Columnists
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...
The smoke shack at Farmamerica caught fire when Deb was there to guide kids through the farmstead.
There is a difference between knowing something and feeling it in your gut.
The other morning, I was volunteering at Farmamerica. This time of year, the organization offers field trips to students from area schools. Students from various communities arrive, are introduced to the facility...
Thank goodness for blue jeans.
I’m really grateful for how durable and versatile they are, and for how universally acceptable they’ve become.
I began my career as a teacher in the early 1990s. It was decades before I wore blue jeans in my classroom, and that was only on casual Fridays...
I have discovered that plants are a lot like books.
It’s a strange line of thought, I agree, but stay with me.
Let me start with an explanation. I love reading, and consequently, I love books. I read whatever takes my fancy or satisfies my curiosity. For some reason, I like reading...
On Highway 169 coming from St. Peter, Deb pulled over to try to capture a photo of the hills that glowed a hundred different shades of green in the sun.
I took Highway 169 from Mankato to St. Peter the other day.
I had left plenty of time for my drive and felt no pressure to speed, but that didn’t seem true of the drivers around me. Even though I was traveling at the speed limit, other cars zipped past me as though I was an impediment and...
Deb can’t help observing that hyacinths, like this one currently blooming in her flower garden, are a hundred flowers working together to look like one.
I’m trying something new: sitting still.
I had a bunion removed from my left foot last Friday. As I write this, I have not yet seen the results, because my instructions are to leave the voluminous wrappings in place until my first post-operative visit, three days in the future.
When I...
Every April, pinwheels pop up in front of courthouses, schools, and county buildings across Minnesota, those cheerful blue and silver spirals spinning in the spring breeze. They are small and simple. They are also a declaration: that every child deserves a future bright enough to make something...
Deb’s brother fishing on the lake near Deb’s cabin. The 10-foot-tall line of fog makes him invisible from eye level.
I spent a couple days at my family’s cabin near Park Rapids this past weekend.
Though the cabin was its familiar self–simple, comfortable, and embedded in a natural setting–many elements of the trip made me feel as if I was on an alien planet.
Once my brother and I got north of Motley...