Driftless Dwellers

John Kalinowski found the key to overcoming his disillusionment with a society undermining all the truths and values he knew as a boy. The moral earthquake of the 1960s had destroyed his belief in God, and after serving in Vietnam and being honorably discharged, he was directionless and lived a decadent, empty life until a few words from an unlikely source set him on a new path. He began to see the light once more and slowly began turning toward the truths of his earliest years.

By purchasing five acres of land in the Driftless Area of Wisconsin, a land untouched by the crushing glaciers of ancient times and the tourist traps of modern vacationlands, he rediscovered God. Animals and plants were experienced anew. His heart was opened to the miracle of life untainted by humanity and filled with God's love and His mysterious power to make something from nothing and make it work so perfectly from eon to eon.

New births, death, and all the joys and sorrows of family life are also part of the story, a chain of events connecting new generations to the triumphs and tragedies of earlier generations. Upheavals like the Great Depression and wars can leave a mysterious residue on the lives of those born many years later. In the end, forgiveness, faith, and love are shown to be the greatest values and the panacea for the broken heart.