Leonard Slatkin is one of the world’s most famous conductors, but for the last several weeks, he’s taken on a much different role in the music world, as jury chairman for the Cliburn International Piano Competition. Part of his duties have been to announce which of the 30 pianists would advance from each round and which young musicians would not. Late …
Once upon a time, I had a fishing boat with a little 9.9 hp Johnson outboard motor. You could drive all day and all night and wouldn’t use a cup of gas. The kids learned to water ski behind it and loved to go wave-jumping in it. The only thing we didn’t do was fish … until one of my …
Some (don’t) like it hot. When the North Country hits the 90s, something peculiar happens to the delirious glee with which many of us anticipated summer: Our ardor cools overnight. It’s part of our Minnesota and North Dakota heritage — at least if your forebears, like mine, consumed way too much cod, favored fur-lined hats and were bred to survive …
It’s time to talk about the “woke ladder.” The term “woke” goes way back, originally coined in the black community and now used widely to describe an awakened state of being, an awareness of systems at work behind closed doors that the less “enlightened” may not notice or acknowledge. In today’s call-out culture, verbal sparring between political and ideological opposites is …
Grand Forks Red River High School broke a 21-year drought by winning the 2017 North Dakota State Class A Boys Golf Meet held Monday and Tuesday in Grand Forks. Red River was led by Adam Van Raden, Mat Halvorson, Keaton Wolf and Keaton Gilbertson. Grand Forks Central finished fourth in the meet and was led by Carson Seng, Ethan Knudson, …
The North Dakota Department of Health has called “Bullshit!” on Meridian Energy’s application to construct its Davis Oil Refinery three miles from Theodore Roosevelt National Park. In fact, in a strongly worded letter to Meridian, Terry O’Clair, Director of the Division of Air Quality, says he has actually stopped the review of the application until Meridian sends the Department information …
Somewhere on the coast of the English Channel, 73 years ago today, was my father, Garland Crook, a 19-year-old from the piney hills of Mississippi. He joined the U.S. Army at 17, not long after the attack on Pearl Harbor. His mother had to sign a document to allow him to join up at so young an age. Eventually, he …
For some, it will probably open a scab wound that has just barely started to heal. A few of us got a first look Sunday night at the still unfinished “The Fighting Sioux: Unauthorized” movie. (I’ve seen several variations of the title.) All I can say is that it exceeded my expectations. And my expectations were pretty high. The story of UND’s fight with the NCAA over …
The next help wanted ad we run will go something like this: “JOURNALIST NEEDED: Must have strong language skills, a willingness to ask hard questions and be able to take a punch.” After Greg Gianforte, U.S. Rep.-elect from Montana, body-slammed Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs last week, it became clear the trail blazed by Jesse “The Body” Ventura in 1998 had …
Odds and ends it is. While we had frost on our cooler Tuesday morning in the Bad Lands, by Friday, the thermometer in our Bismarck home recorded 100 degrees! That, gentle reader, is too extreme. But the walleye are biting on the Missouri River, and the gardens look splendid (well, some of the new annuals are pretty wilted from the …
I’ve never been much for writing book reviews. Mainly because I don’t know how to write book reviews. Call this one an appreciation. (If you feel you have to call it anything at all.) I noticed a lot of interest in “Al Franken: Giant of the Senate” on Facebook and elsewhere. So, here we go. The new memoir follows Sen. Al Franken’s …
One of the more popular things to do on a Friday night during the summer in Grand Forks is to head to the River Cities Speedway for the races. And that’s where you could have found photographer Russ Hons this week. (Check out more photos from Russ Hons here.)
On, Thursday I made a morning stop to my favorite place in Bismarck, the North Dakota Heritage Center. (Well, the Missouri River is my favorite natural place, but you get the idea). I needed to purchase a couple of books at the gift shop and do a little research. But first, a snack at the James River Cafe. A group …
OMG! “What a difference a day makes ♪♫♫♪♪♫♫♪,♪♫♫♪,” as the Dinah Washington song goes. Went to Mayo Clinic on Wednesday and had cataract surgery on my left eye. It was a surprisingly easy procedure. The prep time actually took longer than the surgery. I’m now officially a “Patient Lens Implant Identification Card” carrier. The brand name is AcrySof out of Fort …
One of the best things about Minnesota is the stuff that we don’t need to worry about — volcanoes and earthquakes, say, or cold-blooded predators anxious to eat us — alligators, pythons, sharks. We can usually count on our snug midcontinent home to keep us relatively safe from the Hysteria of the Day. We can afford to take a good …
Monday, Jim and I loaded up the Highlander with our camping gear and pointed it in the right direction — west! We were headed to our national park, Theodore Roosevelt National Park, for a night at Cottonwood Campground. Readers of my husband’s blog know that we are big-time campers. Tenters. He writes about one of our most memorable trips taken this …
I took it upon myself to drive the main roads in Dilworth, Minn., Moorhead and Fargo on Memorial Day weekend. I was pleased to see that each city had placed flags in honor of our fallen soldiers. It was also very heartening to see the many veterans and civic organizations providing programs to honor the warriors. It prompted me to …
As a scholar not a partisan, I have been trying to think if any president in American history has behaved in a less presidential way than Donald Trump. Andrew Jackson was a frontier ruffian in some respects, a loud populist, and during his inauguration March 4, 1829, his rural supporters trashed the White House. Theodore Roosevelt called his enemies colorful …
There isn’t a better time of the year than spring for bird watchers in the Northland. Not only are the migrants returning home after wintering down South, they are also raising new families. Grand Forks photographer Michael Bogert shares these recent shots taken in the Red River Valley.
My daughter and I made a date this week to visit my elderly Aunt Junette Henke at Edgewood Vista Assisted Living in Bismarck. I am blessed with many very strong and independent women in my life, and my Aunt Junette stands in front of that line. She is my godmother, my mother’s older sister, and like me, the middle child. …
Just four short months after trading in Kenyan Socialism for Russian Communism with a dollop of South American Style Authoritarianism thrown in for good measure — more bananas, please — it’s time to assess just how super- duper great America has become again. And you slackers thought you were going to make it to Memorial Day without a test? Dream …
It’s high school graduation season, and a lot of families are scrambling to prepare for parties for their soon-to-be graduates. Food is always at the center of these celebrations, and there are two routes that you can take: catered from a restaurant, supermarket or culinary service or do-it-yourself. We recently hosted our grandson Rakeem’s party, which was held early because of weekend …
The Country Scribe, Eric Bergeson, knows a bit about caring for flowers, trees and shrubs in the Northland, being the third-generation owner of Bergeson Nursery in Fertile, Minn., a business started by his grandfather in 1937. Here, Eric offers some tips about caring for plants that you may have at your family cemetery plot, which is particularly pertinent on this Memorial Day weekend.
A new biography of David Letterman has reminded me just how much I miss those nightly Top 10 lists of his. So much so that I thought it might be fun to put together one. Not the ha-ha, funny kind. But for no particular reason, a list of the coolest people I could think of. My cool criteria is simple. It’s based mainly on achievement. …
My wife, Lillian, and I just did a quick two-day trip on (almost) all two-lane roads — you can’t get out of or into Bismarck without going on a four-lane, but our exit and entrance was our only concession to four lanes) — around the northeast quadrant of North Dakota. It was wonderful. That is all I am going to say …
A tale of two presidents. Here’s President Obama’s statement in the guestbook at Israel’s Holocaust memorial, July 2008: “I am grateful to Yad Vashem and all of those responsible for this remarkable institution. At a time of great peril and promise, war and strife, we are blessed to have such a powerful reminder of man’s potential for great evil, but …
I almost missed one of the coolest things ever because of my unwillingness to ask a question. Last Saturday, I had a free day. I ate a leisurely breakfast, showered, changed and considered what to do with the day. I had no plans at all. I toyed with the idea of seeing a play in the evening, visiting some of …
Invaluable. That’s the Real Answer, Mr. Commissioner; A Fusion of Smiles, Languages And Colors No matter how you slice it, surgery is no fun. More to the point, it’s no fun no matter how they need to slice you. Painful stuff. Recovery is no walk in the park, either. After nearly eight days in recovery at Sanford, I can say this with …
I am not a runner. Oh, there have been times in my life when I’ve run, like when I was in high school and I was in track. I was a thrower — shot put and discus — but the coach wanted to fill out the full roster for team points, so I was forced to run the two-mile. And forced is …
Grand Forks photographer Russ Hons is becoming quite well-known for his spectacular sports shots. But recently, he decided to take a ride into the countryside, since there were no action sports that night, so he could practice his action shooting. (Check out more photos from Russ Hons here.)
It appears that some media types and supporters of President Trump, hereinafter referred to as 45, are having difficulty with how to describe those in government positions who are providing information that is classified to those who will publicize it. The naysayers suggest those whom they term “leakers” should be sought out, identified and then fired or criminally prosecuted. In …
I’ve been to Kabul, Afghanistan, four times in my life. The first three times a suicide bomber blew up something and took innocent lives somewhere in the city. The first time, in 2010, it happened on a road I had been on just two days earlier. But in none of those cases was the bombing anywhere near where I was. …
They’ll bury Herb Meschke later this week. I don’t know if it will be in the North Dakota Bad Lands, where he was born and raised, or in Minot, where he spent most of his life. Wherever it is, his presence will enhance the stature of the cemetery. Herb was a cowboy, a lawyer, a legislator, a judge and a …
It’s one of life’s funny little ironies: Graduation season brings on a nearly irresistible urge to give advice … at the very moment when impending graduates are least likely to think they need to listen. Exactly 50 years ago, I was in those bright young mortar-boarded and begowned whippersnappers’ shoes. Fresh from the hallowed halls of ivy in a tiny …
Today marks another milestone on the path with my German Metabolic Balance® journey: Day 500! And it’s still working — “when I am ‘on plan.’” It’s been challenging the past four months for a variety of reasons, all of which would come under the heading of “life and death events.” It started with an incredible trip to Cuba in late January to …
I took this picture May 31, 2005, of a movie actress taking a break during filming along the Seine River in Paris She reminds me of Odette de Crécy, an unforgettable character in Marcel Proust’s “Swann In Love,” a component of his larger work “In Search of Lost Time.” Although Proust died in 1922, “the Search” continues to be read …
As I’ve written here before, I think my collaboration with therapist Patrick O’Malley on his new book is as important as any work I’ve done in a 40-year career. It is our belief and fervent hope that the book, “Getting Grief Right: Finding Your Story of Love in the Sorrow of Loss,” will bring comfort to untold numbers of bereaved people, those whose pain …
Finally, that darned garage sale is finished! My sister, Beckie, and I pulled it off Saturday, in my driveway. Since we both had perennials for sale, I figured why not? Just when I figured the whole exercise was a waste, someone would drive up and buy stuff. We did best selling our plants. Had I charged for garden tours, I would have …
Dave Bruner of Grand Forks is becoming well-known for his stunning landscape photography. Here, in his own words, Dave describes three recent shoots. “Country Sunset”: “We had one of those beautiful sunsets this past week that North Dakota is known for. You also have to be lucky and be out there at the right time to see and capture it …
Grand Forks Red River swept a high school baseball doubleheader against Wahpeton on Thursday at Kraft Field in Grand Forks, winning the first game 11-6 and the second 11-4. Grand Forks photographer Russ Hons was there to record the action. (Check out more photos from Russ Hons here.)
Grand Forks photographer Michael Bogert has been at it again. Check out his latest collection of images of the outdoors, taken the past couple of weeks at various locations in the Red River Valley and Minnesota lake country.
It is such a busy time at Red Oak House. So much is happening in the garden. More on that later. But first, this past weekend was filled with the gift of family. My sister, Sarah, brought my daughter, Rachel, from Dickinson, N.D., for the weekend. Sunday, my day started with brunch with my daughters and husband. They presented me …
I’ve given some more thought to the issue of Little Missouri River water permits since I last wrote about it May 3. I reported then that Gov. Doug Burgum had signed into law an amendment to the Little Missouri State Scenic River Act, making industrial use of Little Missouri water legal for the first time since the act was passed …
I was 6 years old and in the first grade in the spring of 1950 when my parents received my last report card of the year. It was signed by teacher Sylpha Hovland, who certified my promotion to the second grade at Fram Township School No. 3 in Wellsburg, N.D. I still have the card. Later, I moved on to Harvey …