The most auspicious day on our calendar arrived. My husband and our twin daughters share the same birthday. (Karma, eh?) And we celebrate big each year. This year was ramped up by a long shot because it was Jim’s 70th. Around this milestone, we planned a family reunion with his six siblings and their spouses, held in historic Medora, N.D. …
Sometime after I went to bed last night, I completed my 70th trip around the sun. Today I begin my 71st. They’ve been interesting trips. I’ve enjoyed most of all of them. They’ve all been different. If I could do them over, there are probably a few different roads I’d choose, a few different off-ramps I’d take, a few different corners …
The University of North Dakota women’s soccer team fell to 2-3-1 on the season with a 1-0 loss to the University of South Dakota on Sunday afternoon at Bronson Field in Grand Forks. An inadvertent UND redirect of a shot by South Dakota’s Katelyn Floysand snuck past Fighting Hawks goalie Olivia Swenson to give the Coyotes the win. Swenson had nine …
The University of North Dakota and the University of Nebraska-Omaha played to a scoreless tie in women’s college soccer Friday at Bronson Field in Grand Forks. UND’s Olivia Swenson, with six saves, recorded her second shutout of the season and third her career. UND returns to play today when it hosts the University of South Dakota.
The University of North Dakota football team hung with the University of Utah for one quarter Thursday night in Salt Lake City, but the 25th-ranked Utes proved to be too much for the Fighting Hawks the rest of the game. The result was a 37-16 win for the Football Bowl Subdivision’s Utes, who won their 10th-straight season opener. The Football Championship Subdivision’s …
I hate the phrase “act of God.” In legal usage throughout the English–speaking world, an act of God is a natural disaster outside human control, such as an earthquake, hurricane, flood or tsunami, for which no person can be held responsible. As a pastor, I have always found it interesting that the only time God ever makes it into the …
“The sun is round. I ring with life, and the mountains ring, and when I can hear it, there is a ringing that we share. I understand all this, not in my mind, but in my heart, knowing how meaningless it is to try to capture what cannot be expressed, knowing that mere words will remain when I read it …
Our current Liar in Chief, aka 45, has clearly demonstrated by word and deed what he thinks of the law. The law, in his opinion, does not apply to him or his friends. The time is coming when the Crown Prince of Clowns will pay the price for his racism, bigotry and his lawful but unwise use of the power …
It seems wrong to think about ourselves when Houston is drowning … but how can we avoid the flashbacks? While we agonize for Texans fighting for their lives, the news video is all too familiar in our own neck of the woods. Here in the Red River Valley, it brings back images we’d all rather forget — Fargo-Moorhead’s valiant fight …
“Steamboats in Dakota Territory: Transforming the Northern Plains,” Tracy Potter. The History Press, 2017, 140 pages. I can think of no one more qualified to enlighten readers on the history of steamboats in Dakota land than Tracy Potter, Bismarck, the author of the book “Sheheke: Mandan Indian Diplomat.” Potter is deeply read in history and his work leading the Fort …
Grand Forks photographer Michael Bogert took in Happy Harry’s Blues on the Red on Saturday in downtown Grand Forks. Check out his crowd photos as well as the those of the entertainers — Mud from the Twin Cities and Laura Rain and the Caesars from Detroit.
Several days after my birth, we were driving home, up the big Third Street hill in Minot, and I was listening to Eisenhower speechify on the radio. It was a bit staticy, but I remember it like it was just several minutes ago. Frankly, he was boring. President Ike was still in his first term and pledged to remain ever …
Grand Forks photographer Russ Hons took in Happy Harry’s Blues on the Red on Saturday in downtown Grand Forks. The opening act was Squishy Mud from the Twin Cities, followed by headliner Laura Rain and the Caesars from Detroit.
The DockDogs.com jumping competition was held Saturday and Sunday in the Scheels parking lot in Grand Forks as part of store’s Hunting Expo. Locals were encouraged to bring their dogs and try it out. A number of professionals were there competing for ribbons and trophies.
Over an inch of rain in the gauge when we returned from Colorado and some showers this week reminded us that it still “can” rain in this country, and for this we give thanks. I spent Saturday afternoon sitting on the patio, nursing my knee injury and reading a book that I’m reviewing but eventually retreated to the house to listen …
Grand Forks photographer Michael Bogert recently spent some time at Paul Bunyan Animal Land, which is located on U.S. Highway 2 between Bemidji and Cass Lake, Minn. Animal Land is home to nearly 100 animals representing every continent on earth. Some of the animals you can see at Animal Land include lions, tigers, camels, lemurs, kangaroos, raccoons, three species of …
Recently I sifted through some memorabilia and found the above picture taken in 1965, when I was a senior at the University of North Dakota. With me in the photo that appeared in the Dacotah Annual were classmates Mike Schlax, sports editor of the Dakota Student newspaper, and Harriet Thorpe, who wrote editorials. My title was “news editor.” I had …
If you’re a gardener who grows a variety of vegetables, the classic Nicoise dish, ratatouille, should be right up your alley. The stewed vegetable entree consisting of eggplant, tomato, pepper, zucchini, onion and herbs has been has been a favorite in France for many, many years, but it wasn’t until about 10 years ago that ratatouille rose to the prominence it …
Here is the first chicken-of-the woods mushroom (above) that I have found all year. Big thrill. Once sauteed, or grilled, chickens are meaty and delicious. I am hoping those little ones off to the side grow into big ones. Chickens need to be harvested while still damp and cool to the touch. Once they dry out, they are past their …
Home now — to return to garden harvest — after a week in which we neglected it for some folks festival fun. I noticed that this is my first of garden notes for August, a sign that my flowers peaked earlier this season. There are just a few daylily blossoms here and there, and I await the emergence of the chrysanthemums. Meanwhile, …
I had such a riveting dream last night. I was at the Theodore Roosevelt Symposium, with Jim. A baby bison wandered into the crowd, and I picked it up in my arms, trying to figure out how to rescue it. Knowing that it would not survive without a mother on which to nurse, I was perplexed. I tried to find …
My sister, Susan Vorland Hanson, has returned from a two-week trip to Norway and after spending the night with us departed this morning to her home near Turtle Lake, N.D. Also in Bloomington were Sue’s daughter, Ondrea Miller, and granddaughter, Allison, who moved in to an apartment near the University of Minnesota campus where she will begin her sophomore year. …
Gentle reader, you might recall that we just attended the Rocky Mountain Folks Festival in Lyons, Colo., with some of our best chums. It was a fabulous sojourn, filled with the anticipation of the total solar eclipse. By and large, these festivals, particularly the ones hosted by Planet Bluegrass, are filled with blissful vibes and fascinating diversity — oh, and …
Alexandria, Va., photographer Jeff Olson was one of those fortunate souls who was able to view Monday’s total solar eclipse. Jeff, who works for the National Park Service and has been stationed this summer in Grand Canyon National Park, traveled to Homestead National Monument of America near Beatrice, Neb., to view the once-in-a-lifetime event. The national monument commemorates passage of the Homestead …
“It got to be pitch dark, at last, and the multitude groaned with horror to feel the cold uncanny night breezes through the place and see the stars come out and twinkle in the sky. At last the eclipse was total, and I was very glad of it, but everybody else was in misery. … Then I lifted up my …
With all of the violence occurring in this country, one has to ask: What can be done to address it? Too often, people are prosecuted after a crime has been committed. What is missing is the deterrent effect of a law that would prohibit or reduce the number of folks who create the problem. I’m not going to refer to …
These old eyes — they’ve seen a lot. Back in my younger days — let’s call them my 20-20s — they took in more than enough, both good and bad, to make me the wise old woman I am today. Make that the wise old “squinty” woman. While I can still claim to have some insight, I can’t seem to …
If you didn’t like Billy Kretschmar, the fault was not his. Billy was a fixture in the North Dakota House of Representatives from 1974 to 2016, with one lost election in between, and during that time, most politicians would have developed fierce enemies. If Billy had them, I don’t know who they are. When I deconstructed his career in a …
I love Tina Fey, and I laughed out loud when she poured her sorrows over the events at the alma mater, the University of Virginia, into stress eating a sheet cake on “Weekend Update” this past week. It was a brilliant segment. However, my fear is that her satire of feigned helpless is all too easily embraced. We laugh with …
One day recently, it occurred to me that I had not seen or spoken with my friend, Dick Lord, in more than a year. I found his number and planned to ring him up for a game of golf or another of our long breakfasts at Denny’s, but I heard the news before I could call. Dick had contracted the West …
I recently read that the National Retail Federation projects parents will pay on average $970 for back-to-school expenses. “Back to School” shopping is the second-largest retail shopping season next to Christmas. So if each family spends roughly $1,000 annually, we are up to $13,000 on average from kindergarten to 12th grade! Ouch! Want to save thousands of dollars in back-to-school …
It’s been said that variety is the spice of life. Follow Grand Forks photographer Russ Hons around for a couple of days, and you will understand the meaning of that old adage. The past few days, Russ captured these images of senior pictures by the lake; a rodeo in Detroit Lakes, Minn.; some star, northern lights and sunset shots at the lake; …
As a 72-year-old, I sure didn’t want to miss the once-in-a-lifetime Great American Solar Eclipse. So I went to our local library around the corner — Hennepin County Public Library on York in Edina — along with nearly 1,000 other like-minded Metro area people from infants in push chairs to seniors in wheelchairs. It was totally fun. Even the long …
While browsing through pictures of the racists who $#!* on Charlottesville, Va., and who misappropriated a perfectly innocent backyard implement for lighting ambiance and the repellent of some insects (for evil and poorly choreographed parading, which probably voided the damn warranty), I noticed a few things. This was the least superior gaggle of goose steppers that could have been scrounged up. …
Scott Pruitt, newly appointed EPA administrator, comes to North Dakota for the first time. He is accompanied by Sen. John Hoeven, Rep. Kevin Cramer and Gov. Doug Burgum. Meetings are held on the publicly owned campuses of North Dakota State University and the University of North Dakota, and the presidents of each institution are in attendance. In Fargo, the media …
So it begins. North Dakota has its first official candidate in the 2018 election. Given all the weird shit (read: Trump) that’s been going on over the past eight months or so, I’m eager for a fresh start, and my young friend, Ben Hanson, has provided that. Thank you, Ben. Ben sent me an e-mail shortly after midnight last night …
This is my father (right), who was in the U.S. Army during World War II, the Korean Conflict and the Vietnam War. As an 18-year-old, he got on the ship, the Queen Elizabeth, and shipped to England, where he fought against the Nazis and was on the beaches of Normandy. When I wonder if I have the courage to speak …
A few years ago, before the Fargo Forum’s Rob Port banned me from his brain cell-resistant Sayanything blog Facebook page, I found myself politely conversing, for my part, with a Grand Forks member of the III percent right-wing militia group. He cursed like a wet pirate with R-rated dagger wounds. I was soooo frightened, but I pulled myself together with …
Last week, in Virginia, the birthplace of more presidents than any other, a woman died protesting Nazis, mowed down by a white supremacist in a Dodge Charger. This new president’s reaction was to blame “many sides.” I blame Obama. And Chrysler Motors. Seven months into this sideshow (not exactly the phrase I would like to use), when will diehard Trump …
I said I wasn’t going to do it again. But once again, I purchased another stash of used books, this time at an estate sale in our neighborhood in Bloomington, Minn. I wish I had known the folks who owned this house. It was full of books on every conceivable subject, from great works of literature to volumes about home …
Here at Red Oak House, we’ve established a tradition, an annual mid-August BLT party with our good friends Bob and Jodi and Larry and Charlotte. Some years Clay attends if he is in town. We cook up the bacon from Crow Butte Mercantile and slice up a bunch of our home-grown tomatoes. We were pleased today because, usually, our garden …
The University of North Dakota women’s soccer team kicked off its 2017 season with a 1-0 exhibition win over Jamestown College on Saturday in Grand Forks. The two teams played three 30-minute periods. Freshman Mimi Eiden scored the game’s lone goal, assisted by Katie Moller. UND junior goalkeeper Olivia Swenson stopped only one shot, and backup goalie, sophomore Jacqueline Wells, did not …
In January, I spent two weeks in Uganda, working in refugee camps, doing trauma healing. There I came face to face with the victims of a brutal civil war in South Sudan. I heard stories of rape, murder and torture committed in the name of genocidal, tribal hatred. In April, I visited the Killing Fields of Cambodia. I saw the …
Today is my Daddy’s birthday. My job was to make his favorite German Chocolate Cake, from scratch. It is a nice continuation of the theme of “chocolate” from my last blog post. I made a run to the store the other day for ingredients. My husband gets pretty nostalgic when he sees the box of Pillsbury Softasilk cake flour, remembering …