“Mooommm! There are men outside with funny looking skid loaders that AREN’T ours!” my six-year-old exploded. If we lived in the city, I’d think we were having road construction. On the farm, mystery skid steers in the front yard are a different story. “What are they doing?” I questioned from the other side of the house where I was working. “They’re driving into the … [Read more...]
One Glad Morning with a Brobdingnagian Breakfast Special
Breakfast isn’t skipped; it’s merely delayed. Nicolas Chamfort said, “Swallow a toad in the morning if you want to encounter nothing more disgusting the rest of the day.” Although it wasn’t Mark Twain, Abe Lincoln or Yogi Berra who said that, unless you’re a snake, a raccoon or a heron, it’s difficult to challenge the efficacy of Chamfort’s words. But you won’t find toad … [Read more...]
Peering at the Past – Women in Trousers, a Tobacco Fund and Armistice Day
Part four of a four-part series World War I certainly altered the lives of those men enlisting or drafted into military service, but circumstances changed for many back at home as well. Two young women left the University of Minnesota, including Dyllone Hempstead of Houston, to volunteer for farm work. Specifically, Miss Hempstead was raising chickens for Dean A. F. Woods. … [Read more...]
Pastor Devotions – “Do no harm. Do good. Stay in love with God.”
By Pastor Mark Woodward Maple Leaf Parish of the UMC Cherry Grove, Fountain, Preston, and Spring Valley: Faith Churches (and Lenora) In 2007 I received a book written by Bishop Rueben P. Job. It was not a big or lengthy book, yet it was a book of transforming power and love. THREE SIMPLE RULES lifted up a powerful life and world changing way to live. Quoting … [Read more...]
Thyme & Again – Spooky Season: Burnout, Tricky Treats, and Sandwich-Craft
By Angela Denstad Time and again, it begins in the fall: I get sucked into a seasonal time warp wherein I imagine all the best treats will magically converge on a collective table of sheer memory, citing, “Oh, I made this once!” as evidence that all things should again appear. String together a couple decades of culinary curiosity and that’s a whole lot of recipe re-creation … [Read more...]
Peering at the Past – Many Fought, Many Paid, Many Did Both
Part three of a series Her grandfather’s fortunate chickens dined on a freshly-baked loaf of bread, originally intended for humans. Her mother had baked the bread, not with wheat flour but with barley flour. “It was awful,” recalled Ingrid Julsrud, a Houston High School student at the time, “heavy, hard, coarse and dry, but the flavor was the worst.” Those chickens … [Read more...]
Fillmore County Flashback: Rushford – The Early Years
By Sally Ryman Rushford Historical Society Ever wonder how your hometown came to be? What caused it to grow and thrive? This is the story of Rushford’s early years. Native Americans had lived in the area for thousands of years, but we will begin in 1854 when white settlers arrived. Rushford started as a shanty town of about 20 log houses. Area farmers were beginning … [Read more...]
Take Another Little Piece of My Heart Now, Baby
I wasn’t convulsed with spasms of delight. I’d been bitten by something that wasn’t there. I wondered if something that didn’t exist could be arrested for aggravated assault. They are minute pirate bugs, more often called no-see-ums and many other words I can’t repeat here. Other insects can be called no-see-ums, correctly or incorrectly. I’ve heard harassed people … [Read more...]
Peering at the Past – False Sense of Gaiety, Followed by Complete Silence
Part two of a series It was the same in southeastern Minnesota as it was everywhere in the nation that day. The President of the United States, Woodrow Wilson, proclaimed a Registration Day for a military census. On Tuesday, June 5, 1917, all men between the ages 21 and 30 inclusive were to register. World War I had begun in 1914, three years before the United States … [Read more...]
Your Flying Farmer – What Have I Done?
There was a 10-foot wall in front of my house that completely blocked my view. Who put that there? It wasn’t there earlier this summer, and I certainly didn’t build it! It was thick, it was tall, and if I got too close it would slice my arms. It’s a cornfield. For the past few years, this field was alfalfa. We enjoyed a fully open view of the bluff country right from the … [Read more...]