Exploring the Wonders of Minnesota
Three horses carrying strangers slowly came into view. The riders eased up the reins and dismounted near the First National Bank. A passer-by paused and looked at the strangers: it was rare that three well-dressed strangers would come to remote Northfield, Minnesota in the year 1876. The men entered the bank and several more strangers …
Continue reading “Hometown Pride: The Defeat of Jesse James Days”
The pop culture picture of Minnesota is probably best encapsulated in the image of someone ice fishing while wearing buffalo plaid and a trapper hat. The image is inspired by several cultural depictions. One is certainly “Fargo”, though the city of Fargo, while on the Minnesota border, is actually in North Dakota. A more Minnesotan …
Continue reading “Flannel, Hotdish and Trapper Hats: Attending Wabasha’s Grumpy Old Men Festival”
In northern Minnesota on the banks of Lake Superior lies Duluth. To get there you take I-35 north until the highway ends. In between the Iron Range of mountains and the windswept Lake Superior, it is a gateway to the wilderness that attracts adventurers in the summer and becomes a frozen shell of itself in …
It turns out there are Swedish centers of culture other than IKEA stores and ABBA reunion tours. Scandinavian culture has been an important theme for us recently, with us writing about our Norwegian feast at the St. Olaf Christmas Festival and our Finnish food with friends in St. Paul. Before Minnesota, I knew very little …
Continue reading “A Scandinavian Celebration: The American Swedish Institute”
Christmas is a wonderful time full of a flurry of activities and quite a few flurries of snow. We celebrated Christmas in Minnesota in several uniquely Minnesotan ways and those are recounted here. St. Olaf Christmas Festival: St. Olaf College, where I have taught for the past year, is a small, academically exceptional school in …
Continue reading “Wind Chill, Lutefisk and the St. Olaf Choir: A Minnesota Christmas”
It is strange and exciting to show off where you live to visitors when you are living in a new area because, after all, you are still basically a visitor yourself. We know that this will soon be true of us as we move later this summer, but for now we finally feel at home …
There is nothing that makes me more at home than the feel of a cool autumn breeze as it brings smells of apple cider and pumpkin pie. I love the fall! I missed fall in Colorado where eight months of warmth and sun immediately transition to four months of cold and snow…and sun. Later this …
Continue reading “Autumn in Minnesota: Our Apple Picking Adventure”
Sports are characterized by the great rivalries: the Yankees vs. the Red Sox, Georgia vs. Alabama, the Packers vs. the Bears, and the St. Olaf Oles vs. the Carleton College Carls. Okay, the Ole vs. Carl rivalry might not be world famous, but it is a bit of a big deal when you live in …
Last October, Katie and I visited western Minnesota, where evidence remains of three people groups who had been there: the Native peoples who congregated in Pipestone, the German immigrants who established a settlement in New Ulm and a little girl who lived on a prairie. There are fascinating places to visit that visitors can only …
Continue reading “Little House in the Quarry: Visiting Western Minnesota”
Long time ago, in an era that is slowly fading from memory into legend, people used to congregate together in groups without the fear of widespread infection. Weird, I know. If we turn our attention back a year to last summer, we were initially acquainted to Minnesota through one of these mass gatherings: The Minnesota …
Continue reading “Deep-Fried Hot Dish on a Stick: The Minnesota State Fair”
Adventures in Gopherland