They seemed to know. The swallows began an arial ballet outside my living room window the moment I opened my laptop to mourn. Ten of them, maybe 15 acrobats, engaged in a celebration, perhaps. Maybe a tribute. It transported me back to my grandmother’s last day. I was wheeling her along in the sunshine outside of the hospital when a …
The University of North Dakota football team, behind a 142-yard rushing performance by Isaiah Smith, defeated Murray State University 72-35 in Saturday’s Homecoming game in the Alerus Center. Smith scored two rushing touchdowns and added another on a 74-yard pass from quarterback Simon Romfo to lead the No. 8-ranked Fighting Hawks (4-1 overall, 1-0 Missouri Valley Conference) over the Racers …
“How’s your day goin’?” the young woman tending the cash register in the Linton, N.D., convenience store asked me Sunday afternoon as I laid my ice cream bar on the counter and reached for my wallet. “I need some ice cream,” I replied, handing her some cash. “That wasn’t what I asked you,” she said, somewhat cheekily I thought. Then …
Sometime in the distant past, when David Strauss and I were managing the campaigns of the North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party, I received a note from David with those words. They struck home. I went looking for their source. I found the actual quote, ironically, from President Calvin Coolidge, who said this: “Nothing in this world can take the place of …
The University of North Dakota football team racked up a 31-point lead in the first half en route to a 52-28 win over Idaho State University on Saturday afternoon in the Alerus Center. The No. 10 Fighting Hawks (2-1) were led by quarterback Simon Romfo, who was 25-38 and 287 and two touchdowns, and receiver Bo Belquist, who caught eight …
Sometimes it’s just too hot to cook. That’s when having a good imagination can come to the rescue. Tuna salad and egg salad are two creations that I can remember Mom fixing when the thermometer pushed above 80 and close to 90, especially since we didn’t have central air conditioning. A nice sandwich of either of those always was satisfying …
I know a lot of people are laughing about the sheer insanity of the comment about eating pets — and I would be a liar if I didn’t admit to being very amused by some memes. But there is a deep and nefarious part of that racist trope that we can’t laugh off. It implies that immigrants, especially ones from Haiti …
There was never a universe in which I thought that Dick Cheney and I would be actively supporting the same person for president, but here we are. As much as I disagree with him about almost every issue, I am extremely impressed with his commitment to our country over party and policy. His sense of patriotism is commendable as he …
The University of North Dakota football team came back from a 24-7 halftime deficit to defeat the University of Montana 27-24 on Saturday in the Alerus Center. The No. 4-ranked Grizzlies (1-1) dominated the first half before surrendering 20 unanswered points in the second half to the No. 23-ranked Fighting Hawks (1-1), culminating with a 40-yard field goal from CJ …
The autumn migration is on here in North Dakota. I also have migrated my writing hobby to another platform as I streamline my life.
I’ve been thinking about my blog about Gus Walz and I need to clarify. Showing emotion is good and a sign of true strength for any human being. Mocking someone who cries says more about the one who mocks than it does about the one crying. The number of times I’ve had people apologize for crying while they were in …
Fort Collins, Colo., photographer Jeff Olson and his wife, Joanne Plager Burke Olson, recently made a wilderness hike to Mount Blue Sky Recreation Area, located on the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains near Idaho Springs, Colo. Mount Blue Sky, elevation 14,250 feet, is the most prominent mountain overlooking the city of Denver. Along the way, they visited Mount Goliath …
One of the subtle things I really appreciated about the Democratic National Convention was the honest portrayal of the family of Kamala Harris. Her husband’s ex-wife produced the video about Doug Emhoff and she was there at the convention every night with her kids. She and Harris are good friends. As someone who was part of a blended family, I …
During the heat of the Thursday afternoon, I unearthered my late Mother’s needles and embroidery thread and got creative.
People making fun of Gus Walz, the son of Tim Walz, the choice of Kamala Harris to be her running mate, illustrates the problem with MAGA. The Republican Party, especially in Minnesota in the last part of the 20th century, were champions of mental health. I truly can’t imagine any human being with even an iota of decency making fun …
Some people read. Some people talk about reading. Some people write books. Some people edit books. Some people buy books they never get around to reading. Some people talk about hair. Some people don’t care about hair. Some people get their hair cut now and then. Some people clean. Some people don’t. Some people empty the garbage. Some people recyle. …
“The first thing we do is, let’s kill all the lawyers.” You might recall that memorable line, uttered by Dick the Butcher, from perhaps the least memorable of Shakespeare’s plays, “Henry VI.” I’ve been thinking about it because I’ve been thinking about lawyers. And governors. It’s been 40 years since North Dakota had a lawyer in the governor’s chair. That …
Last I looked, the bid is $15 million for the baseball jersey that New York Yankee Babe Ruth wore when he supposedly “called his shot” in Game 3 of the 1932 World Series. Ruth never forecast that home run, and I’ll get to that in a minute, after the story about the Babe Ruth home run ball a colleague placed …
I have written many essays about the Little Missouri River area, including The Crooked Little Missouri River and Its Headwaters. Today I have in mind current sources of information on this sweet river such as gage height and weather forecast. Marmarth https://waterdata.usgs.gov/monitoring-location/06335500 Medora https://waterdata.usgs.gov/monitoring-location/06336000/ Watford City https://waterdata.usgs.gov/monitoring-location/06337000 Also interesting and useful links from NOAA for forecasts & more Marmarth https://water.noaa.gov/gauges/mthn8 Medora https://water.noaa.gov/gauges/mdan8 …
Thank God for the Summer Olympics. I’ve been mostly laid up for a few weeks with a recurrence of the strange leg infection that kept me in the hospital much of the summer two years ago. I rode it out at home this year and was entertained in my recliner by watching the world’s best athletes competing for medals in …
Photographer Jeff Olson of Fort Collins, Colo., enjoys his time outdoors, especially when he gets a chance to capture some eye-popping images.
I really hate to be critical of my governor. But c’mon, Doug, give us a break! Start acting like a governor. (More about the lakes in a minute.) The quotes from Burgum in Friday’s Forum Communications Co. papers were as unbecoming of a governor as anything I’ve ever read. Well, maybe I could drag out some old Jesse Ventura or …
Today I am reminded that I was raised by women who did not have the right to vote!
The Summer Olympic Games were occupying the “Jeopardy!” time slot this week, but on the bright side, two guys were fencing. I was such a big Zorro fan at age 4 that I wore a black, long-sleeved Zorro costume on 80-degree days in July. As the swordplay on TV continued, I wondered if other disappointed “Jeopardy!” viewers knew about West …
In the olden days, when I was a young reporter for The Dickinson Press, one of the assignments for the newsroom staff was to check with the Police Department every day to see if there was any news. We’d wander across the street to the station and take a look at the daily log. Once in a while, we’d happen upon …
It started innocently enough Oct. 24, 2021. Prior to that date, I sporadically did the New York Times puzzle, but I hadn’t been focused on completing it the same day. In fact, according to my archives, I had only earned the proverbial “gold star” for completing it without help on the same day four times the week before Oct. 24 …
There’s something special about summer other than the warmer temperatures, especially when you live in the northern climes where winter can get awfully cold and snowy, even a bit too long. What makes summer extra special for me is that my cuisine mainly is centered on the vegetables from my garden and fresh fish. Although not the angler that I …
When I was in junior high, I became friends with a group of girls that we referred to as “the gang,” in an era when that word had a different meaning in rural Minnesota. In our graduating class of over 300, we were among the “good” girls. Our idea of a “pot party” was washing the cookware after a camping …
One of my favorite side dishes from my childhood was cucumbers and onions in a cream sauce. We used to have them at holidays, for sure. Aunt Harriet always had them whenever we would go over for ham dinner on New Year’s Day. And Mom often made them in the summer when the cucumbers started producing. I had the first …
Bad theology is scary and hurtful. We live in a world where evil happens and there are consequences for sin. However, we do not have a God who “miraculously” saves one person and instead sacrifices another. Our God is a God on the cross who is present when a classroom of children are slaughtered and when assassins aim at the …
Sometime later this month, the State Historical Society of North Dakota is going to officially announce the approval of a new historic neighborhood in Bismarck. I’m pretty excited about it because I live in it. Two years ago last week, the Highland Acres neighborhood in west Bismarck was named to the National Register of Historic Places, with its official new …
This is a story of a tragic, ironic, almost unbelievable twist of fate. Some of you remember I wrote a series of stories, beginning in July 2017, about an illegal bridge across the Little Missouri State Scenic River west of the Killdeer Mountains, built by a fellow named Wylie Bice, a wealthy rancher with his pockets full of oil boom …
“A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.” This quote from the Declaration of Independence is on my heart 248 years after it was penned. My prayer for my nation is that a year from now we have a president who is not …
There are many schools of thought on what ingredients make up aioli sauce. Many recipes include egg yolks and lemon juice, and one ingredient that almost all recipes feature is garlic, a favorite of mine. A quick version of aioli that I like contains garlic, lemon juice, mayonnaise and some fresh dill. Aioli perfectly complements grilled salmon. And a good …
As the 1950s neared, a Southern-born baseball scout reported from Birmingham that Willie Mays was not “a Red Sox type” of player. To the Irish management in Boston, it meant Mays was not white. If any team had the best chance of signing black players in Birmingham after World War II, it was the Red Sox. The white Birmingham Barons …
I should have been in Wahpeton Tuesday. I should have been at the funeral of my best childhood friend, Max Reinke. But I just couldn’t take another funeral right now. I’ve been to too many lately. But luckily, my friend Kevin Carvell says, none of them were mine. I know, it’s just a function of my age (soon to be …
Well, I could write about the election just past, or I could write about bacon. I like politics — most of my readers know that. But ALL of my friends know of my bacon fixation. I’ve liked bacon all my life, but never so much as when we moved into this house 15 years ago with its big garden space …
I was reflecting on the convictions of Donald Trump and Hunter Biden. A lot could be said about the fact that false equivalencies being made between the felony conviction of a former president and the son of a president or the circumstances of the convictions. But what strikes me the most is not the convictions of two men found guilty …
Let’s start with a basic fact. Democracy cannot exist without the rule of law. The concept that no one is above the law. And America cannot exist without democracy. Our founders bristled at the arbitrary dictates of a king an ocean away. Americans fought and died in World War II to ensure democracy and its hallmark, free elections, the peaceful …
I’m stuck at home for a few days nursing some bruised-up ribs and a cut-up hand after a tumble in the Bad Lands, but I can type, so I’ll a share a few political thoughts with you in the days leading up to the June 11 North Dakota primary election. Congress First, you need to watch this short two-minute powerful video produced …
This is the final blog in a series of posts regarding my personal experience of the abuse of power that can result from one person having hierarchical control of the career of a rostered minister. In previous blogs, I shared my experience with a clinical pastoral experience supervisor that forced me to process my rape soon after it happened and …
This is the third blog in a series highlighting my experiences with unchecked hierarchical power over my 34 years of ordained ministry. My hope in sharing my experience is to create a safe space for others to share their stories. In my first post, I shared how I was raped near the end of my CPE semester and forced by my …
IN FLANDERS FIELDS By John McCrae In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie, …