This letter of mine appeared in the October 13, 2010, issue of the Woodbury Bulletin, our local newspaper. Our suburb of about 60,000 population would be considered as prosperous, with a great number of school age children and a correspondingly great number of younger parents who have very good jobs and live in nice houses. […]
The rescue of the 33 Chilean miners after 69 days underground grabbed and held on to me today. I got up about two a.m. to see the 4th miner reach the surface, and I watched intermittently today, and for an extended period tonight as the final miner reached the surface. For me, personally, the entirety […]
The call came on Friday. It was unexpected only because I didn’t think I’d be in the communications loop. Sister Victorine Long CSJ had passed away at Bethany Convent in St. Paul. She was 90. Her niece said she had a folder of assorted photos and letters for me – items which Sister Victorine had […]
Last Sunday on the way into Minneapolis’ Basilica of St. Mary for Mass I stopped by a small group of people collecting a DVD Archbishop Marriage001 earlier sent to all Archdiocese Catholics. The DVD lobbies against the supposed threat of Gay Marriage, and promotes a Minnesota Constitutional amendment mandating that marriage be restricted to one […]
The offer of a free opportunity to see Joe Biden in person this morning was more than I could pass up, even if it meant, as it did, 3 1/2 hours standing. Such is how it is with political rallies, this one at Macalester College in St. Paul. Coming early meant that I got a […]
UPDATE: February 7, 2011: see end of this post. Were it in my power, I’d require every American adult to spend the one hour 42 minutes needed to watch the documentary “Waiting for Superman“; then I’d assign them to a working group with ten of their peers of differing points of view, with the assignment […]
Yesterday our local candidate for state legislature was door-knocking in our neighborhood – at least I know she was, since there was a flier with a handwritten personal note from her in our door. Campaigning for office is brutal work, not for the faint of heart, and I sometimes wonder what would happen if all […]
Certain at this time of year in Minnesota is change in the appearance of nature. Leaves change colors and ultimately drop off; Fall flowers erupt in all their glory, including some absolutely brilliant wildflowers on my daily walk. Every other year, Fall brings with it a new and odd biennial ‘foliage’. Locals call them campaign […]
Monday I mailed the family history of my Dad’s French-Canadian family. It is a weighty tome. Its 500+ pages read 3 lb 9.4 oz on the post office scale. It represents my efforts to condense 400 years of several families French-Canadian history in North America. More info: here and here. Whether the book turns out […]
One of the duties on a quick visit to the home farm near Berlin ND was to harvest the last of the land falls off the apple tree beside the house. This was a good year for apples – at least for three of the four trees on the homestead – but very few of […]