Preserving the past while helping her clients prepare for the future — It’s a business plan that works well for Kaila Cota, who owns and operates Vintage Insurance Agency LLC in Lena.

What makes her business stand out isn’t the policies she prepares or the one-on-one service she provides her customers. It’s the agency’s location that makes it unique.

Jayson Cross was originally working toward being an accountant, but that career path didn’t add up for the Chicago-based stand-up comedian.

Cross has a love for southern Wisconsin venues, but he will be bringing laughter and fun up north when he performs two shows Oct. 24 at Ignacio’s Puebla Street Food, 230 E. Green Bay St., Shawano. The visit is part of his “Moral Dilemma” tour.

Near dusk one night a few years ago during fall harvest, I was following a combine into town on a county road. I had my headlights on as I always do — headlights on before dusk and dawn, in fog or rain or snow. It was hard to see at that time of night. I’m finding as I age, I don’t like to drive at night. It never used to bother me. A lot of things never used to bother me.

Don’t try this at home — even though I did.

Like most homeowners, I’ve tried a variety of do-it-yourself repairs at houses I’ve owned. Most of them have gone fairly well but occasionally has cost me more than hiring a pro in the first place.

October is my favorite month, the most scenic time of year if you are lucky enough to live on a lake in northern Wisconsin. The end of summer brings not only fall colors but new rhythms of life as Mother Nature prepares for a long winter nap.

Menominee elder Sylvia Wilber taught me that there’s a truism behind the motivations about the United States’ Native American policies: “It’s all about the land.”