By Pastor Paul Hauschild Chatfield Lutheran and Root Prairie Lutheran Once when Albert Einstein took a train from Princeton University, a conductor boarded to check the passengers’ tickets. When he reached Einstein, he began searching his jacket pockets for his ticket but couldn’t find it. He then looked in his trouser pockets, then in his small carry-on suitcase, … [Read more...]
Be Sure to Check in Innumerably Before You Check Out
I checked the weather. I should have checked my blood pressure before I checked the weather. The weather report was dire. If I were a crack meteorologist, I’d predict bad weather every day. That way, if we didn’t get bad weather, everyone would be happy because we’d dodged the bullet. If we got bad weather, everyone would think I was a crack meteorologist whose Magic 8 Ball … [Read more...]
Peering at the Past – Cattle Drives in Houston County? Yep
Cattle drives in Houston County, Minnesota? Yes, but it was nothing the bovines expected or enjoyed. Cattle drives were featured in many western movies, but likely no film depicted cattle drives to La Crosse. In the late 1800s, farmers were their own butchers for family and nearby neighbors. And there was also a commercial market at packing houses, especially for hogs and … [Read more...]
Pastor Devotions – “And Can It Be That I Should Gain”
By Pastor Mark Woodward Maple Leaf Parish of the UMC Cherry Grove, Fountain, Preston, and Spring Valley: Faith Churches (and Lenora) We are in the season of Lent. The Lenten season is often overlooked by secular society, as Lent does not draw the attention and glamour often paid to the Advent season leading up to Christmas. Lent is a quiet, personal and reflective … [Read more...]
Peering at the Past – Sometimes Wild, Irish Wakes Were Three-Day Events
Part two of a two-part series “They’re all drunk. They have the corpse standing up in a corner, and one guy passed out and is in the coffin,” reported Ake Nelson to his wife, explaining why he was back home so soon. He had walked, carrying a lantern in the dark, “only” about two miles from home to pay his respects to a neighboring family after the death of one of the Brady … [Read more...]
My Diet Influencers are Miss Piggy and Orson Welles
It was March 4th. I followed the instructions and marched forth. I do what my calendar tells me to do. I dug to the back of the Greek yogurt shelf because I avoid the front items on grocery shelves. Someone stopped to greet me. My brain had logged out due to inactivity. The friendly man’s name had slipped my mind. I’ve reached the age where I’m incorrectly mistaken … [Read more...]
A Goodly Heritage – Incident in the Hen House
Today, I had to ask my husband the big question. “When I go out to do chores, how long will it take you to come out and look for me?” He set down his paperwork, looked at me through his reading glasses and his lips began to curl up in a mischievous little smile. “Why?” he queried. ”Did you have some trouble today?” I began to give him the blow-by-blow facts as I went … [Read more...]
Pastor Devotions – Behold, I Myself Will Shepherd My People
By Rev. Peter Haugen St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church On that first Maundy Thursday, our Lord Jesus proclaimed that a day is coming, the great and awesome day of the Lord, when He Himself will judge all people, separating the sheep from the goats, the Christian from the non-Christian. There is a rich irony in this. The Judge is about to be judged. Nevertheless, He … [Read more...]
Fresh Off the Farm – Be Careful What You Read
Don’t shoot me, but I took a siesta in the white sand of Siesta Beach in Florida today. At 72 and sunny, I can’t say I’m missing the 27 and cloudy of home. Why am I here? Because I read a book. Maybe this is the part where I tell you to be careful what you read. Reading has consequences. Reading could transform your entire world – or at least your classroom. Let me … [Read more...]
Peering at the Past – Pioneer Life Could Often Be Brief
Life was challenging and often brief for Houston County pioneers, as early as the 1850s. The two earliest recorded deaths in Jefferson Township, the most southeastern township in the county, occurred in 1856, both accidental. Rev. Leonard Sharp, a Protestant Campbellite, had been preaching in Winnebago valley as early as 1854, perished below a falling tree in January, 1856. In … [Read more...]