Summer continues to offer up its bounty, and now it provides wild black raspberries. My wife discovered a few patches of these black and purple gems near our house here in southern Minnesota. Two evenings ago we took our daughter along and did some picking. Read the rest of this entry »

Soccer truly is a beautiful game. And at the World Cup it is even more beautiful. With its expansive green “pitch,” or field; its lack of commercials; its unfamiliar and colorful uniforms; its many ethnicities with their different appearances and names; its display of remarkable athletic skill; its powerful crowd noise in the background - with all this, soccer is a great, truly global sport. Only the Olympics come as close as the World Cup to being a truly worldwide event. Read the rest of this entry »

I’m in the process of making some changes to the design of this blog, with the assistance of web designer and developer Michael Blaha, whose firm is called Organic Arts. Most conspicuously, Michael and I have designed a new Northern Letter logo, seen above. It includes a simple north star, appropriate given that Minnesota’s motto is “L’étoile du nord” - French for “star of the north.”  Read the rest of this entry »

I had high expectations for this movie. As a longtime fan of Garrison Keillor, particularly his radio monologues and his humorous books Happy to Be Here and Lake Wobegon Days, I was disappointed by the movie version of A Prairie Home Companion. Directed by Robert Altman and written by Keillor, the film has talent behind it, a pleasantly sentimental streak, and some nice moments, but it doesn’t quite fly. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s been a busy time since my last post over a week ago. My wife’s mother and brother came into town and we made our first trip to my family’s cabin in northwestern Wisconsin. My in-laws hail from warmer climes, and the weather on their arrival reinforced their image of the Upper Midwest as a cold place. It was 41 degrees on the morning of Saturday, June 10, and we had to turn the furnace on. Every night of the weekend featured a fire in the fireplace. Read the rest of this entry »

We’ve heard a lot about environmental problems in China, but U.S. News & World Report has published an encouraging article on China’s efforts to develop renewable energy. This enormous and fast-growing country appears to be mandating renewable energy in a much more aggressive way than we are. Read the rest of this entry »

Last Thursday, June 1, my wife and I took a mini-vacation and drove up to the Twin Cities to hear a concert by the Twin Cities band The Hopefuls (formerly the Olympic Hopefuls). They were the first band to perform in Mill City Live, a free summer series at the Mill City Museum. I can recommend the series and the venue. Read the rest of this entry »

We’ve been enjoying wonderful weather here in my corner of the Upper Midwest. After having some early oppressive heat in late May, with high temperatures in the 90s, things have cooled off into the 80s, with nights in the 50s or 60s. Early summer is a wonderful time. Read the rest of this entry »