I write this on the afternoon of Thanksgiving eve, 2010. I’ve heard that this day is the heaviest air travel day in the U.S. I have also heard that Thanksgiving Day itself is the lightest travel day. At this writing I don’t know whether/if there have been slowdowns or many, if any, protests. All I […]
Last Friday morning in Salt Lake City we were treated to a vivid sunrise over downtown. It was a magnificent vista, even if spoiled by some cars in the parking lot and a nearby sandwich shop. I stepped out on our hotel balcony, and took two photos: Of course there is often a downside to […]
During an animated conversation on Sunday, some new friends, long-time residents of Long Island NY, and for a number of years residents in Salt Lake City UT, asked a question about an aspect of French-Canadian history, which I then rephrased for Dr. Virgil Benoit of the University of North Dakota, an expert on things Franco-American. […]
Today, my brother is 65. He’s the cherub in the blankets in the photo taken probably in very early 1946. If you could see this photo close up, even then you can imagine him squirming, hoping to break the shackles of those blankets and play in that snow! He would have been ready, that’s for […]
Back on September 5, 2010, I posted “A Close Encounter With a Mosque“, remembering a friendship in the 8th grade in Ross, North Dakota in 1953-54. In the mysterious ways such things work, someone saw the blog post, liked it, and on November 13, 2010, I found myself on stage at the annual celebration and […]
Friday I went to a luncheon celebrating 50 years history of an organization for which I once served a one year term as President (2000-2001). The group, Minnesota School Public Relations Association (MinnSPRA) has always been a small organization, probably never exceeding 150 members. It began in 1960, and affiliated with a national group, the […]
“[My sister] Florence was born [Nov. 3, 1918] the year World War I ended. [Nov. 11, 1918] the hired girl and I were out in the snow chasing chickens into the coop so they wouldnt freeze when there was a great long train whistle from the Grand Rapids [ND] railroad track [5 miles away]. In […]
The November 10 mail brought a newspaper column I had been expecting, a tribute to my brother-in-law Michael Lund, who died exactly three years earlier in Fargo ND. The column, by Bob Lind in the Fargo (ND) Forum, Mike Lund Fargo Forum001 tells most of the story, and speaks profoundly for itself. I had the […]
Yesterday’s New York Times headline hit me when it showed up on my computer screen “Now in Power, G.O.P. vows cuts in State Budgets“. Who can do anything but love trimming the fat of bloated, hated, “Government”? It will be an interesting process as a new Minnesota G.O.P. majority in both House and Senate take […]
“Alone in the vast universe I froze hell over And walked on its ashes To create my own history.” (The Haitian struggle – the greatest David vs Goliath battle being played out on this planet.) Ezilidanto November 8, 2010 Last week we attended a very impressively organized Festival for Haiti. People there, cared about Haiti […]