The disaster took place almost a year ago to the day. At the time I was the proud owner of a ‘middle- aged’ Snapper snow blower. Being a mechanic of a very, very low skill level I had just had the motor gone over by a ‘real’ mechanic and it was starting and running just like it had come off the assembly line. Life was good. 🙂 Then my son came home for a short visit. He loves to blow…..
Last March I wrote a blog titled “Journey South With the Women of My Life” The blog described a bonding time I shared with my wife and two daughters as we traveled to the Mayo Clinic for second opinions on a couple of health issues. Both prognoses were positive so the journey had a happy ending. Then last week an email arrived to remind me of an occurrence that took place in the Mayo Clinic complex that I had almost…..
A couple weeks ago I received a frantic call from a science teacher who was in need of a science fair judge. It seems his normal judges were members of the Department of Natural Resources and when the science fair was accidently scheduled on Martin Luther King’s Day a national holiday that meant his normal judges would be enjoying a day off from work. Since I am a retired biology teacher I am on many science fair organizers ‘speed dial’…..
I’m suffering brain fatigue! I’m just recovering from writing the Christmas letter so I am ‘creativity challenged’ at the moment. But then I remembered I do have a special blog already written and it is holiday appropriate. I wrote an environmental children’s column for the magazine “Minnesota-Out-Of Doors” and for the December column in 1988 I wrote a blog (before blogs were invented)Â titled Off the Wall. The stars of these stories were Kathie, myself and our three children, Steve,…..
Holidays are exciting! Family and friends gather to visit, watch football, play a few games, drink favorite beverages, and sometimes struggle to put the thousand piece puzzle together before departure time arrives. But for myself my favorite time of the holiday gathering occurs after the hugs and good-byes have been exchanged. As the last vehicle pulls out of the driveway and even though I’m still mildly stuffed from the amazing celebratory meal I sneak out into the kitchen and instead…..
It’s fall and real men are climbing into deer stands and sitting for hours in freezing temperatures all with the hopes of bagging a huge twelve point buck. Others are braving the driving winds and making one last fishing trip on the lakes that are preparing to ice over. Their hands are turning blue from the freezing water as they struggle to remove a lure from a thrashing walleye. Football season is upon us too so many men are glued…..
First of all calm down! Don’t let the title of this blog cause you any concern. This blog does not contain subject matter similar to that found in the popular book from a few years back titled, “Fifty Shades of Gray” Hopefully that won’t disappoint too many of you. 🙂 The latest ‘shade of gray’ just about gave me a heart attack this afternoon as I entered our garage and the garbage can appeared to explode as a gray blur…..
A high school classmate discovered he had brain cancer and at the same time his son was battling a type of blood cancer. The family was in an emotional and financial crisis. Since both my classmate and his wife worked at the local elementary school in a small town it was natural that a benefit be planned for the struggling family. The elementary school staff took on the challenge. Kathie and I attended as did hundreds of other concerned and…..
Have you ever heard of the magazine “Farm and Ranch Living”? Articles of mine appeared in the magazine in 2005 and most recently the October/November issue in 2019. Both came as a complete shock to me. Let me explain. As a writer you never know when an idea for a story will present itself. Often times the author is not even looking for a writing project when suddenly out of the blue the perfect story appears that needs to be…..
It all started in the 1850’s as western Minnesota was being settled. The first pioneers were able to get two quarters of land if they started a tree claim on one quarter(160 acres) and built a sod shanty on the second quarter. Then they had to reside on their new prairie ground for five years and if they did the land was theirs free and clear. And now you are beginning to wonder what does all that history have to…..
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