The University of North Dakota football team suffered its third loss of the season Saturday, dropping a 49-21 Big Sky Conference game to Montana State University before 12,342 fans, the first sellout at the Alerus Center since the 2009 season opener vs. South Dakota. The 17th-ranked Fighting Hawks, who fell behind 21-0 in the first half, closed the gap to 28-13 in the third quarter …
The University of North Dakota women’s soccer team had to battle the elements as well as visiting Weber State University on Sunday afternoon at Bronson Field on its way to a soggy 1-0 Big Sky Conference win. Freshman forward Mimi Eiden scored the game’s only goal in the 48th minute of play to give the Fighting Hawks their first-ever win over …
The typhoons we experienced when we were living on Okinawa in the mid-1960s are much on my mind these days, what with all of the terrible Atlantic hurricanes in the news. I have some vivid childhood memories and my parents and siblings and I have talked about these, reliving those memories for decades. My most vivid memory is of the …
With the arrival of the autumnal equinox, my writing will begin to shift away from the garden returning to the topic of Dakota Trails, among other topics. My two favorite days on the calendar are the vernal and autumnal equinoxes, when the light of the world is equal, in complete harmony between day and night. Although autumn is my favorite …
Yes, advertising works. Ads work if we love them. They work if we hate them. If we ignore them — but still are exposed to them often enough in the background — they’re still working exactly as intended … drilling their way into the back of our minds. Don’t argue with me, please. A good share of my livelihood has been …
As children, most of us learned about Christopher Columbus discovering America, and the celebration continues today. The truth, however, was not shown in our history books when I was a child, and I don’t know if is being taught today. For those of you who were as uninformed as I was, here’s a little historical truth. Columbus Day was invented …
As I sit down to write this, I’m listening to thunder and hoping that regular rain will return to the northern Plains. Today I’m reflecting on the Theodore Roosevelt: the Naturalist in the Arena Symposium that Jim and I attended at nearby at Dickinson (N.D.) State University last week, the 12th annual. We attended the first and several others in the intervening …
This is a cautionary tale. It involves drug abuse on my part, no less. Even though it was inadvertent and one time only. The drug in question here is a popular one, the sedative sold as Ambien. After a surgery my doctor prescribed Ambien to help me sleep. I can attest that for me, it works like a charm. I …
A chilly Sunday morning gradually blossomed into a gorgeous, late summer afternoon. But being a golfer of marginal talent and fully aware that our local football team had an enticing matchup in Pittsburgh, I still wondered if I’d made the right choice. Our annual fraternity scramble was on tap at the University of Minnesota course, and I’d reluctantly agreed to …
Finally, it rained. A two-day soaker Friday and Saturday. We were in the Bad Lands for a four-day trip, an immersion in Theodore Roosevelt, where we attended the 12th annual TR Symposium at Dickinson (N.D.) State University. Jim and I have attended a number of these (including the first), and this year’s topic of TR the Naturalist was irresistible to …
“I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” We would chant this oath every morning in the first grade in 1962. I was happy to do it, not that I had a choice. Stand up, face the …
The 10th-ranked University of North Dakota football team was hoping to build on last weekend’s Potato Bowl victory against Missouri State, but the University of South Dakota (3-0) had a different idea as the Coyotes overwhelmed the Fighting Hawks 45-7 before almost 10,000 fans Saturday in the DakotaDome. USD quarterback Chris Streveler, who has won back-to-back Missouri Conference Offensive Player of …
Bloomington, Minn., photographer Dave Vorland recently spent some time in Chicago, the Windy City. Dave went to graduate school in Chicago at the Northwestern University in the mid-1960s. Here are some of the sights that caught his eye.
On Wednesday, I commandeered the canner from Jim so that I could make the season’s first batch of marinara at Red Oak House. He grows a variety of tomatoes, including paste type, starting these from seed in the basement in the early spring. As I’ve previously written, he has harvested more than a thousand tomatoes and cans many jars of …
A big wind made landfall last Wednesday in North Dakota, and when I woke up the next morning, North Dakota was great again. A KX News morning show anchor giddily recounted her excitement about President Trump’s visit and how she and her family had gone out to “show our love for the president.” I was a little surprised her objective …
“Keep your eyes on the stars and your feet on the ground.” — Theodore Roosevelt Gentle reader, if you are looking for the perfect autumn getaway in North Dakota, I suggest the fifth annual Dakota Night Astronomy Festival, on Friday, Saturday and Sunday in beautiful Medora, N.D. From the Theodore Roosevelt National Park press release: “People have been marveling at the …
Anyone who believes this country is — and always has been — great had their confidence reinforced by the climate-changing events that have destroyed so many lives and so much property in the past two weeks. It is not the death and destruction that makes us great, of course. It is the way this country responded to provide help and aid wherever …
Something is puzzling me this year in the garden. In the front yard, the impatiens are insipid, but in the backyard perennial beds, these bright shade annuals are robust. What could possibly be the explanation? My first instinct was the hot, dry weather and the lack of rain water, but this would be true both in front and back. Naturally, …
Here’s a final photograph, and some thoughts about it, from the recent trip Dorette and I made to attend the jazz festival in Chicago’s Millennium Park. Marcel Proust, Ernest Hemingway and Thomas Wolfe all said you can’t go home again. Wolfe even used the expression as the title of one of his novels. But I keep trying. For example, at …
The University of North Dakota sports teams were busy this past week, the women’s volleyball team playing and winning four matches — North Dakota State University, George Washington, South Dakota State University and Appalachian State — and the men’s football team shutting out Missouri State in the Potato Bowl. Grand Forks photographer Russ Hons was on hand for all the action, …
Last week, William Prentice, the slickster CEO of Meridian Energy Group, which wants to build an oil refinery 2½ miles from Theodore Roosevelt National Park, blew a bunch of smoke up the ass of a young reporter for The Dickinson (N.D.) Press, and the kid, who’s actually a pretty good writer, wrote a real puff piece about how great the …
It was Pow Wow weekend in Bismarck and the time of the biggest rummage sale weekend of the year in these parts. I partook Friday and found some treasures, with the bonus of driving around river city and seeing how creative residents are in their decorating and landscaping. It is also the weekend of the Sr. Kateri Festival at our …
The North Dakota Republican Party put all of their gold coins on the Camarillo White Horse in the 5th race on the 7th fairway. “North Dakotans elected President Trump because he promised to enact policies that would improve our economy, make our country safer, and improve the lives of folks here at home,” said North Dakota GOP Chairman Kelly Armstrong. …
The University of North Dakota women’s volleyball team won its 10th match of the season in 11 tries, topping in-state rival North Dakota State University before a sold-out crowd of 3,140 fans Wednesday night in Betty Engelstad Sioux Center. The Fighting Hawks swept the Bison 25-18, 25-9, 25-13 behind the second-largest crowd in the Betty’s history. Faith Dooley led UND …
My favorite month in North Dakota is September. It is a difficult choice. June is filled with new growth in the perennial beds and the planting of the garden and with birdsong. But September. Ah, September. The heat of summer has passed. I dislike the hot weather. I wilt easily. My children and husband were born in September, so it …
Given all of the things I have seen and heard about DACA in the past few days, I thought it might be helpful to lay out a few facts in the midst of so much misinformation. We are entitled to our own opinions, but not our own facts. For the record … DACA recipients are ineligible for Medicaid. Food stamps. SSI. Welfare. …
It seems like it’s been a lifetime since Chief Keith Ternes of the Fargo Police Department was ambushed by FPD brass, resulting in his retirement. My own view was that he was treated unfairly and railroaded by those who could have assisted him in improving the operation of the department. But such is not what happened, and history cannot be …
First, the hurricane. Then comes the second disaster — the blizzard of well-meant rummage. I know you have only the best intentions. Me, too. We want to help the Texans who lost everything they own to Hurricane Harvey. But please, please put down those garbage bags of used clothes, stuffed animals and odds and ends from your pantry. They are …
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 …