Rene Ostberg's Page

There was a time when the town of Galena, Illinois, was the kind of place that made my maternal grandmother (God rest her soul) cross herself at the thought of having to live there. There was also a time when people in Galena probably crossed themselves at the thought of having to live in Chicago. Both these times in Galena were long before the artists and antique sellers and old-timey ice…

Every year thousands of Americans visit France. And by France,…

San Antonio is only about an hour's drive from Austin. The two cities are close enough to share the same heat index (over 100 degrees every day I was in either city!). But in terms of cultural climate, they feel many more miles apart.

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“She’s a good jillaroo,” says Kathy, the farmer’s daughter. She’s talking about me, a 30-something former office worker from Chicago. And she’s talking about cowgirls. Jillaroo and jackaroo are what they call a cowgirl and cowboy in these parts--these parts being a 3000-head cattle farm in the heart of the Australian Outback.

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