Question: Can you talk about how people need to make proper turns? I see a lot of unsafe maneuvers when it comes to turning. Answer: Drivers who turn improperly cause many traffic crashes. Move safely into the correct lane well ahead of the place where you will make the actual turn. • Slow down before turning. Signal your intent at least 100 feet before the turn. Signals … [Read more...]
We’ll Weather the Weather Whether or Not We Like It
Everywhere I go, something is there waiting for me. It's called the weather. On this August day, a heaviness hung in the air, brought on by heat and humidity. It was stifling. Archie Bunker's famous catchphrase "Stifle yourself" was directed at his sweet wife Edith in the classic TV show "All in the Family." This August day would have stifled Edith without need of … [Read more...]
Time in a Bottle?
By Angela Denstad Time and again we talk about the weeks flying by, we compare the current weather to that of past seasons, we remark on the changes we notice from year to year. Whether small talk or the most profound poetical musings, it all amounts to more or less the same thing: Time passes. And as it does, there’s comfort in predictability, a familiar grounding of … [Read more...]
Peering at the Past – What Else Could He Do? … Muskrats!
The Cassell family carried everything they owned as they walked about six miles on the Territorial Road before stopping at the log farmhouse of Isaac Holmes. It was mid-summer of 1862, about a decade after the first white settlers began to arrive in southeast Minnesota. It was two years after a survey of 40 acres that was being purchased by Theodore Cassell (Kassell, Castle). … [Read more...]
Jesus’ Parables: Storytelling, Improvisation, and Meaningmaking
By Rev. Anders Nelson Mabel-Henrytown Tri-Point Parish - Mabel First Lutheran Church, Scheie Lutheran Church and Henrytown Lutheran Church There’s something really beautiful and interesting in the way Jesus teaches his disciples and, through the beauty of the Living Word, us by means of creative storytelling and meaningmaking. Throughout these summer months, my parish has … [Read more...]
Ask a Trooper
Question: I saw your last article was about stopping. With school just around the corner, can you talk about stopping for the school bus? Answer: I certainly can and with last year’s law change it’s a good reminder. Previously, the law required drivers to stop for a bus’s red flashing lights and extended stop arm. Alarmingly, this could create a situation where some drivers … [Read more...]
There’s a Butterfly On My Foot and It’s Not a Tattoo
It's another day Goal achieved. I enjoy going places and seeing things. That was part of the reason I went out onto the deck of our home, but the primary reason was to fill the birdbath with water. I do that faithfully. Before I could pour any water, a northern house wren, a tiny bird whose name is bigger than it is, yelled at me. I don't believe he was shouting … [Read more...]
The Para-Normal Cotton Ball Mystery
By Wenda Grabau Have you ever had a mystery take place in your own household? For me it happened just the other day. I have been using cotton balls twice daily. I used up the last few, so we got some from the grocery store to restock my collection. One night, I left the whole new package of 100 cotton balls on top of the bathroom vanity. The next morning, I looked for … [Read more...]
Peering at the Past Coin-Collecting Monkeys and an Elephant on an Urgent Errand
Imagine traveling alone on a lonely, shadow-darkened, uphill road and suddenly coming toward you - is an elephant in a hurry. It was no rogue elephant intentionally terrorizing rural residents. To the contrary, it was a perfectly respectable, performing pachyderm, which often pushed wagons in between performing sites. That day in 1907, it was surely the only elephant in … [Read more...]
Pastor Devotions – The Gift of Gathering
Christ Lutheran Church, Preston “Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.” (Matthew 18:20) Recently I went to the library to check out a book. I found it easily enough, but along the way I noticed the displays: staff picks, new books, summer reads. Before I left, I had chosen a second book and enjoyed a conversation with the librarian. It was a … [Read more...]