By the mid-1980s, my friend and co-author, Patrick O’Malley, had started to suspect that the stages of grief were a harmful fallacy. But as a grieving father himself, and a therapist who worked with the bereaved, what would take their place? An excerpt from our new book, “Getting Grief Right: Finding Your Story of Love in the Sorrow of Loss.” The …
The last time we checked in with Congressman Kevin Cramer, he had recently voted for a health care bill that was so deplorably cruel, even Donald Trump called it “mean.” And old road kill cranium has skimmed charity dollars from kids with cancer, so that’s saying something. Who read the bill to the president is anybody’s guess. On May 6, …
A most delightful evening soiree was held at the Linda and Chuck Suchy farm south of Mandan on Sunday night. The occasion was a showing of Mandan, N.D. artist Ken Rogers’ “plein air” oil paintings, centered on the paintings Ken has recently done of Albert Jankus’ place. Albert, a longtime neighbor of Suchy’s, recently moved to Mandan. We were thrilled and …
I’ve been thinking about my dad. It’s been 24 years since he died, so when I think about him these days, it’s not about the way it ended — cancer — but about the way he lived and lives on in the stories I tell my kids. He would have loved them and they him. India and I went to …
While digging through a box in my basement this week, I made a discovery that pleased me to no end: my old CD of Shawn Colvin’s “A Few Small Repairs,” something that I thought was long lost. It is the 20th anniversary of the release of this Grammy winner, and I’d seen the announcements on Colvin’s Facebook, so this was …
The World of Outlaws brought its Gerdau Northern Tour Craftman Sprint Car Series to River Cities Speedway on Friday night. Rain damped the festivities in the middle of the feature, but they were able to get the track back and finish the race late Friday. David Gravel in the No. 5 Go Muddy car won the race, edging out No. 2M Kerry Madsen. Donny Schatz (15) took third, with …
On Thursday, I spent the day on my hands and knees pulling weeds at Red Oak House. I have no complaints, as this is a quiet task, and I like quiet, solitary tasks. The millions of elm seeds that blew in have sprouted and needed to be removed, and aspens sprout in all sorts of unwanted places. While I worked, …
Custer State Park in South Dakota was on the agenda for Grand Forks photographer Dave Bruner and his wife, Sheila, while on a recent eight-day road trip. Beside viewing some of the park’s wonderful wildlife, they took in Sylvan Lake. Known as the “crown jewel” of Custer State Park, Sylvan Lake offers picnic places, rock climbing, small rental boats, swimming and hiking trails. In Dave’s …
Here’s a short follow-up to a story I did a couple of weeks ago about the proposed Davis Refinery, the big industrial plant the California company Meridian Energy wants to build next to Theodore Roosevelt National Park. You’ll recall the North Dakota Department of Health sent Meridian a letter a month ago questioning some of the emissions projections Meridian used …
When I was an undergraduate, I had this poster on a wall in my first apartment. While I’m through and through from a military family, it reveals much about me. My poster is long gone, but it still rings true for me, although Mary Mother of God, why can’t our country seem to find enough money to pay our service …
On the second leg of their recent eight-day trip, Grand Forks photographer Dave Bruner and his wife, Sheila, stayed in Custer, S.D., and spent time on the Needles Highway. A spectacular 14-mile drive through pine and spruce forests, meadows surrounded by birch and aspen, rugged granite mountains, sharp curves and low tunnels, the road gets its name comes from the needlelike granite …
A lot of people believe that’s there’s nothing better to do on a nice summer night than go to a baseball game. And that’s exactly what Grand Forks photographer Russ Hons did Wednesday night. Here are some of the photos Russ took of the American Legion game between host Grand Forks Post 6 and visiting Fargo Post 2 at Kraft Field …
Bloomington, Minn., photographer Dave Vorland, along with Dorette Kerian and her granddaughter, Avery Dusterhoft, recently returned to the U.S. after a visit to Paris, “the City of Lights” (“la Ville des Lumières”). Dave has been to Paris several times, so he knows his way around quite well, as is evidenced by these beautiful shots, included in the second of two …
We cooked soul food for “cumpnee” Tuesday night. Meat and three — walleye, black-eye peas, green beans, creamed corn and Mama Crook’s cornbread. Salad from our garden. Whenever I cook this menu, I think, of course, of my Mississippi kin from whom I learned much of what I know about cooking. I heated the griddle, slicked up the skillet with bacon grease and …
Most children miss their deceased fathers, especially around Father’s Day. Like them, I miss my dad, Judge Ronald N. Davies. I was sorting through some papers and came across an article by his court reporter and secretary, the late Zona A. McArthur. To my knowledge, this personal account has never been published before. If you like history, you may enjoy …
Cilantro is one of those herbs that doesn’t enjoy the popularity of others such as basil and dill, but for those who like Mexican and Asian cuisine, it ranks right up there on the likability scale. I’ve been hooked on cilantro ever since sampling some salsa several years ago that was made with the lacy green-leaves from the pungently flavored plant in …
Grand Forks photographer Dave Bruner and his wife, Sheila, recently returned from a weeklong vacation, which started with a stay in Medora, N.D., and a visit to Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Here are a few shots of what Dave has tilted “North Dakota Badlands Scenic Images.”
I crossed off another item on my North Dakota bucket list last weekend. With Lillian, her two sisters and her daughter, I hiked to the top of Black Butte, and at the top, promptly declared, to the amusement of the ladies, that I was the oldest person ever to climb to North Dakota’s second-highest point. Well, there was no one …
Back to Red Oak House garden notes for the summer of 2017 in Bismarck. This tree peony given to me by my friend, Bob Martinson, three years ago has become one of my favorites, not only for its yellow beauty but also because it is a symbol of the generosity of a fellow gardener. My sister and I agreed that …
Raptor expert Tim Driscoll and his crew were busy at work Monday, banding new peregrine chicks born on the University of North Dakota water tower, and Grand Forks photographer Russ Hons was there. The chicks, named Chan, Julie and Carl, were carefully placed in a small dog kennel and lowered to the ground for the banding. The parents, Marv and Terminator, were not happy, …
Rising 3,437 feet on the open prairie of Slope County is the magnificent fortress of a mesa known as Black Butte, and this weekend a party made up of my sisters, Sarah and Beckie, my husband, Jim, my daughter, Chelsea, and I hiked to the top. My sisters and I have deep roots in Slope County as many of our …
Grand Forks photography recently took a stroll along the English Coulee in Grand Forks a day after a storm rolled through and captured these spectacular shots.
Saturday was quite the day. If you follow my blogs, you read my take on the re-opening of the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden with a couple of dozen photos. From the Walker event, I went to Westminster Presbyterian Church and continued my artful day with songs in an inaugural event that I hope will multiply throughout this great land of ours. Song: …
What the Cluck! Have we been Cluckolded? No one can convince me that a 10-foot bright blue rooster is more interesting, artistic or pleasing to look at than Claes Oldenburg’s and Coosje van Bruggen’s “Spoonbridge and Cherry.” I’ve loved that sculpture since I first saw it over 20 years ago. And with today’s high 90s temperatures, the water mist that …
I was reminded by an e-mail from a friend that May 31 marked the eighth anniversary of Dr. George Tiller’s assassination. I realized then that it was time for me to finally write about the reality that life is rarely starkly black and white but a palate of grays. I still remember the wail I heard from the cell phone …
Bloomington, Minn., photographer Dave Vorland, along with Dorette Kerian and her granddaughter, Avery Dusterhoft, recently returned to the U.S. after a visit to Paris, “the City of Lights” (“la Ville des Lumières”). Dave has been to Paris several times, so he knows his way around quite well, as is evidenced by these beautiful shots. This is the first of two …
Q: Why — at your advanced age — did you decide to grow a mustache? A: I was asked to. It’s for my role in “Death by Chocolate,” the Fourth annual Firemen’s Ball on July 27 at the Mason Lodge in Grand Forks. It’s a fundraiser for the Fire Hall Theatre. I’ll be playing a detective, and everyone knows all detectives have mustaches. Q: I …
Given where things are headed, I’m preparing the way a humanities scholar prepares. I’m reading accounts of the life and presidency of Richard M. Nixon. I’ll place a short bibliography of books worth reading at the bottom of this essay. The constitutional crisis we are now descending into is either much less grave than Watergate or much, much more serious. …
Surprising as it may seem, I traveled to eastern North Dakota again this week, to take my octogenarian mother to visit her grandsons, Matthew and Michael McLaughlin. She hasn’t been on a road trip for quite some time and was quite excited at the prospect. But first, the drive east. My mother loves to go to thrift stores and when …
Grand Forks photographer Russ Hons and his wife, Paulette, attended the Happy Harry’s Ribfest in Fargo on Thursday night at the Fargodome. There were over a dozen different places to eat, all serving their own flavor of barbecue. Ribfest is a people watchers’ dream as Russ found out. Here are some of the shots he took of the crowd and the …
Here are some of Grand Forks photographer Michael Bogert’s latest outdoor shots, taken over the past week or so.
I shot this photo in Monday of a professional dog walker in the Bois du Boulogne, the large park on the edge of Paris, which figures in Marcel Proust’s novel, “A La Recherche Du Temps Perdu.” Over my lifetime, I’ve read this work more than once in English translation (all 3,031 pages in seven volumes), and some of it in …
Went to the Apple Creek wetlands east of Bismarck on Sunday morning to bird with my daughter, Chelsea Sorenson. She is a budding photographer and quite a good birder in her own right. May was such a windy month here that we didn’t do much birding; hence, we missed many of the migrating birds that hurry north to the Arctic. But …
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 …