You may remember the television series, “The Waltons,” a Depression-era slice of Americana based on Earl Hamner’s experiences in the Virginia hills. The series reflected one family’s good-natured resilience and resourcefulness in hard times. Every evening when the lights were turned off, the stillness was broken by voices saying good night. I imagine it in these times: “Good night, Grandpa.” …
It’s been four years since my good friend Garry Shandling passed. Here is a re-post of my article, ‘“The Passing of a Year.” The passing of a year is a deceivingly quick event. Think of something significant that has happened in your life: the birth of a child, a dream vacation, winning a championship, graduation, or the loss of a …
The Beatles asked, do you believe in love at first sight, and answered, “Yes, I’m certain that it happens all the time.” Do you believe in the idea of the soul mate, that there is someone out there somewhere who represents a perfect fit for your own cluster of values, principles, habits, perspectives, and desires? That idea goes all the …
The coronavirus has closed a lot of businesses, including barbershops, whose gravitational pull was once the envy of any trade. Shuttering these shops decades ago would have gagged communication in small towns and urban neighborhoods. Any news worthwhile to the citizenry was heard in Dad’s barbershop, long before it arrived at the newspaper office. The simple marketing genius of a …
Spring is upon us, and that means mating season for critters in the Northland, which in turn brings Grand Forks photographer out in search of Red River Valley bald eagles that are in the midst of their courting ritual. (Check out more photos from Russ Hons here.)
“Let us be concerned for one another, to help one another to show love and to do good. Let us not give up the habit of meeting together, as some are doing. Instead, let us encourage one another all the more, since you see that the Day of the Lord is coming nearer.” — Hebrews 10:24-25 My family held our …
It’s suddenly become vital to all of us: The need to practice “social distancing” to “flatten the curve” of a now out-of-control pandemic known as COVID-19. Admit it. Two weeks ago, most of us wouldn’t have had a clue what any of that meant. Way back then, I was mostly worried about putting up a new big screen TV in …
Potatoes and tomatoes. Many people might think that’s an unlikely pairing — you could probably count me in that group unless you were referring to french fries and ketchup — but there are some days when you just want to try something new. So when I came across the following recipe, even though my food radar didn’t exactly light up, …
The wildlife were out catching a few rays and strutting their stuff for photographer Russ Hons on Friday. (Check out more photos from Russ Hons here.)
As he has done a couple of times now recently, President Trump reacted rather badly to a question put to him Friday by NBC White House Correspondent Peter Alexander. Alexander asked the president what he would say to a scared nation as the coronavirus pandemic continues on. The president called it a “nasty” question. It didn’t sound nasty to me, …
One of Fred Rogers’ greatest pleasures was making connections between people he loved. I’ve enjoyed that experience myself in recent weeks, introducing my good friends Michael Gingerich and Tom Kaden to Dr. Patrick O’Malley. Tom and Michael are the founders of Someone To Tell it To, a Pennsylvania nonprofit devoted to intentional and compassionate listening. Patrick, as some of you …
At 11:50 last night, spring officially began — the earliest possible day for the vernal equinox and the earliest spring in 124 years. However, I suspect most of us just aren’t feeling it — that renewal that comes when all the trees are budding, the birds begin to sing and the flowers start their blooming. Instead of trying to pass …
“The lyf so short, the craft so long to lerne.” — Chaucer Late last summer, I spent a month in England, Scotland and Wales (with a day and a half in Ireland on my return). It is a trip I’d been planning in my head for 40 years. Most assuredly there are not enough adjectives to describe all of the …
I’m sitting in front of my computer trying to arrange a flight home from West Virginia University for India. As I write, West Virginia is the only state in the union without a documented case of the Coronavirus, still things feel a little safer out here in our prairie isolation. It feels a little like it did in the days …
Paula Mehmel, senior pastor of Emanuel Lutheran Church in Hartford, Conn., along with her church leadership and staff, decided recently to move to virtual worship in the wake of the coronavirus crisis. In the meantime, she is doing some regular devotionals for her parish that she has decided to share. Here is today’s, from Isaiah 43:19. As I awoke for …
I had a wonderful tour last week of the state Capitol of Virginia at Richmond. It was conducted by my old friend, Mark Greenough, the chief of interpretation, and someone who occasionally portrays John Marshall, the chief justice of the Supreme Court. As we entered the Capitol, we walked the gauntlet of about 100 women, many of them with children, …
Leftover ham lends itself to many uses. The simplest is a good old ham sandwich, perhaps made a few hours after the meat was featured as the main course on Easter Sunday. Or maybe fried ham and eggs or a ham and cheese omelet. And, of course, there is bean or split pea soup, depending on your preference. The entree …
A few weeks ago, on a Minnesota trip to visit my family, I also got together with my friends, Craig and Stephanie Bowron. For a couple of hours in their St. Paul home, Stephanie played piano, Craig and I played guitars, and we sang ourselves hoarse, everything from the Beatles to Johnny Cash. That seems like a lifetime ago now. …
We’re being told lately that because of the outbreak of the coronavirus, if we want to stay healthy, we should practice something called social distancing. That probably means different things to different people. But generally, it’s suggested we hunker down at home as much as possible, avoiding large groups of people and basically sucking it up! Others directly exposed to the …
A person couldn’t do much better than a good homemade tomato sauce during times of health crises when eating at home may be one’s only option. Cooked tomatoes are high in the antioxidant lycopene, which has been linked to a lower risk of cardiovascular disease and other illnesses. And when put in a sauce with other vegetables such as nutritient-rich …
A trip to the countryside is truly a great way to view nature at its best, and there is no better way to view it than through the keen eye of photographer Michael Bogert.
Some politics today. Caucuses, conventions, initiated measures and great PR work. Caucuses and Conventions A letter writer in The Forum on Friday morning expressed his displeasure with Tuesday’s North Dakota caucuses saying, “I can remember when we voted in a primary election by using one side or the other of the ballot to vote our party preference. Republicans and Democrats …
You might remember Thursday, when the stock market decline was the worst in decades and news of the coronavirus pandemic seemed to grow more grim by the hour. A bad day, for sure. And yet … There was Dave Brown. My wife and I had tickets to see the Eagles at the American Airlines Center in Dallas next week. We …
This story is a century or so too late in the telling and is missing pieces needed to qualify it as bona fide North Dakota history. But it’s as honest a story as my cousin, Jeannette Wolff Miller, can tell about her wonderfully resilient house plant, a torn petticoat in St. Paul, a young woman taking a train to her …
Photographer Jeff Olson and his wife, Joanne Plager Burke Olson, and their dog, Sammy, recently took their first hike of 2020 at Colorado’s Lory State Park. The state park is located west of Fort Collins and north of Horsetooth Reservoir. The park is a popular destination for mountain biking, hiking, horseback riding and rock climbing and also has its own bike …
My friend, Karl Travis, is actively dying. By that I mean he is leaning into the experience, including the injustice of a baffling illness that will take him from the world, in the physical sense at least, far too soon. The much admired and beloved Presbyterian pastor is leaning into the mystery. He is leaning into the inevitable sadness of …
Exactly what constitutes a good stew? The vast majority of people will say theirs usually consists of some tender meat, usually beef, hearty vegetables (potatoes and carrots) and a delicious, thick sauce. But beyond this, there many options when it comes to stew. Some cooks like to lighten things up a bit and substitute chicken or turkey (I like pheasant). And …
Twenty-five years ago today, on March 3, 1995, I walked into the Landmark Forum not knowing what would transpire over the next three days. Landmark Forum Leader, Jerry Baden, on the dot of 9 a.m. walked to the front of the room in an office complex in Edina, Minn., and proceeded to lead a conversation that transformed my life forever. …
The University of North Dakota men’s hockey team clinched a share of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference title Saturday night with a 2-1 overtime win over Western Michigan University in Ralph Engelstad Arena. Shane Pinto scored his 16th goal of the season to give the Fighting Hawks (25-4-4 overall, 16-3-3 NCHC) the weekend sweep. Collin Adams scored UND’s other goal, while …
Every once in a while, something pops up on your computer screen that just punches you in the gut, leaving you breathless for a few moments. That happened to me Saturday morning. One of my early morning routines is to scan the state’s newspapers online to see what’s going on around the state. If you send $9.99 a month to …
My mom died on Leap Day four years ago. It was a blessed end to what had been a horribly long journey through the ravages of Alzheimer’s. I did not mourn her death but rather rejoiced in the New Life she began. My mom was an amazing person. I know everyone says that about their moms, but she really truly …
I’ve been writing recently about the ways in which I am being radicalized by the collapse of American civilization. I no longer think we need only to undertake a few thoughtful reforms to save the country. The colossal farce of the Trump impeachment, wherein the most important material witness to the central allegation of the articles of impeachment was not …
Occasionally, I will hear from people that they don’t care about politics, that what happens in Washington doesn’t affect them. They don’t like the chaos or behavior of the current administration, but the stock market is doing well, so they can look the other way in the face of the rise in autocratic fascism that is threatening our national security …
The warm weather of the past few days brought out the pheasants as well as photographer Michael Bogert.
In the year 2000, as part of my research for a book on the Tulsa, Okla., race massacre of 1921, I interviewed an elderly man named Richard Gary, who told me this story. On a day in early June 1921, his father, a white Tulsa resident named Hugh Gary, loaded his young sons, Richard and Hubert, into the family Dodge …
How many Ukrainian refugees can move into the city of boring blank walls without riling up the usual small pack of those yappy little territorial Burleigh County Corgis the corrupt president enjoys lying to? Zero. They’re banning light bulbs. No, it’s murals. Bismarck is banning murals or morals to the story. It’s extreme vetting for everyone to mayoral standards, nowadays. …
The University of North Dakota men’s hockey team increased its lead in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference standings to nine points with a 3-3 tie with St. Cloud State University on Friday night in Herb Brooks National Hockey Center. The Huskies picked up the extra point by winning the shootout after a scoreless overtime. Westin Michaud, Shane Pinto and Jacob …
Well, that’s just great. A few villagers got wind of a yet-to-exist innocuous mural with a whiff of science implied, and now we have to inspect all of the art in the state for depictions of Swedes wearing Native jewelry. It seems the mere thought of a mural featuring a 17-year-old girl got a handful of North Dakota wankers so …
Thomas Jefferson has somehow gotten under my skin. As I’ve grown older in my tights and wig, in some respects I’ve become a radical and even, at times, a paper revolutionary. When I began investigating Mr. Jefferson 30 years ago, tentatively beginning to portray him, I was mostly interested in his agrarian vision for this country. The sentence that then …
The silly controversy over Shane Balkowitsch’s proposal to mount a 7-foot-high portrait of the Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg on the outside wall of a downtown building in Bismarck comes just as we learn that Antarctica has experienced the two hottest days on historical record and just when an iceberg the size of Malta has broken free from the Pine …
Comforting, affordable, versatile. Those are three attributes of chicken breast that make it a great go-to meat for many people. Plus, there’s something about golden-brown chicken breasts that make them hard to resist. A new favorite of mine is preparing the breasts on the stovetop. And more often than not, I like to substitute pheasant for chicken, a perk of …
The University of North Dakota men’s hockey team solidified its hold on the No. 1 ranking in the country with a 3-1 National Collegiate Hockey Conference win over the University of Denver on Saturday night in Ralph Engelstad Arena. Collin Adams, Matt Kierstad and Jasper Weatherby scored goals for the league-leading Fighting Hawks (23-3-3 overall, 14-2-2-2 NCHC), who recorded their ninth …
The University of North Dakota women’s tennis team shut out the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay 7-0 on Saturday morning in Choice Health and Fitness in Grand Forks. The Fighting Hawks (2-3) won all six singles matches and both doubles matches against the Bobcats (3-3). Winning singles matches were Kaedo Amano, Allie Ochotorena, Isa Sullivan, Andrea Jannson, Nina Zdravkovic and Frida Soko. …
Shane Pinto, Jacob Bernard-Docker, Westin Michaud and Collin Adams each scored a goal and added an assist to lead the No. 1-ranked University of North Dakota men’s hockey team to a 4-1 National Collegiate Hockey Conference win over the University of Denver on Friday night in Ralph Engelstad Arena. The win lifted the league-leading Fighting Hawks to 22-3-3 overall and …