WELCOME
Come join us and take in the view from the ridge. We're only at about 300 feet in elevation, but we're in The Driftless in SW Wisconsin.
This means that we look over the top of a flat plain into which eons have carved crevices and valleys to make where we are look like a ridge. The flat plain provides a vista for miles.
The Driftless in SW Wisconsin and SE Minnesota is named for an area untouched by the bulldozing of Ice Age glaciers--a geographic region left to its own erosive devices.
My view from the ridge not only looks out, but also within. While I also look forward, I also enjoy taking a retrospective glance. What will be often flows from what has been. So, like Janus, I look (or attempt to look) in both directions.
To capture what I see at the vista just ahead or in the past, I employ essays, poetry, images, creative non-fiction and some short fiction. Some of this is available directly on this site. Others are for sale for purchase--also on this site. (On-site purchase is coming soon.)
And just exactly who am I? As a farmer, priest, poet and prose writer, I'm what one of my former parishioners called 'an old guy.' I would add: an introspective 'old guy.' I would ask him how he was doing, often during coffee hour and he would always respond, "not bad for an old guy." Lodged in my brain, that phrase has become hard to remove--and now I must agree. But joyfully...
Take a look. Look over section and page. Check in if you'd like to. I hope you enjoy the time you spend on my site up here on the ridge.
Brian
Greetings from Timothy Ridge--a farm in The Driftless of SW Wisconsin. We've been here now for 25 years, mostly living off the grid, raising vegetables, then some Herefords all in combination with other careers.
I've taught some, written much and served both as an Episcopal priest and hospital chaplain in this beautiful part of the world.
This site contains musings, opinion pieces, spiritual reflections, poetry and memoir. I engage in such things while taking in the view from the ridge.
You might wonder about Timothy. Am I thinking about an early church missionary? Not really. I am thinking about a wonderfully digestable grass that volunteers around here. When I see it, I celebrate its presence!!
What's Ahead on this Site
More greetings from Timothy Ridge--a farm in The Driftless of SW Wisconsin. We've been here now for 25 years, mostly living off the grid, raising vegetables, then some Herefords all in combination with other careers.
To live here is to be acutely aware of place. Our neighbors are some distance away, there often is a peaceful silence, the sky often is illuminated nights with a wonderful starry light. The seasons unfold here with power and a presence that often causes one to pause.
All of this causes me to carry Timothy Ridge and its environs in my heart. After decades it has imbued me with a presence that now I can carry wherever else I am--and this brings joy.
Finally...about the name.
You might wonder about 'Timothy' in this farm's name.
Am I thinking about an early church missionary? Not really.
I am thinking about a wonderfully digestable grass that volunteers around here. When I see it, I celebrate its presence!
Timothy is often an overlooked grass. Another one comes here from the prairie: Big Bluestem. I look for it in the margins along the roadside--and there it is, a prairie grass once so dominant, but still surviving. When I touch it, I celebrate its presence as well.