<![CDATA[Field Guide to Americans: insets, keys, and legends]]>https://www.whitneymcknight.com/s/insets-keys-and-legendshttps://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Zt14!,w_256,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F19185f5c-04d8-4a4f-bdfc-500dd61610b7_1280x1280.pngField Guide to Americans: insets, keys, and legendshttps://www.whitneymcknight.com/s/insets-keys-and-legendsSubstackSat, 11 Apr 2026 05:07:31 GMT<![CDATA[A puppy and a truck]]>https://www.whitneymcknight.com/p/a-puppy-and-a-truckhttps://www.whitneymcknight.com/p/a-puppy-and-a-truckMon, 23 Oct 2023 06:06:37 GMT
Pycks in her new truck. Credit: The Author.

vol. 5 issue 17

Greetings,

You probably don’t remember this, but in the opening ceremonies of the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, a whole damned lot of Chevy…

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]]><![CDATA[All land is sacred]]>https://www.whitneymcknight.com/p/all-land-is-sacredhttps://www.whitneymcknight.com/p/all-land-is-sacredSun, 04 Jun 2023 17:02:36 GMTvol. 5 IKL #4

The view of the bridge between Marquette, Iowa and Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, from Fire Point, Effigy Mounds National Monument, Harpers Ferry, Iowa. Credit: The author.

Greetings,

Earlie…

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]]><![CDATA[Travelling the Wisconsin Trollway]]>https://www.whitneymcknight.com/p/insets-keys-and-legendshttps://www.whitneymcknight.com/p/insets-keys-and-legendsSun, 28 May 2023 14:39:16 GMTvol. 5 IKL 3

Keeper of the Toilet at Open House Imports. Credit: Author.

Greetings,

I travelled the Trollway yesterday.

It’s in Mount Horeb, Wisconsin, a scrolly town filled with friendly faces, which t…

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]]><![CDATA[Loving one who loves you even when you don't love their kind]]>https://www.whitneymcknight.com/p/loving-one-who-loves-you-even-whenhttps://www.whitneymcknight.com/p/loving-one-who-loves-you-even-whenTue, 16 May 2023 03:53:10 GMTvol. 5 IKL 2

Bob. Credit: The author.

Greetings,

I am not much of a cat person. I gravitate to dogs and horses, but dogs don’t always make good city apartment pets, and horses never do.

Which is why whe…

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]]><![CDATA[Literary touchstones from the 80s]]>https://www.whitneymcknight.com/p/insets-keys-and-legends-1https://www.whitneymcknight.com/p/insets-keys-and-legends-1Tue, 09 May 2023 00:49:20 GMTvol. 5 IKL 1

Joy Harjo. Credit: Shawn Miller, Library of Congress.

Greetings,

Over at Greg Olear’s PREVAIL, he has this wonderful thing called Sunday Pages, where he offers something uplifting or inspirational. So often, he provokes me to reconsider my literary “roots”, which much of the time I actually take for granted.

But not this past weekend. I didn’t take anything for granted. I felt a twinge of longing for something.

Greg, who once upon a time taught creative writing, gave an eloquent analysis of Tobias Wolff’s short story Bullet in the Brain, and I joined in the commentary, recalling a time Wolff was a guest lecturer in one of my classes in college, way back when. You can read more about it if you follow the thread.

Originally, I had wanted to study indigenous American history, and had actually been going nicely down that path in an American Studies program at a little school in Virginia. Then I had what used to be called a “nervous breakdown” and left school for a while.

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]]><![CDATA[A stillness hodgepodge:]]>https://www.whitneymcknight.com/p/a-stillness-hodgepodgehttps://www.whitneymcknight.com/p/a-stillness-hodgepodgeFri, 08 Jul 2022 16:56:30 GMTvol. 4 issue 14

It’s actually raining in this picture, and these sharp-shinned hawks are enjoying the little spritz before resuming their raid on the songbird feeder (I took the photo).

Greetings,

Today…

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]]><![CDATA[When the alligator ate my dog:]]>https://www.whitneymcknight.com/p/when-the-alligator-ate-my-doghttps://www.whitneymcknight.com/p/when-the-alligator-ate-my-dogSun, 27 Feb 2022 23:48:20 GMTvol. 4 issue 3

Photo: Alligator in the Everglades. Chris Devers. Flickr.

Greetings,

When I was 8, an alligator ate my dog.

I stood beyond the cattails, helpless, screaming, watching as my beloved Flower,…

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]]><![CDATA[Finding our way in the dark]]>https://www.whitneymcknight.com/p/finding-our-way-in-the-darkhttps://www.whitneymcknight.com/p/finding-our-way-in-the-darkSat, 06 Mar 2021 13:17:39 GMTvol. 3 issue 13

See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available.
Credit: Milky Way over Yellowstone National Park. NASA

‘In the cities and suburbs where we no longer can see the night as it truly is, we take for granted that we shine brightest in the…

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]]><![CDATA[Window over Washington:]]>https://www.whitneymcknight.com/p/window-over-washington-c5dhttps://www.whitneymcknight.com/p/window-over-washington-c5dFri, 09 Oct 2020 16:00:06 GMTvol. 2 issue 49

Greetings,

By the time you receive this, if all goes as planned, I will be en route to visit kin out of state, something fewer of us take for granted than we did before 2020. But for no…

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]]><![CDATA[The Inner Life of RBG]]>https://www.whitneymcknight.com/p/the-inner-life-of-rbghttps://www.whitneymcknight.com/p/the-inner-life-of-rbgSun, 20 Sep 2020 20:00:41 GMTvol. 2 issue 45

Greetings,

Much is being said, fought over, and remembered about the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Much of it is to do with her impact on American democracy and well, …

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]]><![CDATA[Window over Washington: when the dog bites, believe him]]>https://www.whitneymcknight.com/p/window-over-washington-when-the-doghttps://www.whitneymcknight.com/p/window-over-washington-when-the-dogThu, 18 Jun 2020 14:59:16 GMTvol. 2 issue 31

Greetings,

If you were wondering where Window over Washington was yesterday, it was stuck in my head. It was a long day that included getting bit by a dog for the first time in my life.…

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]]><![CDATA[Window over Washington]]>https://www.whitneymcknight.com/p/window-over-washington-e30https://www.whitneymcknight.com/p/window-over-washington-e30Wed, 27 May 2020 22:35:52 GMTvol. 2 issue 25

Greetings,

Nothing too dramatic to report in the skies this week, but that does not negate there being birds of interest. I saw several warblers recently, and given that it is the tail …

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]]><![CDATA[Window over Washington: Ospreys, ambassadors, and unicorns]]>https://www.whitneymcknight.com/p/window-over-washington-ospreys-ambassadorshttps://www.whitneymcknight.com/p/window-over-washington-ospreys-ambassadorsWed, 13 May 2020 20:03:10 GMTvol. 2 issue 22

Greetings,

Since it’s a thing, let’s start with the latest air traffic report. This past Sunday, a juvenile osprey seemed to be off course, but happy enough, riding the thermal above t…

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]]><![CDATA[Window over Washington:]]>https://www.whitneymcknight.com/p/window-over-washingtonhttps://www.whitneymcknight.com/p/window-over-washingtonWed, 06 May 2020 17:40:12 GMTvol 2 issue 19

Greetings,

More unusual flight patterns to report. This time a bald eagle. The high rise apartment building where I live and work is, as the crow flies, about three miles from the Potoma…

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