“What will it be?” “It will be OK,” I assured the server. It turned out she wasn’t inquiring about my nasty hangnail. She wanted me to order. I thought about saying, “I want a rubber band sandwich and make it snappy,” but she had a stern look, which indicated I should forgo any further attempts at jocularity. I’d just talked to a fellow who was about to turn 93. People had … [Read more...]
Journal Writing Project My truth
By Diann Smith I have been wrestling for a very long time now and it was just this year that I got to wrestle in the first ever MN Girls Section Tournament and with hard work, I secured a spot at state. I went on to wrestle at the first ever MN Girls Sanctioned State Tournament where I made it to the finals. It didn’t end quite the way I wanted but it was such a cool … [Read more...]
Peering at the Past If you had horses and a wagon and were willing to work…
Part 3 of a series Everyone owned them; many bought and sold them. Some bred them, but few caught and “broke” them. But Knute Lee did it all and even sang to horses. He was an extraordinary horseman of Houston County during the first two decades of the 1900s. Previous generations of the Lee family had immigrated from Norway to Black Hammer Township, where the family name … [Read more...]
Fresh Off The Farm – I stopped running around the yard with my tongue out… When did that become weird?
Does anything make you giddy from your toes? Or maybe a better question is - do you get excited over things as an adult? I’m not talking average, ho-hum “excitement.” I’m talking real, live, DELIGHT. As a kid, it’s ok to jump, squeal and holler from the bottom of your toes to the top of your head. Not so as an adult. That’s just weird – if anyone is watching. But should … [Read more...]
Peering at the Past Everybody, every business needed a horse
Part two of a series on horses By the mid-1900s, owning a horse had become a diversion or hobby. But in the early decades of that century, owning horses was a necessity. Horses and horse-drawn vehicles were the mainstays of not only farm work but also travel and transportation. After pioneering with oxen in the 1850s - 70s, there was a half-century of horsepower. Horses were … [Read more...]
Haute cuisine on a horse opera
I gave a collection of Gunsmoke TV show DVDs to a friend going through a rough patch. A rough patch is how I describe things I don’t want to describe. It’s the opposite of a bonanza, so it doesn’t have any of the Cartwright family in it. I’m not sure how I came to possess those Gunsmoke videos. Probably at a friends of the public library book sale. Gunsmoke was a weekly … [Read more...]
Pastor Devotions – Inch by inch, seed by seed
By Rev. Debra Jene Collum Chatfield United Methodist Do you ever sing words to a song and realize you are singing them “wrong”? Sometimes it is embarrassing, sometimes serendipitous. I learned that the song I sing to my seeds when I am planting a garden aren’t the words as written by David Mallett. However, in this case it is serendipitous because the way I sing this song … [Read more...]
Journal Writing Project Two years and counting
By Maddy Bergey Welp, it has officially been two years since the COVID-19 pandemic initially impacted our lives in this world. As a globe, we have endured two whole years of a deadly virus, which has claimed over five million lives and inevitably affected billions beyond those. From ever-changing mask mandates to newly emerging variants, these past two years have been denoted … [Read more...]
March is not the armpit of the year
I accomplished a great deal in the last 12 months. I got a year older. Another year of membership in the human race and I did it without a bye week or running a single secondary route. I took an unofficial survey and everyone I asked claimed to have been born in one of 12 months. Babies were born on Tuesday, February 22, 2022. That’s 2/22/22. I wonder if any were named … [Read more...]
A little of this, a little of that
It all started with a walk on the beach to pick up shells. My sisters and I recently vacationed in South Padre, Tex. Take your time and hate me for a few minutes. I usually feel angry at people who take winter vacations while I am at home during February and March in Minnesota. Now that you have that out of your system, I will continue my story. I confess that compass … [Read more...]