Betty Krumpos’s journals, 1979–1990, and other Krumpos family stories.https://www.wildkrumpos.com/https://www.wildkrumpos.com/2026/09/05/birthday-weekend/https://www.wildkrumpos.com/2026/09/05/birthday-weekend/My birthday fell on a Saturday this year. Erin and I did our yearly trip the the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to go camping. We go here so that her parents can watch Arthur, and so we cannot usually go to far from here. In years past we had gone to Sylvania or Munising, but this year we headed back…Sat, 05 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTDon Krumposhttps://www.wildkrumpos.com/2026/08/24/arthur-binder-upgrade/https://www.wildkrumpos.com/2026/08/24/arthur-binder-upgrade/Big weekend upgrading Arthur's binder. Went overboard, ~$340 across three stores and two online orders. Excited and guilty in the same breath, which is the honest version. The rationalization holds up: a $2 single EX would've been buried in a $40 battle deck, so the bulk boxes probably saved money against buying sealed. Twenty battle decks' worth of good singles,…Mon, 24 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTDon Krumposhttps://www.wildkrumpos.com/2026/08/22/bristol-with-wes-and-arthur/https://www.wildkrumpos.com/2026/08/22/bristol-with-wes-and-arthur/It was wonderful. I was with Wes, my oldest son, and my youngest Arthur. We left early on Saturday and picked up Wes. Got there about 12:30, started walking around. We usually do the normal loop at Bristol, counter clockwise. Familiar shops. I had my mind to buy some bracers and a canteen of medieval look. I buy an oil…Sat, 22 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTDon Krumposhttps://www.wildkrumpos.com/2026/07/18/pokemon-at-the-gnoshery/https://www.wildkrumpos.com/2026/07/18/pokemon-at-the-gnoshery/Erin left Friday night to visit her friend Aly in Stevens Point, so Arthur and I had a father-son weekend. Those are nice. Friday I gave him a pack of Pokémon cards and he was so excited. We watched Goonies. I looked up the local game shop online — The Gnoshery — and saw they had open Pokémon play with…Sat, 18 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTDon Krumposhttps://www.wildkrumpos.com/2026/06/22/lifescapes-kiosk/https://www.wildkrumpos.com/2026/06/22/lifescapes-kiosk/A nostalgia riff that turned into a clean throughline. Setting it down as a seed — scenes are here, the chapter isn't written yet. --- The scenes (raw, as told) - The boring errand, made enchanted. Childhood trips through ShopKo and Kmart with Mom. Hunting Star Wars figures down the aisles. Me and my sister hiding from each other inside…Mon, 22 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMTDon Krumposhttps://www.wildkrumpos.com/2026/04/14/every-stick-is-precious/https://www.wildkrumpos.com/2026/04/14/every-stick-is-precious/Something I haven't written down yet, and need to, because it has consumed my heart these last couple years and I didn't find the time to write about it, kind of waiting to see where this would go. Part of it is me realizing that this is probably how my parents looked at me, and I never realized it until…Tue, 14 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMTDon Krumposhttps://www.wildkrumpos.com/2026/04/11/arthur-the-fire-elemental/https://www.wildkrumpos.com/2026/04/11/arthur-the-fire-elemental/Arthur was invited to join Destination Imagination. His friend from school, Lucy, a 1st grader wanted him to join and he did. Erin and I were hesitant, because we think that at that young age, a kid should be as free from obligations as possible, and free to just play with his imagination; and after a long day of school,…Sat, 11 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMTDon Krumposhttps://www.wildkrumpos.com/2025/12/09/father-son-weekend/https://www.wildkrumpos.com/2025/12/09/father-son-weekend/My main thoughts are mostly on Arthur. I just really love being this little boy's dad. He is growing so fast and I am enjoying every moment of it. We are playing the old school NES and SNES Mario and Zelda games. He likes them a lot and likes reading the books.He went to Mavericks birthday party yesterday. It was…Tue, 09 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMTDon Krumposhttps://www.wildkrumpos.com/2025/11/26/three-blocks/https://www.wildkrumpos.com/2025/11/26/three-blocks/Three blocks. He stops at every fake flower to dust off frost. He studies insect tracks. He admires stick bugs like miracle creatures. I want to hurry him. I don’t hurry him. This is the paradox of adulthood: I need to get to work. He needs to be six. I used to pick him up at 3 p.m. after finishing…Wed, 26 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMTDon Krumposhttps://www.wildkrumpos.com/2025/11/24/the-winter-the-pipes-froze/https://www.wildkrumpos.com/2025/11/24/the-winter-the-pipes-froze/One winter the pipes froze for three days. We melted snow in pots on the woodstove. We flushed toilets with buckets of water carried from the barn. I remember thinking it was a grand adventure. My parents did not. Adults experience inconvenience; children experience myth. I think about that distinction often — how children are built to find narrative, even…Mon, 24 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMTDon Krumposhttps://www.wildkrumpos.com/2025/11/24/the-maker-self-survived-everything/https://www.wildkrumpos.com/2025/11/24/the-maker-self-survived-everything/I was a maker from the beginning — that part survived fundamentalism, poverty, grief, debt, confusion, and whatever flavor of adulthood I’ve lived. What got stripped away wasn’t the creativity. It was the permission to trust it. Everything I’ve ever built — wagons, puppet shows, worlds, assemblage boxes, archives — comes from that original child who wandered the farmstead and…Mon, 24 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMTDon Krumposhttps://www.wildkrumpos.com/2025/11/24/scarcity-shaped-me/https://www.wildkrumpos.com/2025/11/24/scarcity-shaped-me/Scarcity shaped me. Abundance tempted me. Both confused me. I grew up watching money stretch thin across weeks. Savings were theoretical. Debt was normal. Supply chains were mysterious and vaguely immoral. Wealth felt like something other people had, and maybe didn’t deserve. But now I see: Abundance isn’t extravagance. Abundance is flexibility. Abundance is time. Abundance is morning walks not…Mon, 24 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMTDon Krumposhttps://www.wildkrumpos.com/2025/11/24/reflection-on-parenting/https://www.wildkrumpos.com/2025/11/24/reflection-on-parenting/Draft / reflection on parenting Now that I’m a parent myself, I keep asking: Does interesting require chaos? Does stability require boredom? My wife and I are building a life rooted in art, story, ritual, place. A downtown building for a studio instead of a farmhouse. A puppet wagon instead of a haymow. Screenprinting ink instead of manure. Conservation work…Mon, 24 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMTDon Krumposhttps://www.wildkrumpos.com/2025/11/24/reflection-from-late-2025/https://www.wildkrumpos.com/2025/11/24/reflection-from-late-2025/Draft / memoir entry I keep circling this question: why do I hunger for an “interesting” life? Not glamorous, not Instagram-worthy, but mythic — textured, strange, handmade, meaningful. It didn’t come from nowhere. I grew up on a small, ramshackle Wisconsin farmstead where nothing was ever simple and nothing ever stopped. Animals birthing, fences breaking, fires to tend, grandparents recovering…Mon, 24 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMTDon Krumposhttps://www.wildkrumpos.com/2025/11/24/pragmatic-reflection/https://www.wildkrumpos.com/2025/11/24/pragmatic-reflection/Draft / pragmatic reflection One of the questions I keep turning over is whether my cautiousness around money is wisdom… or inherited fear. My parents were heroic with their frugality: every dollar stretched, every purchase planned. They took risks only when absolutely necessary. I grew up believing that responsible people: • delay pleasure • avoid debt • plan every expense…Mon, 24 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMTDon Krumposhttps://www.wildkrumpos.com/2025/11/24/memory-of-gratitude/https://www.wildkrumpos.com/2025/11/24/memory-of-gratitude/Draft / memory + gratitude One thing I can say without doubt: I was raised inside a village. My mom took us everywhere — hospitals, nursing homes, neighbors’ houses, prayer meetings, casseroles delivered in Pyrex, errands for elderly relatives, hair-fixing for great aunts, check-ins on the lonely or sick. People were always around. Always visiting. Always needing help. Always offering…Mon, 24 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMTDon Krumposhttps://www.wildkrumpos.com/2025/11/24/identity-processing/https://www.wildkrumpos.com/2025/11/24/identity-processing/Draft / identity processing I was not a “little adult.” I was, if anything, a late developer — the kid who loved toys into adolescence, who played in the sandbox until twelve, who preferred drawing to chores, who found magic in solitude. I wasn’t burdened with responsibilities. My parents wanted us to help on the farm — but I wriggled…Mon, 24 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMTDon Krumposhttps://www.wildkrumpos.com/2025/11/24/i-dont-want-to-abandon-the-interesting-life/https://www.wildkrumpos.com/2025/11/24/i-dont-want-to-abandon-the-interesting-life/I don’t want to abandon the “interesting life.” I want to refine it. I want my child to grow up around: • art • story • music • ritual • the living world • creativity as normalcy • parents who are present, not panicked • wonder as a daily practice Maybe we don’t have a hobby farm, but we have:…Mon, 24 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMTDon Krumposhttps://www.wildkrumpos.com/2025/11/24/fake-flowers-on-the-school-walk/https://www.wildkrumpos.com/2025/11/24/fake-flowers-on-the-school-walk/The fake flowers on the morning school walk with my son triggered something I didn’t expect — a small, bright flash of my own childhood. We didn’t have many flowers growing around the farmstead. Winters killed everything. But I remember the frost on old plastic decorations in graveyards or churchyards, the way the crystals made the petals look almost real.…Mon, 24 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMTDon Krumposhttps://www.wildkrumpos.com/2025/11/24/emotional-inheritance-map/https://www.wildkrumpos.com/2025/11/24/emotional-inheritance-map/Draft / emotional inheritance map When I read through my mother’s journals, a pattern becomes unmistakable: Sacrifice was the currency of love. Everything was done “even though” it was hard. Money was always tight “but God would provide.” Time was always short “but we managed.” Joy came after labor, never simply as a right of being alive. I adored my…Mon, 24 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMTDon Krumposhttps://www.wildkrumpos.com/2025/11/24/childhood-time-is-circular/https://www.wildkrumpos.com/2025/11/24/childhood-time-is-circular/Childhood time is circular. Seasons repeat without urgency. Days loop and blend. You don’t “lose” time; you just exist inside it. Then somewhere — often around adolescence — time snaps into a line. A progression. A conveyor belt. A deadline machine. I remember the moment the loop broke for me: freshman year of high school, walking home after basketball practice,…Mon, 24 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMTDon Krumposhttps://www.wildkrumpos.com/2025/05/23/turtles-on-the-mississippi/https://www.wildkrumpos.com/2025/05/23/turtles-on-the-mississippi/Today Donnie and Logan came to visit us. They came over for dinner on the Thursday and we went to Red's on the Friday. I taught a screenprinting class at Peninsula School of Art on Saturday. We went to Powers, Michigan on the Memorial Day weekend to hang out with Erin's family. It was fun to watch Arthur running around…Fri, 23 May 2025 00:00:00 GMTDon Krumposhttps://www.wildkrumpos.com/2025/05/23/on-gatekeeping-the-glow/https://www.wildkrumpos.com/2025/05/23/on-gatekeeping-the-glow/I’ve been turning this over for days now: the threshold between letting my child roam into the digital thicket, and holding back the brambles just a bit longer. It’s not a battle between “screens” and “nature”—that’s too simple, too binary. It’s more about tempo, about tending to the rhythms that shape a child’s mind before the algorithms get a chance…Fri, 23 May 2025 00:00:00 GMTDon Krumposhttps://www.wildkrumpos.com/2025/03/23/the-milwaukee-public-museum/https://www.wildkrumpos.com/2025/03/23/the-milwaukee-public-museum/We went to Milwaukee this weekend.We met Erin's friend Allie and her husband Erik, and child Alec, and Wes too. We stayed in a hotel in Silver City, Milwaukee. Wes met us for dinner at the restaurant in the hotel. Then we all went swimming. Arthur like swimming in the pools in hotels. Afterward Wes and I had a beer…Sun, 23 Mar 2025 00:00:00 GMTDon Krumposhttps://www.wildkrumpos.com/2025/03/11/goodbye-gertie/https://www.wildkrumpos.com/2025/03/11/goodbye-gertie/Today, I said goodbye to my cat of 16 years, Gertie. We had to let her go as her kidneys were failing, and in her last days, she hardly moved or ate. A part of me hoped she would rally again—like she did a couple of years ago when toxoplasmosis nearly took her, only for her to bounce back with…Tue, 11 Mar 2025 00:00:00 GMTDon Krumposhttps://www.wildkrumpos.com/2025/03/11/gertie-my-fierce-little-shadow/https://www.wildkrumpos.com/2025/03/11/gertie-my-fierce-little-shadow/I met her in December 2008, in my Minneapolis apartment. I set down a fresh bowl of food and watched her take her first careful steps into our life together. She was a tortoiseshell — bold, independent, a little unpredictable. Feisty in the way only tortoiseshells can be. She would be my companion for the next sixteen years, through six…Tue, 11 Mar 2025 00:00:00 GMTDon Krumposhttps://www.wildkrumpos.com/2025/01/13/the-wolf-moon/https://www.wildkrumpos.com/2025/01/13/the-wolf-moon/Tonight is the full Wolf Moon. I started a new full time job on the 6th at Door County Land Trust in Sturgeon Bay as their Communications Manager. I like it so far. For the New Year we went to Eric and Rachelles and they cooked out steak and crab legs. We watched some television. I went to be before…Mon, 13 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMTDon Krumposhttps://www.wildkrumpos.com/2024/12/29/arthurs-first-bowling/https://www.wildkrumpos.com/2024/12/29/arthurs-first-bowling/Wes, Donnie and Logan came over for Arthur’s birthday party. We went to Algoma Pizza Bowl to go bowling and have pizza. This was Arthur’s first time bowling. We all scored pretty badly, but had a lot of fun. We went back to our house and had cake and Arthur opened his presents. He got some good ones from Wes…Sun, 29 Dec 2024 00:00:00 GMTDon Krumposhttps://www.wildkrumpos.com/2024/12/26/the-tubing-chute/https://www.wildkrumpos.com/2024/12/26/the-tubing-chute/We spent Christmas and Erin’s parent’s house in Powers, Michigan. Both of her sister’s families were there too, so it was a full house. The best part was seeing Arthur have so much fun with his cousins and his grandma, who is his most favorite person in the world. Opening presents was a highlight. Eric, Rachelle, and Erin and I…Thu, 26 Dec 2024 00:00:00 GMTDon Krumposhttps://www.wildkrumpos.com/2024/12/22/omelets-with-donnie/https://www.wildkrumpos.com/2024/12/22/omelets-with-donnie/Donnie came over as he is back to Algoma from college in Madison. We had omelets and he caught us up on his life. He played with Arthur. Arthur loves that.Sun, 22 Dec 2024 00:00:00 GMTDon Krumposhttps://www.wildkrumpos.com/2024/12/20/arthurs-christmas-concert/https://www.wildkrumpos.com/2024/12/20/arthurs-christmas-concert/One of the highlights of my year is going to have to be seeing Arthur’s Christmas concert. To see my little 4-year old boy up on stage singing his heart out and swaying back and forth. I was in the audience and I saw him looking out into the audience for me and he couldn’t see me. I was waving…Fri, 20 Dec 2024 00:00:00 GMTDon Krumposhttps://www.wildkrumpos.com/2024/12/15/sitting-in-the-dark/https://www.wildkrumpos.com/2024/12/15/sitting-in-the-dark/This morning I woke up early and was sitting in the dark. Arthur woke up next and came out into the living room and he waved at me and crawled up on my lap. He is almost 5 and I cherish these moments when he is a sweet innocent little boy and likes to be by me.Sun, 15 Dec 2024 00:00:00 GMTDon Krumposhttps://www.wildkrumpos.com/2024/11/28/the-first-mamas/https://www.wildkrumpos.com/2024/11/28/the-first-mamas/Tonight Arthur asked me who were the mama’s of the first people to exist. I didn’t have a good answer for that.Thu, 28 Nov 2024 00:00:00 GMTDon Krumposhttps://www.wildkrumpos.com/2024/11/13/arthurs-first-tooth/https://www.wildkrumpos.com/2024/11/13/arthurs-first-tooth/Arthur lost his first tooth today. He ran up to me after school and I noticed something different about him. He didn’t tell me anything but I asked him to smile at me and then I saw the bottom middle tooth was gone. It wasn’t even loose this morning when I dropped him off. A milestone for my boy.Wed, 13 Nov 2024 00:00:00 GMTDon Krumposhttps://www.wildkrumpos.com/2024/10/07/im-gonna-get-ya/https://www.wildkrumpos.com/2024/10/07/im-gonna-get-ya/I finished my animations for the Manitowoc Symphony orchestra. I had a very good night as many friends and family came out to see my shadow puppets as they were synchronized for the live playing of Elgar and Copland. I worked hard over the last couple of months. Now I am onto the mermaid mural across the street. Still my…Mon, 07 Oct 2024 00:00:00 GMTDon Krumposhttps://www.wildkrumpos.com/2024/08/17/the-paper-mache-cathedral/https://www.wildkrumpos.com/2024/08/17/the-paper-mache-cathedral/Erin and I left on August 15th and drove to Blind River, Ontario — one of those small highway towns where the motel has a bar next door and the bar has karaoke and that's the whole nightlife. We had dinner, watched strangers sing, and slept hard. The next day we made it to Fitzroy Provincial Park and set up…Sat, 17 Aug 2024 00:00:00 GMTDon Krumposhttps://www.wildkrumpos.com/2024/07/14/lavender-fields-on-washington-island/https://www.wildkrumpos.com/2024/07/14/lavender-fields-on-washington-island/A lot has happened in the last month. It is summer and Erin is on her summer vacation so we are trying to pack in a lot of fun and murals. We finished the Port O’Call mural. For Wes’ 25th birthday we went to Timber Trails Campground. We had a lot of fun around the campfire and at their playground/trampoline…Sun, 14 Jul 2024 00:00:00 GMTDon Krumposhttps://www.wildkrumpos.com/2024/05/08/the-living-room-floor/https://www.wildkrumpos.com/2024/05/08/the-living-room-floor/April was a good month. I started a new contract job coding with new technologies that I don’t know. I miss having Arthur home with me since he was home with me so much the past few months. He is my whole life now and I think he is the most darling little kid. I think about being a kid…Wed, 08 May 2024 00:00:00 GMTDon Krumposhttps://www.wildkrumpos.com/2024/03/05/precious-time/https://www.wildkrumpos.com/2024/03/05/precious-time/I continue to spend a lot of time with Arthur. I am very grateful for this as I know this time when he is small is precious and goes by fast.Tue, 05 Mar 2024 00:00:00 GMTDon Krumposhttps://www.wildkrumpos.com/2024/01/28/the-same-song-my-momma-sang/https://www.wildkrumpos.com/2024/01/28/the-same-song-my-momma-sang/Arthur has been staying home with me a few days a week, until I can find a job and spending time with him is my most favorite thing. I am just entertained and amazed by him and his antics. I try to see things through his eyes and all the things he is taking in and digesting and regurgitating just…Sun, 28 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMTDon Krumposhttps://www.wildkrumpos.com/2024/01/02/arthur-turns-four/https://www.wildkrumpos.com/2024/01/02/arthur-turns-four/Today is Arthur’s birthday and he is 4 years old. It was the first day back to work for Erin, so it was just me and Arthur hanging out at home. I am so happy to be this little boys Dadda. I think he is just the most amazing little human and I love to try to see things through…Tue, 02 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMTDon Krumposhttps://www.wildkrumpos.com/2023/11/29/leaves-and-sticks-and-stones/https://www.wildkrumpos.com/2023/11/29/leaves-and-sticks-and-stones/This past weekend we had Thanksgiving at Rachelle’s house where all of Erin’s family was there. Arthur enjoyed playing with his grandma cousins so much and helped decorate Christmas cookies. I came back on Friday to work on my Krampus mask. Last Tuesday was the dedication of the clay mural I helped design for downtown Green Bay. It was nice…Wed, 29 Nov 2023 00:00:00 GMTDon Krumposhttps://www.wildkrumpos.com/2023/09/05/swimming-at-krohns-lake/https://www.wildkrumpos.com/2023/09/05/swimming-at-krohns-lake/Today is my birthday. We are done with all our summer plans. It is Erin’s first day back teaching. This past weekend was Labor Day weekend and Erin and I went camping at Van Riper State Park in Michigan on Sunday night. We spent a lot of time at the beach on the lake there swimming and watching the sunset.…Tue, 05 Sep 2023 00:00:00 GMTDon Krumposhttps://www.wildkrumpos.com/2023/08/28/penguins-at-the-milwaukee-zoo/https://www.wildkrumpos.com/2023/08/28/penguins-at-the-milwaukee-zoo/This was a fun weekend for one of the last of summer. We went to Milwaukee and on Friday to the Mexican Fiesta at the summerfest grounds with Wes and Saudiel. We had some great food, heard music and Arthur like to ride the carnival rides and lay on the playground. Donnie took the Badger bus on Saturday and we…Mon, 28 Aug 2023 00:00:00 GMTDon Krumposhttps://www.wildkrumpos.com/2023/08/14/arthurs-first-fish/https://www.wildkrumpos.com/2023/08/14/arthurs-first-fish/This has been a great month for summer. I’ve been painting a mural in West Allis with David Carpenter. We are just about finished up. The last two weeks Arthur stayed home with us and was hanging out with his mom. He want paddling with Jody on Krohn’s Lake. We went to a farm called Wilson’s Wish and he got…Mon, 14 Aug 2023 00:00:00 GMTDon Krumposhttps://www.wildkrumpos.com/2023/07/14/monster-trucks-at-the-fair/https://www.wildkrumpos.com/2023/07/14/monster-trucks-at-the-fair/Tonight we went to the Kewaunee County Fair. I painted and finished the mushroom mural on the Flower Shop wall, and we got to the Fair about 4. We first visited the animal barns and I liked watching Arthur look at them. He doesn’t try to stay close to us and trie to do the opposite of what we tell…Fri, 14 Jul 2023 00:00:00 GMTDon Krumposhttps://www.wildkrumpos.com/2023/06/30/fireflies-at-nelson-dewey/https://www.wildkrumpos.com/2023/06/30/fireflies-at-nelson-dewey/We drove to southwest Wisconsin to camp at Nelson Dewey State Park. Arthur stayed at Rachelle’s and we Erin and I got to go by ourselves. When we got there, we set up camp and went to watch the sun set over the Mississippi River while drinking some beers. When the sun was down, we walked back, but took a…Fri, 30 Jun 2023 00:00:00 GMTDon Krumposhttps://www.wildkrumpos.com/2023/05/01/play/https://www.wildkrumpos.com/2023/05/01/play/It was snowing today. I am designing murals and getting ready to paint a few this summer. Erin has a solo exhibit in Fond Du Lac soon. Arthur is just the love of my life. I get to spend a lot of time with him. Last week he was off of day care and home with me. Pastor Taylor sold…Mon, 01 May 2023 00:00:00 GMTDon Krumposhttps://www.wildkrumpos.com/2023/01/01/the-sea-grant-mural/https://www.wildkrumpos.com/2023/01/01/the-sea-grant-mural/Over the past few months I’ve been trying to get the last of our murals done. On October 13 we hung the Sea Grant mural in Sturgeon Bay. There was a ceremony for it on October 15th. Erin and I went to Minneapolis on October 22. We went to the Walker Art Center. I got to drive around a lot…Sun, 01 Jan 2023 00:00:00 GMTDon Krumposhttps://www.wildkrumpos.com/2022/10/01/showing-arthur-wequiock-falls/https://www.wildkrumpos.com/2022/10/01/showing-arthur-wequiock-falls/Yesterday we went to get pumpkins with Arthur at the apple orchard in Luxemburg. Jody came along. It was so cute watching Arthur pull his cart and load it full of pumpkins. We got a lot and we bought some apples and carmeled apples too. Arthur had fun picking apples and running through the orchard and pumpkin patch. We decided…Sat, 01 Oct 2022 00:00:00 GMTDon Krumpos