Our family’s first transistor radio was the coolest thing I’d ever seen. I didn’t know what a transistor was but this radio had six of them so it had to be good. My folks got it for free when they bought some furniture at a store in Bloomington. An airport runway now occupies that spot. … Continue reading "We’ve Come a Long Way from Transistor Radios"

Every new year always starts out dark, at least in these parts. You have to live south of the equator to have summer in January. This year and the last two have had the additional shadow of Covid, making it seem even darker. If it were a movie, we might call 2022 “Covid Year III, … Continue reading "Looking for Light in Winter’s Darkness"

I will soon become a published author, sort of. Every Monday over the past year I have received an email message with a new question for me to answer. It’s part of a birthday gift I received from daughter Clara last January. The intent is for me to answer the questions in as much detail … Continue reading "Writing My Story for the Kids These Days"

The pandemic has affected our two cats. No, they haven’t actually had COVID. At least we don’t think so. How would you even test them? Certainly not with a long swab up their nostrils. Good luck with that. They have just been acting a bit differently lately. Well, cats naturally do weird stuff. Those of … Continue reading "Coronavirus Culture Confounding to Cats"

Thanksgiving as a kid meant turkey. What else mattered? I mean, really, Thanksgiving was kind of boring for a kid. Yeah, we got an extra-long weekend but most years there still wasn’t enough snow to go sliding. And Christmas, which really meant something, was still an eternity away. We were reminded to think of all … Continue reading "Thanksgiving Was Always About The Food"

A bright sun in a cloudless early morning sky created an almost blinding burst of yellow from the birch trees behind our house. It was November 1. So much for the brown, boring fall predicted for this autumn due to the ongoing drought. Timely rains around here may have helped. Maybe climate change had something … Continue reading "Autumn Beauty Foretells Winter Prep"

The scariest costume I can imagine this Halloween is that of an unvaccinated person. But, of course, there is no costume that makes you look like an unvaccinated person. They look exactly like vaccinated people. Catherine and I are immunized. I’ve even had the Pfizer booster. Catherine is waiting to get the Moderna booster. But … Continue reading "Fearsome Forecast For a Haunted Halloween"

When I was old enough to venture downtown on my bike, one of my friends introduced me to the “junk drawer” at Ernie’s Pure Oil gas station on Plum St. (now Joe’s Mobil). Whether it was for a washer, nut, screw or bolt, there was a good chance you could find what you needed if … Continue reading "Spare Parts in the Junk Drawer"

I’ve ridden my bike so much around town this spring and summer that I’m probably now known as The Creepy Bike Guy. You can easily identify me. I’m the old guy on the electric bike with turn signals, wearing white crew socks, old shorts and a ratty T-shirt. Looking that fashionable, I wonder why women … Continue reading "Observations of the Creepy Bike Guy"

Candy, pop and 10-cent toys were on my mind every time I passed our neighborhood grocery store at the top of Centennial Street in the East End of Red Wing. Nearly every neighborhood in Red Wing had its own grocery store at one time or another. They were important in a growing community and even … Continue reading "The Grocery Store We Called Our Own"