Keep your eyes open for sure signs of spring in the Northland. Here’s one!

NOTE TO READERS: We are going to take a week or so off, and will resume posting your stories and pictures next week. Keep ’em coming, please. And in the meantime, enjoy the spring; it’s finally here (and the mosquitoes aren’t, yet). Count our blessings!

Our theater of seasons
Or: Where we live

Dr. Chrysanthemum: “Subject: A sign of the times, April 22, 2018.

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“A man, wearing shorts, carrying an ice auger across Lake Johanna.”

Continue reading “Keep your eyes open for sure signs of spring in the Northland. Here’s one!”

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Still-life, with family (horses included!), one century later.

The Permanent Family Record

Triple-the-Fun in Lakeville: “The photo of the farmer with his horses submitted by Mike Whisler of Eagan (in the April 14 BB) reminded me of a family photo I have.

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Continue reading “Still-life, with family (horses included!), one century later.”

Could the Great Minnesota Get-Together help the snow melt faster?

Our theater of seasons
Leading to: The great comebacks (Photographic Division)

Late-Sunday-evening email from Gregory J. of Dayton ‘s Bluff: “While I was outside shoveling snow for the third time today, I remembered something our friendly TV meteorologists like to do when our spring weather gets challenging. For some reason, they believe that telling us that the sun angle and intensity at a given time in spring are the same as at a certain time in summer will make us feel better. For example, the mid-April sun is equivalent to the late-August sun. While my brain knows this is true, the rest of me feels no comfort from the comparison.

“However, the mention of late August means something special to many people: the Minnesota State Fair. And what is one thing we never, ever see at the ‘The Great Minnesota Get-Together?’ Snow!

Continue reading “Could the Great Minnesota Get-Together help the snow melt faster?”

Sure, Crabby Grandma was crabby . . . but she had a heck of an eye for color, and she made some wild hats!

The Permanent Family Record

The Gram With a Thousand Rules writes: “My mother always looked for the best in everyone . . . and oh, how she used to search to find nice things to say about my Crabby Grandma.

Continue reading “Sure, Crabby Grandma was crabby . . . but she had a heck of an eye for color, and she made some wild hats!”

Life with Grandpa: remembering a childhood of cardigans and coal furnaces, rocking horses and horseradish sauce.

Gee, our old La Salle ran great!
Coal Furnaces Division (cont.)

joegolfer writes: “The recent coal-furnace stories have been reminding me of my grandpa.

Continue reading “Life with Grandpa: remembering a childhood of cardigans and coal furnaces, rocking horses and horseradish sauce.”

Hey, kids! Remember that time we almost saw Mount Rushmore?

Nature calling! (responsorial)

Gabby: “Subject: Memories came flooding back.

“DebK of Rosemount’s friend Gardengoddess wrote about their drive to California when she was a child in the ’50s: up in the morning, drive all day, eating in the car, no time to stop to pee, and had to pee in a cup. (Wonder what they did for number 2?)

Continue reading “Hey, kids! Remember that time we almost saw Mount Rushmore?”

It’s April. It’s Minnesota. Is that how T.S. Eliot came up with that nonsense about “the cruelest month”?

Our theater of seasons
Photography Division

Wayne Nelson of Forest Lake: “I woke up this morning after our big snowfall and looked out the window. The sun was shining brightly, and I had to capture the new fresh snow on the trees with all the shadows in the snow.”

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Continue reading “It’s April. It’s Minnesota. Is that how T.S. Eliot came up with that nonsense about “the cruelest month”?”