enterprises. What seldom works, he argues, are untargeted handouts from far-off providers and the sudden arrival of inexperienced volunteer-tourists hoping to earn personal reputation by digging wells or mending roofs that locals are perfectly able to take care of themselves.

    Getting charity right isn't easy. But from money raising to the boom in volunteering among Millennials（千禧一代）, from the increasing worldwide willingness to give to the efforts by charity organizations to become more effective and fruitful, there is strong evidence that human beings' ability of taking care of others is growing along with their ability to help without harming.

    Charity can be as simple as holding the door for a stranger and as complex as a global campaign to get rid of malaria（疟疾）.Charity works best when it returns the weak to strength, when it helps a small town shaken by a heavy earthquake get back on its feet. A successful charity is one that eventually is no longer needed.

    When I was growing up, we were not an "I love you" family. We certainly found such affection lovely. We just didn't do it.

    I was thinking about all of this on Saturday at my daughter Katie's recital (演奏会). I had never insisted she do anything in her free time except learn how to play the piano. I carried this from childhood. My parents couldn't afford these lessons. My daughter mostly accepted this demand with good humor. This has meant, through the years, that our house has been filled with a few muddled (混乱的) complaints mixed with versions of songs.

    The day of the recital, I was listening to Katie practice The Entertainer, and one note was not good. I don't know how to play the piano, but I did say, "Hey, Katie, maybe you should hold that note just a bit longer." Then she played it again and again. I realized that I had done something unintended — I was making her think too much just a few hours before her recital.

    So I told her not to worry about it, but it was too late. She kept at it for a little while longer until finally I said that she'd played it perfectly. I didn't think we ever isolated that note; I felt pretty bad for even bringing it up.

    Then it was time for recital. Katie was the first one to perform. She was dressed well. As I watched her play The Entertainer, all I could think was how grown-up she had become, and that I had already missed the four-, five-, six-year-old versions of her.

    She got to the end of the song, and she reached the note we had talked about. And she held it. She held it so long that for an instant it broke her timing on the rest of the song. Then she finished the song, and she looked right at me. Then I hugged her. My parents are right. You don't have to say the words "I love you". Sometimes one note will do.

North Rim to reopen on June 2 with limited services available

News Release Date: May 17, 2023

Contact: Joělle Baird, 928-606-3154

Grand Canyon, Ariz.

The North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park will open as scheduled, on June 2, with limited visitor services and water conservation measures due to a break in the North Rim water pipeline. A landslide from winter storms destroyed more than 300 feet of the North Rim water pipeline.

Visitor Services

The Grand Canyon Lodge will operate day-use services with limited food and beverage service beginning on June 2. No overnight accommodations will be available until at least July 23, 2023.

The North Rim Campground, managed by the National Park Service, will operate as scheduled beginning on June 9 with portable drinking water and toilets available. The public laundry and shower facilities will not be open at least through July 23, 2023. The North Rim Visitor Center and Grand Canyon Conservancy's bookstore open as usual, 8 am to 6 pm daily, with a variety of ranger programs offered.

Visitors exploring the North Rim this summer should be self-sufficient and should bring adequate food and water for the day as services are limited and may be subject to change. Nearby, accommodating is available at the Kaibab Lodge and food services and fuel at the North Rim Country Store. Year-round accommodating, food service and fuel are located 45 miles north of the North Rim at Jaco Lake. As a result of substantial winter rockfall and landslides, trail repair work on the North Kaibab Trail continues. There is a trail closure in effect on the North Kaibab Trail and it will officially reopen on June 16, 2023.