country scribe

After filing about 760 consecutive weekly columns, it is necessary for me to take a hiatus––not because I am tired, or have run out of wind. No, I am off on a new venture which requires me to suspend the column for a time.

Another baseball season begins with nobody, including myself, expecting much of our Minnesota Twins. The satellite dish company sends a nice letter every three days urging me to hook the dish back up for a reduced rate. If they had given me the same reduced rate last August, I might...

Eleven years ago, I spent a September in Europe. First, I took the train around England. The countryside is “lovely,” as the Brits say, groomed and prim. Then across France, Switzerland and Italy. I stayed in cities, but enjoyed the farm country—at least when those...

If ever there was a winter to miss, this was the one. Arriving home the second week of March means I get to experience a little of the fun, anyway. Does absence make the heart grow fonder? Do I miss anything at all about a northern Minnesota winter? Open questions,...

It’s not just the kids. Last week, I observed an retired Midwestern gentleman walking his golden retriever near the beach. I heard his phone beep. A text message had arrived. He pulled off the sidewalk, dug out his phone, and sat on a bench. As he read the message,...

We in the Upper Midwest see Southern California through the lens of television, and frankly, what we often see are a bunch of flakes. On the ground in Southern California, the reality is, yes, people here are unleashed from the constraints we feel back home. And good for...

Yes, a person can get homesick every now and then when gone south for the winter. But there is a cure: call home. Doesn’t matter who. Just call any number in the 218 or 701 area code. Listen to the desperation, the depression, the rage on the other end. Feel the subzero cold...