I grew up in suburbs of big cities, like San Diego, Denver and the Twin Cities. When I went off to college in Mankato I thought it was a small town. But in 1971 I discovered what real small towns were and I was hooked and never went back to the big city. I have lived in several small towns ...
“He chose...poorly.” I heard those words spoken in my head several times in the past week or two. They are said ominously, with a pause between the words “chose” and “poorly” for dramatic effect. Perhaps you have heard those words before. They were spoken by one of the Knights ...
A question for you. If you had a chance to travel in a time machine, which way would you go? Back to sometime in the past or off to sometime in the future? I have asked a few people that question this past week and it seems to be a split between the past and the future, with the past slightly ...
Anyone who knows me at all knows that I am not fond of cold weather. I have always blamed it on being born and raised in the San Diego, California, area. San Diego, as many folks have heard, probably has the most temperate year round climate in the continental United States. Note that I ...
Did you watch the Super Bowl last Sunday? Of course you did. Maybe a little of it, maybe a lot of it. I watched it all. I had talked to some friends and we had agreed it would be the Eagles’ defense against the Chiefs’ offense. It turned out that way, but it was the Eagles’ defense ...
I had a strong dose of a sense of ‘community’ recently. You know, that feeling of people taking pride in the place where they live. It often happens in small towns, but not every small town has it. Trust me, I know this. I grew up in suburbs of San Diego and Denver and even a bit of ...
It seems like only a week or two ago that I dedicated this column space to some Cheers and Jeers to those who deserve one or the other. But, in actuality, it has been about two months since we last did some Cheering and Jeering. We are going to start this column out by Cheering four ...
You are going to read a lot of words if you read all the stories in this week’s Faribault County Register. And all of these words are pretty much locally created and all have to do with things of interest to people who live here in Faribault County. Reporter Kevin Mertens and I spent an ...
I have to start this week’s column with a confession. I confess I know little to nothing about Iowa. I know, you are wondering how someone could have lived the past 17-plus years just nine miles away from Iowa and then say he knows little to nothing about that state. But it is ...
I know. I just wrote about the Minnesota Vikings last week. I should be writing about something else this week, right? But I cannot stop myself. It must be done. If you don’t care a whit about the Vikings (and I am somewhat jealous of people like that) then quit reading now and do something ...