Boy, howdy! I’d been contentedly looking at myself from the inside. Then my alarm exploded at 4 a.m. I usually wake up before my alarm sounds, but not this morning. First, I thought the disruption was part of a nightmare. I couldn’t find a crevice to shove the shrieking alarm, so I got out of bed. I can sleep through anything that doesn’t wake me, but the alarm gave me … [Read more...]
Pastor Devotion – How firm a foundation?
By Pastor Stuart Weist First Baptist Church of Preston Where do you turn when the world is in chaos? Just a week ago I headed out for some one-on-one time with my 11-year-old son. We packed our bags and headed North to Bayfield, Wis., where we spent five wonderful days swimming, hiking, and camping on the shores of the Apostle Islands National Park. It was a great time of … [Read more...]
Peering at the Past Eight buildings burned during two nights of terror
The newspaper account read: “Saturday night, Tony Peters, who resides in the east part of town, was attracted by the barking of his dogs and upon hearing someone close the gate near his barn, he went near the place (and) heard two men talking rather low behind the barn. As soon as they saw Mr. Peters coming, they started out on a run across the fields. “The following night, at … [Read more...]
Peering at the Past Theatre destroyed just hours before the production
A man “carrying a casket upside down on his shoulders in the red glow of the flames, was a weird sight,” according to one account of a fire that caused the evacuation of caskets from the Schummers Building in Caledonia. Fire was a great threat to the survival of fledgling southeast Minnesota villages during the last half of the 1800s. With closely-clustered frame buildings … [Read more...]
The Flatulent Donkeys sang, “Tears in my goulash”
“Do you like flying squirrels?” “I don’t know, I’ve never flown one,” I told the inquiring caller. Flying monkeys are kind of creepy and I’ve never seen a flying cow or donkey. While on the subject of donkeys, I shared my intentions with my wife who responded, “Have you gone soft in the head?” She mumbled, “Give blood, play donkey ball.” I’d planned on riding … [Read more...]
Real Bites
Elsie’s in Caledonia Each week, I deliver newspapers to La Crescent, Hokah and Brownsville, and I am often fortunate enough to have a passenger to chat with along the way. This past week, our son Landon joined me for the countryside tour of Houston County, delivering fresh copies of the Visit Bluff Country Magazine and Fillmore County Journal. It gives us time to talk … [Read more...]
A Goodly Heritage
Thankful for once a year jobs Today I sat in my centenarian farm kitchen cutting fresh broccoli we harvested from our garden. As I worked I could hear the echoes and the low drone of my husband’s tractor. Finishing my job of blanching the green delicacy and packaging it, I sauntered outdoors to the corn cribs where the action was taking place. A corn crib is a structure … [Read more...]
I felt as lucky as Kentucky on a fair day
It was time for me to get my fairs in order. Don’t follow the masses. Sometimes the “m” is silent. That was the advice I was given years back without asking for it. I ignored it and followed the masses to a county fair. Fairgrounds aren’t mediocre coffee. There is something for everyone unless you are someone for whom nothing is good enough. You can find complete gutter … [Read more...]
Peering at the Past Wowed with words, dazzled with descriptions in 1903
Was it really considered a compliment to be compared to Poland China hogs? It was unexplained why Caledonia “rooters” were so enthused about a contest between Spring Grove and Houston. However, more than a century ago, Houston County writers were able to describe an ordinary local event with enough embellishment of the English language, exaggeration and humor to hopefully … [Read more...]
Pastor Devotions – The dog days of summer
By Pastor Bridget Sheely Racine/Sumner Center UMC, Stewartville UMC Children’s Ministry Coordinator Well folks, here we are, sandwiched between the freshness of spring and the glory of the harvest. Widely known as the dog days of summer. Why is that? Well, one theory that dates back to the Greek and Roman times is that in these hot, humid and dry days of August it is … [Read more...]