Columnists
I love the pieces of shaped glass that bend light and create rainbows.
One can never learn enough about light: It seems perfectly appropriate that God created it first.
Science tells us that even at its inconceivable speed of 186,000 miles per second, light takes a bit more than eight...
MOON OF MUCH RIPE FRUIT - These apples on a tree in Deb’s yard got her thinking about time, and the ways we refer to it. Star Eagle photo by Deb Bently
I am fascinated by the Native American way of dividing the year into “moons.” That is, they did not designate weekdays or assign them names, but simply referred to the four weeks between one full moon and the next with a single name. What I enjoy is that the name for the “moon” creates a picture...
Deb “borrowed” teenagers (from left) Montgomery, Alex and Juniper Revermann for a trip to the cabin, and then insisted they had to visit the Mississippi headwaters at Lake Itasca. Star Eagle photo by Deb Bently
I spent a few days this past week up at my family’s cabin near Akeley. With the warm high temperatures we’ve been experiencing, it was the perfect time to be “at the lake.”
Astoundingly, our thermometer in the lake claimed the water was about 83 degrees–although that was in shallower water...
Deb finally witnessed a Monarch chrysalis this summer on a wooden support pole. Star Eagle photo by Deb Bently
My congratulations to the Waseca County Fair committee for a delightful five days filled with entertainment, education, networking, and fun–many of them all at once.
I spent more time at the fair in 2026 than I had in recent years; somehow it seemed I just couldn’t leave. Each time I...
FIREBALL - Deb helped her husband create an exciting and safe fireworks show at Bad Medicine Lake in northern Minnesota.
I have just come back from my annual Fourth of July sojourn up north, where I get to ride on my husband’s coattails while he takes charge of a fireworks show for Veronen’s Resort located on Bad Medicine Lake about half an hour from Park Rapids. When guests there learn I am part of the fireworks...
As anyone who’s ever had to carry buckets full of it knows, water is heavy. Online sources inform me a gallon weighs about 8.3 pounds, which means someone with a classic five-gallon bucket is lifting somewhere around 40 pounds, depending on how close they’ve brought the water to the brim.
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SIGNS OF REPAIR - Signs like these, colored a reflective blue, appear at every railroad crossing. In speaking with people in the construction field, Deb learned hearing from drivers about the condition of a railroad crossing might help influence railroad companies to allow local agencies to make repairs.
A while back, the newspaper was contacted by an area reader who wanted us to highlight the condition of area railroad crossings. His implication, of course, is that the crossings are rough, causing many drivers to go looking for the “best” path by swinging wide as they drive over the tracks...
I don’t necessarily take offense when people use coarse language in front of or around me. After all, from a surface perspective words are only sounds. I’ve shared before that the German word “Schlittenfahrt”– whatever it sounds like to a non-speaker, only means “sleigh ride.”
Since I am a...
MAGNIFICENT CREATURE - The elegant shape and distinctive yellow and black colors mean this butterfly is a swallowtail.
Though I did not capture them with a camera, a number of “pictures” from the last 7 to 10 days keep staying with me.
The first two descriptions I want to offer are alike, but different.
At a T-intersection of two gravel roads, I came to a stop and then made a right turn. My stop must...
COMING HOME - On May 22, a flag-draped casket holding navy pilot Thomas Ruth’s remains was loaded into a plane in Hawaii and flown to the Twin Cities.
“The creator worked this out just right,” commented one veteran. “To have this happening over the Memorial Day weekend.”
“This” is the return of navy pilot Thomas Ruth to his home town 85 years after he left. Ruth’s plane had crashed in an obscure jungle in enemy territory during a battle...