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The small northern Minnesota farm on which I grew up has passed from Swan and Ovidia Neset to me to my sons. It is a very special place. Hope Scott and Steve and my grandchildren will come to know the pleasure of its green solitude and will keep it in the family for awhile. The photo album that follows is long and rambling, much like the day I spent out at ‘the… Read More
Today was going to be about Grand Rapids, a nice little town on the edge of the Iron Range. Birthplace of Judy Garland! Instead, Marsha and I have been working on Ancestry.com most of the day. I see how people get hooked. Genealogical research turns out to be an absorbing and time consuming pastime. Also most interesting in Marsha’s case because, while her mom and both Robert and my parents are rather recent arrivals from… Read More
Chilly green early summer. Mid-day, stretched out on a homemade quilt. Reading Autumn Killing by Swedish writer Mons Kallentoft. Vacation life as it should be lived. Last night’s walk.
We rurally-raised elders remember when people went ‘visiting.’ It went kind of like this at our place: Dad might say “Let’s go over to Knute’s and get some coffee.” Or Mom wondered if she could get that recipe for molasses cake from Helen. Or Robert or I wanted to go play somewhere besides our own fields and woods and hay loft and back bedrooms. So I get way too country-girl-sentimental when I… Read More
Sunday, May 31, 2015. It’s been two years since I’ve been out to the old place; today Robert, Marsha and me are dropping by. I’ll return later this week for some quality time. Wonder what I’ll see today? How much further fallen? Still standing walls? Is the end of the old brown couch still visible? The cellar wasn’t that deep so the abandoned furniture can just come to rest there with me… Read More
United States history and geography are all about journeys. From the first Asians across Beringia, the land bridge between Asia and North America, to those pious Pilgrims, to yesterday’s Mexican or El Salvadoran child, we came and are still coming down a long hard road. Every regional history has these tales to tell, but our U.S. immigrant history is so present, so relatively contemporary, making the journeys easier to imagine and to research…. Read More
Rain has re-entered my life. First the unusual cloudy days, many including at least a few raindrops, before I left New Mexico for Minnesota a week ago. Since then more days than not with fairly steady rainfall. I imagined under these conditions I would be paying serious attention to writing both in my blogs and in massive note taking for everything I want to say about ‘time and place’ prior to and… Read More
I have a small family. One brother, about eight living first cousins, two children, four grandchildren. The older generations all Euro-American, working/lower middle class, moderately hard-working, usually law-abiding, decently-educated and slightly-boring people. We actually perk up considerably at the grandchildren level—more interesting occupations, educations, ethnicities, cultures, interests, residences. Here’s a small album of some of Cousin Audrey’s family, daughter, granddaughter, great-grandchildren. This really belongs on my other blog but they’re all so photogenic… Read More
Morning walk in the almost-rain.