January is the month of Mondays when puffer jackets proliferate. This is the year I’m going to change. I change every year, but this time, it’ll be for the better. That’s why I was in the binder organization aisle of an office supply store. I’d planned on picking up a few binders and becoming more organized than Marie Kondo was in her prime. Kondo was an expert in the … [Read more...]

After I was here, I was there. I’ve been to St. Joseph, Mo., a few times. Each time, I’ve stopped at the Jesse James Home. The notorious outlaw Jesse James was shot and killed in the house on April 3, 1882, by Bob Ford, a member of the James gang, who wished to collect a $10,000 reward, of which he received little. Jesse died at the age of 34 after a career as an outlaw, bank … [Read more...]

What child doesn’t love a tube of lip balm for Christmas? That’s because no child wants to miss a single minute of school because of chapped lips. Lip balm is better than bunny slippers. I received a pair as a gift one year and learned that they’re fiercely territorial. Some kids, after weeks of dedicated research, discover that if they really want something, they should … [Read more...]

The wind blew another partridge out of a pear tree. Winter has trouble doing the right thing. It’s not the snow that gets you when you live in a snow globe. It’s the shaking like a chilly Chihuahua that happens before the snow falls. My wife and I gathered around the light bulb for warmth and read about global warming on a night as cold as a cast iron commode with wind gusts … [Read more...]

You have enough things to worry about. You should stop worrying about achy-breaky earworms, fake funeral processions, treehouse fires and pop machine avalanches. “You never know,” my elders often said to me. Yours probably said the same thing. “It’s always something” was frequently added as a non-explanatory explanation. I’d just spent a week in an aging hotel meant … [Read more...]

The city’s water tower held gravy. It happens every Thanksgiving. I was clumping along like sneakers in a dryer, lugging the fixings and the fixed from the car to the kitchen.  There was no tofurkey and fravy, but I’d just had my oil changed, so there might have been pumpkin spice in my motor oil. Once again, I was thankful that glitter isn’t an ingredient in … [Read more...]

My great-grandfather bellowed, “Buckle up.”  At least he might have said it had he been the kind of guy who bellowed, “Buckle up.”  He might have said it or not right before bringing his family from Sweden to this country to escape the tyranny of potato pancakes. Grandma left her Swedish village when she was 14 years old. She traveled with her family and a phrase book … [Read more...]

There are legions of famous Minnesotans, and that includes you. There are too many esteemed Gopher Staters to count, but I’ll mention a few: Bob Dylan, Judy Garland, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Sinclair Lewis, Charles Schulz (the creator of “Peanuts”), James Arness (played Matt Dillon in “Gunsmoke”), Garrison Keillor, Prince, Jesse Ventura, Walter Mondale, Hubert H. Humphrey and … [Read more...]

“Oklahoma, where the wind comes sweeping down the plain, and the waving wheat can sure smell sweet, when the wind comes right behind the rain. Oklahoma, every night my honey lamb and I sit alone and talk and watch a hawk making lazy circles in the sky.” I sang that aloud in the key of off on my drive to Oklahoma for a speaking gig. I sang because I was all alone in the … [Read more...]

A kid offered me some Big League Chew bubble gum. If you’ve ever been a kid, you’ve likely chewed bubble gum. I thanked him and then declined his kind offer. I don’t chew gum.  It makes my jaws tired. I had a neighbor who got punched in the jaw during an altercation. When John Wayne was socked in a movie, he’d rub his jaw and smile. Real life differs from reel … [Read more...]

I remember a professor (I don’t remember his name) telling my class (I don’t remember what class it was), “I have three things I want you to remember today.” I don’t remember what the three things were, but I remember there were three of them. So, that’s been a big help, and I also recall learning (I don’t remember at what school) that a personal mission statement has three … [Read more...]

There was something in the air. I was trying to weave my day into a seamless garment when a strange wind blew.     Something was bugging me. I’m sure it was my imagination, but I could hear the theme from “Jaws.” Was it climate change? Some people call them ladybugs, but ladybugs are cute. These were flotsam floating on a sea of aggravation. It was October 8, a … [Read more...]

I saw a grizzly bear caterpillar.  It’s going to be a brutal winter.  Still, I was more than happy to share a lovely fall day with the crawler. Folklore says a narrow orange band on a woolly bear caterpillar means a harsh winter and a wide orange band means a mild winter. The truth is that the wider the orange band, the older the woolly bear (also called woolly worm or … [Read more...]

We could all use an upgrade. I got a new cellphone. I was due for an upgrade. My old phone was old, something to be expected from an old phone. The new one was the same brand as my old electronic leash, so the learning curve was minimal.  There was a long line of starlings perched on a utility wire as I drove to town. Each bird had positioned itself just far enough from … [Read more...]

I wasn’t shuffling off to Buffalo. Nor was I off to dance the bison-nova. My wife and I went to Minneopa State Park to see the bison. The bison are usually called buffalo. Minneopa is outside Mankato, Minn. It’s Mankato, no matter how you pronounce it.  Minneopa has a herd of 33 bison. That iconic song “Home on the Range” is incorrect. Buffalo never roamed the range, … [Read more...]