The “Driftless”: Conor Archer’s Home

Conor Archer grew up in the big city of Chicago.  Cool place, full of action and adventure.  But his home is in Tinker’s Grove, Wisconsin, just about 250 miles away.  I grew up in that area, and let me tell you, we thought it was the boonies.  That means that we thought Saturday night in those towns was like being just nowhere at all.

We were so wrong.  You never know how magical your home town can be till you get away from it for a while.  In fact, those of us who live or lived in southwest Wisconsin most often forget it’s one of the most beautiful places in the world.

You see, it has a nickname.  It’s called “Driftless” because it’s never been touched by the glaciers.  That means in our little corner of the world, the Driftless area is full of secret places, hollow hills, caves, rivers that mist over on summer nights, and bluffs where eagles fly and rattlesnakes nest in the rocky crevices.

It’s just the place for stories out of myth and legend to take place.  It’s the place where Piasa, the river demon, lives and where the Thunderbird makes its home.  The Native Americans knew it.  Unfortunately, we are the ones who forgot to remember.