Park of Memories
Mom made my favorite, Juneberry pie, from berries I picked there. She made wonderful chokecherry jelly too, gathered in the same area. A portion of one side of the steep coulee was grassy and made for perfect cardboard sliding in the summer. In the winter, when the snow wasn’t too deep, it was ideal for […]
For the Love of Tots
Let’s talk about tater tots. Is that a weird opener? To be honest, I’ve been battling a bit of writer’s block. I’ve sat in front of my laptop for an embarrassingly long stretch–typing and deleting paragraphs. It’s summer, it’s fair time, back to school supplies are appearing on shelves. I could talk about any of […]
The Way It Should Be
An estimated 50-100 people were gathered on the commercial aviation apron at the Minot International Airport, turning their eyes to the sky intermittently, looking to catch a glimpse of a plane carrying members of the recently completed Indo-Pacific Bomber Task Force. Monday’s Welcome Home celebration was certainly not unique, as there have been several Bomber […]
Trouble and Attorneys General
It was a day to remember, no doubt about that, from staring down the barrel of a state trooper’s handgun to having a steak with man destined for prison. Okay. I know. You are wondering what kind of goofy story is this guy writing about. Well, what follows is a real “this happened to me” […]
Welcome to the North Dakota State Fair…
It seems that every year, just before the North Dakota State Fair kicks off, there are construction zones everywhere. In fact, all we have to say is “state fair’s coming to town,” and others know exactly what it means. When I first moved to this area of the state in 2000, it seemed like a […]
OK, It’s Not Usually This Bad
Canadian Wildfires Make For An Interesting Summer Most of my immediate family are from Canada, more specifically Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Summertime usually meant packing up the family car and heading north for a week-long vacation visiting our Canadian relatives. Summers were a bit cooler, and once in a great while we would run into a […]
Trash Talk
Good idea? Not so sure? Supposed to be. Feel good about it. Don’t want to mess with it? Give it a try. Ahhh. The recycling age has begun in Minot. Yup, some real trash talkin’ has descended upon the city. Those blue top, super-sized recycling carts are the talk of the town. Well, that might […]
“Well, I am helping my friends”
The story is repeated many times in a year, mostly on weekends. An evening starts out with several young Airmen arriving at the home of a colleague. It’s been a long week, even a long month, and those in attendance are able to visit, share frustrations with their job (as we all do), and have […]
It’s Enough
“It’s enough.”This is the reminder I have been giving myself since June. Like the proverbial broken record, these words are on a continual loop in my mind. It’s enough. You’re having enough fun. You’re spending enough time outside. The kids are having enough lazy days. The kids are having enough busy days. You’re doing enough […]
Talk to Grandma
I’ve known I had to write about this for quite some time but couldn’t really settle on a way to approach it.Delay. Delay. Delay. Finally, I came to the realization that was precisely the crux of the entire matter. As Nike says, just do it.I know what you are thinking – this kooky writer is […]