Zinta Aistars

It’s Valentine’s Day and you’re thinking about immortalizing your big love with a tattoo on your arm. A bit scary, but hey, it’s BIG love. Forever. What next? Where do you go and how is it done?

Gardeners and farmers are already thinking about the seeds they will plant in spring. They also think about those seeds throughout the winter, planning each crop and each garden row with care.

As the U.S. population ages, we’re hearing more about dementia. New Friends and Vibrant Life co-founder and music director Dean Solden has come up with a unique approach to improving the quality of life for the dementia patients at his assisted living facilities. He does it with music.

Jarrod Napierkowski spent years pouring cold beer as a bartender, and then manager, of Founders Brewing Company and Creston Brewery in Grand Rapids. But he had another interest. Now, Napierkowski works full-time at his own business: Brambles Woodwork in Grand Rapids.

Writing and translating poetry across cultures is tricky. Just ask Hedy Habra, a poet and artist who taught Spanish at Western Michigan University. Habra is of Lebanese origin, grew up in Egypt, and also lived in Belgium and Greece before to coming to Kalamazoo in 1981. Habra revisits her early cultural roots in her newest poetry collection, Taste of the Earth (Press 23, 2019).