North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum may not have been in politics very long, but he has learned the No. 1 rule already: Politics is the art of compromise. To that end, the governor DID NOT veto the section of North Dakota House Bill 1020, which now that it is law, legalizes the issuance of industrial water permits from the Little Missouri …
We took a tuk tuk to Takeo. Takeo, a province south of Phnom Penh, is not only the location of a spot Jen was scouting as a possible end of the year retreat for the YAGM volunteers, it was also the home province of our friend and tuk tuk driver, Me-an’s wife’s family. So when Jen arranged with him to …
Sometimes a friend can jolt you into his reality. I was having that kind of conversation with a lifelong friend … someone with whom I rarely discuss politics. I didn’t know what his politics were until we had this talk. My wake-up call was loud and clear. Before I get into the subject, I think it’s best to validate my …
The picture above of Ginny and me was taken on a pretty cold day, as I recall, a little more than 40 years ago in downtown Grand Forks. Yes, it’s our engagement picture. Yes, we’ve been married for nearly 40 years. And yes, I know, I married “up.” Virtually every man does in my opinion. When the topic of our anniversary came up with my …
When I moved back to North Dakota in 2005, I determined to plant a vegetable garden. I moved back to the Great Plains just in case the world collapsed and when it did, I wanted to be near farm country — where I could, like “The Martian,” grow just enough potatoes to survive. The moment I got all the boxes …
“Wash every bowl, every dish, as if you are bathing the baby Buddha — breathing in, feeling joy, breathing out, smiling. Every minute can be a holy, sacred minute. Where do you seek the spiritual? You seek the spiritual in every ordinary thing that you do every day. Sweeping the floor, watering the vegetables, and washing the dishes becomes hold and …
Bloomington, Minn., photographer Dave Vorland captured these images in the Twin Cities the past couple of months, ranging from wildlife to landscape and celestial sights.
Today was all about Communion. Our morning began very early, before the sun had even considered rising, as we needed to take a journey back to Phnom Penh following the wedding the previous night. The journey had been about four hours in our minibus, but the return trip in our taxi was slightly under three, getting us to Phnom Penh about 8 …
There is an old proverb that states, “You can’t put the cart before the horse.” But metaphorically speaking, this happens quite often in youth sports. Parents preoccupied with their kids getting scholarships or playing professionally is an obvious example. But when the primary focus is on these long-range goals instead of playing for the sheer joy of it, expectations of …
Grand Forks photographer Dave Bruner and his wife, Sheila, decided to take a ride out to the countryside Saturday to look for old barns and farmsteads. Here is what he found, some interesting old buildings with wispy clouds above that looked good in a black-and-white format.
I never went to prom. However, at the age of 53, I did attend a Cambodian wedding celebration, which I believe goes one step better. In order to attend the wedding, and be properly respectful, the first order of business was getting a Cambodian dress. That was easier said than done, however, because the Cambodian people are small and I …
Marina Marzolino’s two-run homer was all the University of North Dakota women’s softball team needed to defeat Portland State University 2-0 in Big Sky Conference action Saturday at Apollo Field in Grand Forks. The Fighting Hawks picked up their 21st win of the season, breaking the program’s Division I record for single-season wins, running their record to 21-29 (7-10 in Big Sky). PSU …
Happy 85th birthday, Nancy Drew! My mother owned all of the Nancy Drew books. Her parents starting purchasing these for her when she was a girl, and she continued to purchase the books for my sister, Sarah, and I. I whiled away many hours reading each and every one, curled up in some quiet corner in our farmhouse, and I …
Last Saturday around noon, I turned onto a narrow street near my home in Fort Worth, Texas, but had to pull over almost immediately. I had happened onto the beginning of the March for Science that was headed down the same street in the other direction. But it was hardly an imposition because I had in fact been curious about …
The University of North Dakota women’s softball team gained a split in a Big Sky Conference doubleheader with Portland State University on Friday at Apollo Field in Grand Forks, winning the second game 6-4 after falling 5-0 in the 10-inning opener. The Fighting Hawks closed their season with a 20-29 (6-10 in Big Sky) record, tying the program’s Division I …
Take a look at the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul, which has been undergoing a comprehensive preservation effort since 2013, the first since it opened in 1905. The Capitol Restoration Project returns the Capitol to architect Cass Gilbert’s original 1905 vision. There will be new and expanded space, for public use, tours and school educational programs. After 100 years of …
Dear Gov. Burgum, Let me quote from the conservation easement you signed for some ranchland you and your friends own in southwest North Dakota’s Bad Lands six years ago: “The Protected Property possesses agricultural, scenic, and historic, and cultural values. The Protected Property is located in the heart of the only Ponderosa pine forest in North Dakota, south of Teddy …
Petrichor: The smell in the air before or as rain falls on hot, dry, stony ground (petra = stone; ichor = divine fluid. As defined by one of my favorite authors, Robert Macfarlane, on his Twitter account. Word of the Day March 18, 2017 by Robert Macfarlane I love this word and I love the smell. My first memory of recognition …
Grand Forks photographer Dave Bruner went out a few hours during the late spring snowstorm Wednesday and captured some scenes from “hopefully our last snow for spring!”
A while ago, I read the 887-page third volume of historian Rick Atkinson’s liberation trilogy, the Pulitzer Prize-winning “The Guns at Last Light: The War in Western Europe, 1944-1945.” I highly recommend it to those interested in the history of World War II. Just last night, I finished the first volume, “An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa, …
Pour, Water, Tamp, Mix, Tamp… His name is Dennis. Five years of living 60 or 70 yards away, just over the backyard fence, I really should’ve known that already. I stood on his front step, shaking his hand and explaining that the posts that should’ve been holding up a couple of sections of our shared fence had rotted out. He’d …
There’s no doubt that Americans are in love with red meat. Ever since the early times of the United States, red meat has been one of the top five foods consumed by Americans. But the love affair between Americans and red meat has hit a roadblock in recent years. Several studies have pointed out that a diet high in red meat …
With anticipation and excitement this morning, I headed to the celebration marking the Minnesota Department of Human Rights 50th Anniversary celebration in the new multimillion dollar renovated House of the People. I went with my husband, Arnie Bigbee, one of the state’s champions for Human Rights who helped Edina pass the first suburb’s Domestic Partnership Ordinance seven years ago when …
My cousin, Ron Bowman, and his wife, Marsha, and their siblings have been tapping about 190 trees for the past eight years in an 80-acre forest not far from La Farm in rural Ashby, Minn. But this year was not a good year, according to Ron. They started tapping in February. “It started early, got too cold, our trees never …
The Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival is under way, with more than 350 movies being shown over 16 days at several venues. If I could do it over, I’d work in the movie industry as a writer or technical professional. I still recall a movie I saw as a North Dakota farm kid, “The Bridges at Toko-Ri,” starring William …
It’s easy, in the face of atrocities, to want to look the other way. That’s what went through my mind today as I stared at skull upon skull stacked 18 levels high at the Killing Fields Memorial Site, or as I listened to the audio descriptions of torture as I walked through Tuol Sleng Prison, the Genocide Museum. It would …
Fake news is a phrase that wasn’t uttered in April 1997 when the Red River swamped the neighborhoods of Grand Forks, N.D., and East Grand Forks, Minn. When my Grand Forks Herald colleagues and I reported on the devastating flood damage and the fire that ravaged 11 downtown Grand Forks buildings, nobody took to social media to attack our news …
Attorney General Jeff Sessions is amazed that a judge “sitting on an island in the Pacific” can issue an order blocking POTUS 45’s travel ban. He then opines the president has the constitutional authority to act as he did. As attorney general of the United States, Sessions has taken an oath to uphold the constitution and lawful court orders. He …
Our Cuban Family is the second photo exhibit I have from the 5,000-plus photos I took on a trip with 12 other Westminster Presbyterian Church (1200 Marquette Ave.) members a couple of months ago. This exhibit opens in the Westminster Gallery on Sunday with a noon reception following the 10:30 a.m. church service. I will speak very briefly as will a …
Today is the 70th anniversary of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. This heartfelt and strongly worded op-ed piece by my dear friend, and the former superintendent of the park, Valerie Naylor, is a great read for today’s occasion. Holding true to Theodore Roosevelt’s Vision at Theodore Roosevelt National Park Please “do what you can, where you are, with what you have” for …
I renewed my membership in the Hemingway Society the other day and jotted down the location and dates of its next international meeting — in Paris in 2018. I may not get there, but I WILL continue to buy new books about Ernest Hemingway and his art. You’d never guess he’s been dead for more than half a century. Unlike …
Jim and I spent Earth Day 2017 working in our yard in the dee-lightful spring sunshine. We might have joined the marches for science around the country, but the yard work beckoned. I remember very clearly the first Earth Day in 1970. We got out of school that day to pick up trash in the ditch along state Highway 12 …
There are two or three days left in the legislative session. A lot of bad things are going to happen to North Dakota in that short period of time. I’ve been watching every legislative session since 1975, and this one is by far the most irresponsible I’ve seen. One of the worst things that could happen this week is the industrialization …
You don’t have to go to western North Dakota to catch a good glimpse of wildlife. Just ask Grand Forks photographer Michael Bogert, who never seems to come up empty when searching his favorite Red River Valley haunts — including Kellys Slough National Wildlife Refuge — for watchable wildlife.
I took the above picture in 2006 of Sentinel Butte, N.D. Its population today is 61 compared to 229 in the early 1950s, when our family lived there for several months. The town is a few miles west of Medora, which in those days was not yet much of a tourist attraction. Neither was Theodore Roosevelt National Park, which had …
Grand Forks photographer Russ Hons and his wife, Paulette, took a trip to Medora, N.D., over the weekend. While there, they spent much of the time checking out the wildlife and the scenery in Theodore Roosevelt National Park. According to Russ, “I love this place!” What’s not to love? (Check out more photos from Russ Hons here.)
As a member of the Drive-By, Fake News, Pinko, Socialist, Leftist, Apologist, UnAmerican, Blame-America-First, Liberal Media, I have been checking my mailbox for the interrogation letter U.S. Rep. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., sent out the other day to suspected enemies of the state — you know, ABC, CBS and NBC. He is concerned about the liberal slant of facts. Kevin, he’s …
Edina, Minn., photographer Barbara La Valleur and her husband, Arnie Bigbee, spend a lot of time at her family’s farm, appropriately named La Farm, near Ashby, Minn. A recent foggy morning provided her with this amazing photo op.
Because I promised my friend Marilyn I would share with her the photos of my Navajo rugs, I’m writing this blog. It’s just easier. I must confess that I feel a little like it is bragging, but, if nothing else, it is documentation for my loved ones. My husband Jim and I have a lifetime’s worth of Native American art …
People who routinely bake a ham for a holiday meal usually don’t have any questions when it comes to leftovers. Ham or ham and cheese sandwiches are near the top of my list as well as a macaroni salad, the kind that might be served after a funeral. I also just like to nibble on a piece of ham as a …
This past weekend, Grand Forks photographer Dave Bruner and his wife, Sheila, did a short road trip and ended up at the Grand Forks Air Force Base. According to Dave: “Had nice clouds in air, so we walked around photographing and looking at the planes on display by the front entrance of the base.”
Well, Thursday and today I have learned I did not ask enough questions of my doctors about treating gout. Partly my fault — the specialist is a very busy guy, and I did not think to go back to my family physician and find out about ongoing inexpensive meds to keep the gout at bay once I have whipped it with …
And, Please, No More “Republican Lite” Byron Dorgan once got my ass kicked. That’s not literally true, of course. I can’t remember the name of the kid who actually trounced me in a back alley half a block from Jamestown (N.D.) Junior High when I was in the seventh grade, but it did start with our future senator. It was …
Finally, a gardening book for our area! “Successful Gardening on the Northern Prairie” is on its way from the printer, and features 326 pages of information specifically for us. Learn how our soils are different from most of the rest of the country’s and what you can do about it. Learn about the only two fertilizers (very cheap) you will …