What is right with people?
Pandemic Division
The Hastings Crazy Quilter: “Subject: Kick Covid-19 to the Curb!
“My grandmother was born in 1896. She was a young mother when the 1918 flu pandemic hit. I heard her talk about it only once, when she said it was grim living through it and harsh and depressing afterwards because so many families were ripped apart. That and the Great Depression, which came a decade later, affected her the rest of her life, but not in a way which you’d expect.
Life (and death) as we know it (Coronavirus Division)
Including: Our birds, ourselves
The Divine Mum of Crocus Hill: “Subject: ‘But when we are ready, we must pick ourselves up so that we can be a light for others to follow.’
“A beautiful essay from a childhood friend. She gave me permission to share”:
“Today we had a female cardinal fly into the window, and she died from her injuries. For at least a half-hour, her mate hopped around her frantically pecking at her, trying to wake her up. After a while, I could no longer watch his desperation. I had to look away for a few minutes to wrap my head around this all too common tragedy. After about an hour, I went back to the window and saw that the male cardinal was no longer there. She was alone in the rain. Nature’s tears were descending, and I could not help touching my face as I wiped away my own.
We wish you good health (physical and mental) this fine Sunday.
Here are a few glimpses of more-ordinary times.
Contributor: Eleanor Foster Nessel of Stacy
Date of picture: 1934
Date of contribution: Unknown
Caption: “In the year 1934, during the Depression, we were happy to have some outdoor activities, as money was scarce for entertainment.
Have wheels, will travel.
Contributor: Norman (Bud) Spooner of St. Paul
Date of picture: March 5, 1931
Date of contribution: 2011
Caption: “Back to the future and the good old days:
The Permanent Family Record
Saturday email from DebK of Rosemount: “A few years back, somebody virtuous recommended the Lenten discipline of avoiding trips to the grocery store by preparing meals as much as possible from the contents of one’s home freezer and pantry. I’ve nibbled around the edges of this plan for half a decade, but this year I’ve taken on the challenge wholeheartedly. The timing could hardly be better, given the current national preoccupation with staying ‘to home,’ as Grandma Bobzien would’ve put it.
With the schools closed, and almost everything thinking of nothing but health:
Contributor: Doris Walima (“one of the Johnson girls”)
Date of picture: 1943-44
Date of contribution: Unknown
Caption: “I have been enjoying looking at all the old pictures you have put in your paper about the Old Days.
As the schools of Minnesota prepare to close for a while . . . we look backward to simpler (if not always happier) times:
Contributor: Jay Kuehn of Oakdale
Date of picture: May 1941
Date of contribution: Unknown Continue reading “The little treasures (Volume 12)”
