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Summertime. Family. We gather. Here and there, now and then. Our positions defined in the usual way. Moms and dads. Kids and grandkids. Uncles and Aunts. Siblings. We like and love each other, mostly all at the same time and all of the time, with only the rare flash of irritation or misunderstanding (my sons will claim the latter is mostly on my part…nah…). This summer’s week of most togetherness came in… Read More
Plans represent possibilities, right? As in Plan A/B/C. And, if I may advise, from what seems like a hundred years of both successful and thwarted plans, you need at least three backup plans for a satisfactory outcome. I had big (stupid, but initially beautiful) summer plans for a two-month Minnesota road trip with benefits (as in many days and nights with various family and friends). First mapped like this: Before getting even… Read More
This summer vacation my friend Celia came to visit my Minnesota visit. We played: talking arguing teasing touristing eating. What a nice time it was. Here’s an album to prove it. Above three photos: Naniboujou Lodge & Restaurant north of Grand Marais, MN Sven & Ole’s Pizza is a most popular Grand Marais landmark…and since my dad’s name was Sven I find the pizza delicious. Lake Superior island from the walls encircling… Read More
There is an old hymn/country song called “This Old House” by Stuart Hamblen? A few lines may jog old-old people’s memories. “Ain’t gonna need this house no longer/Ain’t gonna need this house no more/Ain’t got time to fix the shingles/Ain’t got time to fix the floor…” As I prepared to make a post that’s mostly an album of photos of my old home, it started running through my head. Yes, I know,… Read More
Growing up, we didn’t refer to the tree-filled acres around our house as the forest. We called it the woods. So even though forests blanket other places and regions, to me it always sounds presumptuous to label our miles of northern Minnesota trees so grandly. Anyway, I’m home in the Northwoods as I write and cannot decide whether ‘home in Minnesota’ blog posts should be considered part of the Decades series I… Read More
Just a few days ago I was writing about the Norway and the Nesets of olden times…and then some of the descendants appeared on my doorstep! Anne Hilde Neset, her daughter Mathilde, and husband Rob stopped for a few days while touring the west. It was wonderful on many levels. They are all great fun and interesting in terms of their personal and professional lives. Easy to be around, talking, laughing, eating…. Read More
Just when I vow to step back, take a deep breath, for a few hours view politics from afar, knowing (and not exactly forgetting) the horrors of so many lives: the refugees and other homeless humans, those mired in death and starvation in countless deadly military/gang/thug actions around the world—it gets personal in various ways. For starters, personally terrifying in the way fascism, communism, capitalism, all creep up and into, if not… Read More
…south from Northome on Highway 71 about six miles, turn right on a gravel road, every year feeling a tingle of anticipation, another mile and a half and there it is, lane up to the house grown over, house collapsing into the earth, young spruce growing out of and into the old log kitchen. The Old Place. The time when it was everything recedes further and further in the distance. My mind’s… Read More
Time for the grand summer blog post…or two. True, summer’s not officially over, but the temperature has dropped two, three degrees and I’m hopeful. Summer of 2025. Highlights. Scott visits. Steve and his dog hang out with us a lot. We visit Minnesota, Robert and friends and the Old Place. End of story. Unless something of great consequence happens between now and September 1st. No matter what anyone tells you, that is… Read More