I was so tired, I had to do the dishes in bed. My morning had begun in a garage where his noises were funnier than those made by my car. The mechanic leaned on the fender as he jiggled things under the hood. He smiled as if the exercise provided a modicum of excitement. Maybe it was a grimace or gas. He was one of those guys who spends an unlimited amount of time to achieve … [Read more...]

Norwegian emigration, part 2 Before becoming a Houston County resident in Black Hammer, Gunhild Tiegen - after 16 years of marriage - had become a widow in Norway in 1860 with no money, no land, few skills and six children, ages 13 to 1. Before farming his own land near Riceford, Ole Gunderson Treangen had been a Norwegian tenant farmer and son of a tenant farmer, who saw a … [Read more...]

I was talking to a Billiken on a shelf.  The Billiken is a chubby, comic, charm doll/figure given to me by a tour group to Alaska, where natives render Billikens in carvings as good luck charms. To buy a Billiken gives the purchaser luck, but to have one given to you is better luck. The Billiken is a mythical good-luck figure who represents “things as they ought to be” and … [Read more...]

Many residents of Houston County in 2021 are descended from settlers who arrived in the middle-to-late 19th century (1800s). Annual Syttende Mai (Norwegian Independence Day) celebrations in Spring Grove honor the area’s Norwegian heritage. There are approximately four and half million Norwegian Americans, the 10th largest European ancestry group in the United States. Most live … [Read more...]

Humans are always bucking a headwind. We teeter precariously on the edge of the world. We not only don’t know things, we don’t know most things. Our talents lie in suspecting things. There are three kinds of people; those who can count and those who can’t. Most of us can count to three on our fingers. I find the rule of three is important in my life. A list of three … [Read more...]

Fifth of a series Portland Prairie had the first 4-H club in Houston County, organized in 1923 by Gladys Lapham, said one of the charter members, Elmer Thies. His 4-H project that first year was a heifer calf named Nancy. At the county fair, young Elmer and Nancy won a trip to the state fair, but as it turned out, young Elmer was too young. “I was only nine years-old. One … [Read more...]

By Rev. Debra Jene Collum Chatfield United Methodist We have all been shaking our heads recently about our weather, haven’t we? It is as if, because we are already dealing with a society in upheaval, the earth itself has decided to groan with us. Which does have biblical precedence. When I read chapter eight of the book of Romans, I often wonder what environmental chaos … [Read more...]