Introduction
Some of you may know me, and some of you may not. If you're the latter, here's your chance to get to know a little more about me.
My name is Karli Paulson. I was born and raised in Clark. My mom and dad are Doug and Kimberly Paulson. I have three older sisters, Jessica Jones, Chelsi Paulson and Paige (Paulson) Victor. I also have a nephew named Tren, and two nieces, Valerie and Brynn.
I graduated from Clark High School in 2018 and went on to Minnesota State University Moorhead, where I graduated with a BA degree in Animation with minors in English Writing, Graphic Communications and Media Arts in May 2021.
After earning my degree, I returned home, not sure what my next steps were. I ended up working at Amazing Grace Daycare for a few months before getting the opportunity to replace Annette Helkenn at the Clark County Courier, as she wanted to retire. She taught me everything I had to know about the behind-the-scenes work at the newspaper. My story at the newspaper started in January 2022.
Bill Krikac was also hoping to retire, but hadn't found anyone to take over the business for him. About halfway through my first year working at the paper, I started to consider the idea of buying the newspaper from him. And so, after a lot of work and training and planning, I bought the Clark County Courier at the end of December 2022.
The first few months of 2023 were definitely the hardest, figuring out how to set up everything between me, the business and the bank. When that was all sorted, it felt like smooth sailing. We celebrated our first anniversary this January. We managed to keep the door open! That was my goal, and still is.
As far as I can tell, we're still going strong, which I hope doesn't change. We love hearing the compliments; they fuel our willpower to keep working. I won't lie and say it's always easy, but I have a great team of people behind me, including Trudi Gaikowski, Carolynn Olson, heather Jordan, Kimberly Paulson, Christina Kannegieter, Joan Boehnke, Gloria Leetch, Karyl Maas and Marilyn Foster. Luckily for us, we have great support from our community as well! We appreciate it!
Not having a background in journalism can be tricky sometimes, but that doesn't stop us! We're always learning, adapting and evolving. While changes to the newspaper might not be obvious right now, just like our team, it will also be evolving, slowly but surely. Over time, you might start to notice additions of changes to the paper here or there. this column is one of those.
I've been advised many times from various sources that I should start writing a weekly or monthly column because readers really enjoy them. I agreed that it was a good idea, but I was never sure what I would write about. If you do know me, you know that I'm a girl of few words. I chalk that up to being an introvert with severe social anxiety. However, I've finally come up with an idea.
From this week on, I will be sharing short stories, poems, fables and other short works in the public domain through this column, and then also share my thoughts on the piece. Depending on the length of the piece, it may take more than one week to publish the full text. I'm hoping that everyone will enjoy reading them. I know I will!
That's not to say I can't include other things in this column as well. Sometimes, I might write more about my life or about my opinions on things. I could even answer questions or address comments if we get submissions. If that's something that would interest you, please email us at clarkcountycourier@gmail.com or call us at 605-532-3654.
I'm very excited about this addition, and I hope you'll enjoy it! So, without further ado, I present:
The Wolf And The Lamb
Aesop's Fables
Wolf, meeting with a Lamb astray from the fold, resolved not to lay violent hands on him, but to fins some plea to justify to the Lamb the Wolf's right to eat him. He thus addressed him: "Sirrah, last year you grossly insulted me."
"Indeed," bleated the Lamb in a mournful tone of voice, "I was not then born."
Then said the Wolf, "You feed in my pasture."
"No, good sir," replied the Lamb, "I have not yet tasted grass."
Again said the Wolf, "You drink of my well."
"No, exclaimed the Lamb, "I never drank water, for as yet my mother's milk is bot food and drink to me."
Upon which the Wolf seized him and ate him up, saying, "Well! I won't remain supperless, even though you refute every one of my imputations."
The tyrant will always find a pretext for his tyranny.
I remember reading Aesop's Fables before bed when I was a child. In fact, we still have the book somewhere at home. It looked like this:
It was one of my favorite books to read. However, I must admit, I don't remember the Wolf and the Lamb fable. It might not have been included in that particular book, as Aesop's Fables are too numerous for a single book.
When you put a hungry wolf together with a lamb, more than likely that lamb isn't coming out on top, which proves true in this fable. The interesting thing about the situation is that the Wolf tried to make excuses for wanting to eat the lamb and justify his actions, rather than just eating the lamb right away. As if it wasn't his own fault that he wanted to eat the innocent lamb.
This fable is strangely perfect for the political atmosphere recently with Trump's trial(s) and the elections taking place. But, I won't go any further into that. I don't want to make this a political thing, just food for thought.
