Prenote: My Dad died 20 years ago today. I had been planning to write a little piece about him for some weeks, and in fact had been at the place where he died, Our Lady of the Snows, Belleville IL, on October 22-23. I digress for a moment: We were tiny town folks, and church […]
Saturday, Jay Shahidi, President of the Minnesota chapter of the United Nations Association, commented on an aspect of the state of our world. I paraphrase what I heard Jay say: ‘about 20 years passed between the end of World War I and the beginning of World War II. It has been over 70 years, and […]
500 years ago today, Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the church door at his home church in Germany. It basically was the beginning of the end of the First Reich (which most know as “the Holy Roman Empire“). Saturday night we were privileged to be among over 1,000 people at Basilica of St. […]
About a week ago, I packed my bag and got on the road, destination an annual meeting of Citizens for Global Solutions near Lambert St. Louis Airport, St. Louis MO. Over 500 miles later, I arrived at my destination, both exhausted and energized. It was good to see the open country between St. Paul and […]
Monday, I took our 88 year old friend and neighbor, Don, to see the Fall leaves along the Mississippi River on the Wisconsin side of the river (across from Hastings and Red Wing, Prescott to Bay City WI). It was a fun afternoon, and we ended up at an antique shop in Bay City WI. […]
Added Nov. 16, 2017: Here is a three minute clip of personal observations on Vietnam made in St. Paul Sep. 7, 2017. COMMENTS at end of this post. My thoughts. If nothing else, listen/watch Jim Northrup talk about Vietnam and War. The most powerful testimony I’ve ever heard about the reality of Vietnam came from […]
During the time of the Burns/Novick Vietnam series I had a number of conversations, and also invited comments. Below are those who were willing to say something about the time that was around the Vietnam era, (1961-75). As you’ll note, even among these ten or so, there is a variety of opinions about, and engagement […]
Greg forwarded this link from the Oct. 5 New York Times. It is well worth the time to scroll through. * If you opened the link, you are at least interested. A few very brief thoughts. At this advanced point in my life, I think I know myself pretty well: by nature, I’m an optimist. […]
Monday I was in Valley City ND for an Alumni event at my alma mater, which I knew, back in 1958-61 as Valley City State Teachers College. The infrequent visits back are always nostalgic, this one more so than most. My motel was a short walk from Medicine Wheel park, which I’ve known about since […]
Earlier posts on the Vietnam series: Sep 9, Sep 13, Sep 19 , Sep 21 * I watched every hour of the now complete and powerful Ken Burns/Lynn Novick retrospective on the War in Vietnam, 1945-75. Today begins reflection after a powerful two weeks. What does this all mean to me? To us? How can […]