We learn to live in a new way each new day. I’m part of the generation that’s afraid of quicksand. I’ve never seen quicksand, but I witnessed its treachery in plenty of old black and white movies. It was a standard trope in the old action films featuring jungles. I watched the enemies of Tarzan, dastardly fellows, fall prey to quicksand. It made a good story. I love it … [Read more...]

I was careful to look one way before crossing the road. I pulled the Sunday newspaper from our rural mailbox. It was about my size, but I lugged it to my father who read the comics to me. The funny papers were a wonderland of color and wit. My father added sound effects. He brought “Dennis the Menace,” “Marmaduke,” “Peanuts,” “Beetle Bailey,” “Henry,” “Ferd’nand,” “Mark Trail” … [Read more...]

I felt like Ninny the Pooh. I’d called a friend by his brother’s name. Twice. How did I get so stupid? I didn’t study for it. I’ve said dumber things. This brain cramp barely moves the needle on the stupidity scale, but it annoyed me. I should be used to it because as soon as we can form words, we’ve said something stupid enough to hear crickets chirping. I was in … [Read more...]

The chill is gone. Summer begins when the last snowman melts. It can’t be summer already. Summer was just here. We’re finding our way back to things. It helps if the weather is a little better than just OK – lovely green and blue days with grasses swaying in the gentle breeze. Those days cause me to consider E. B. White who wrote, “I arise in the morning torn between a … [Read more...]

Norwegian emigration, part 5 Few European immigrants, including Norwegians, were aware of the vastness of North American. Once reaching the port cities of New York or Quebec, many thought they were near their destination. However, after months of sailing, they were still hundreds of miles away from the agricultural west.  Before trains arrived in the 1850s, the route west … [Read more...]