Category: Reminiscence

IMPRESSIONS

JANUARY 14, 2023 – Memory: I’m fascinated by the details it holds amidst a vast ocean of time, images, encounters and impressions. Take for example, the exact words of Mr. Cavanaugh in social studies class my freshman year of high school: “If you analyze people, you lose them.” More details: He wore a tweed jacket …

THE GAMES PEOPLE PLAY

JANUARY 3, 2023 – When it came to games at our family cabin, my two older sisters led the way, as they did in most endeavors. From an early age, I lost to my smarter elders at War, Go to the Dump, regular checkers, and Chinese checkers—the games of choice, because they were the only …

‘TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS

DECEMBER 24, 2022 – Grandpa Nilsson was a fairly serious guy, though he often kidded my sisters and me and laughed at his own jokes. At Christmas he injected a bit of scatological levity into the spirit of things. “’Twas the night before Christmas,” he’d say, “when all through the house, not a creature was …

AN AMERICAN “CHRISTMAS” TRADITION

DECEMBER 8, 2022 – I’m not a religious person, but I like Christmas for all its traditions, religious and secular. My personal Christmas music traditions are: 1. Playing by ear on the piano, four or five traditional carols; and 2. While working on my laptop, listening to various YouTube versions of Handel’s Messiah. I know …

BECOMING MY PARENTS

DECEMBER 2, 2022 – It was inevitable: becoming my parents. Though we boomers like to deny it, “becoming our parents” isn’t an isolated phenomenon. If you think otherwise, search YouTube for “Progressive commercials on becoming your parents.” Before you know it, you’ll watch and laugh so hard at half a dozen of the ads, you’ll …

BIG WATER (CONCLUSION)

NOVEMBER 30, 2022 – (Cont.) Once we’d landed on the island, Dad and I started pulling gear out of the canoe. No map. We pulled more stuff out. Still no map. I don’t remember Dad swearing out loud over the missing map, but I was bracing myself for a “damn!”—the one expletive I’d heard him …

BIG WATER (PART IV)

NOVEMBER 29, 2022 – (Cont.) Dad put extra peanut butter in our sandwiches, since our rained-out breakfast had left us hungry. I remember walking around, eating my sandwich and holding a cookie, as I admired the lofty Norway pines that encircled our landing spot. In the short time of our lunch break, however, a breeze …

BIG WATER (PART III)

NOVEMBER 28, 2022 – (Cont.) Twenty-five years later—in 1957—Dad returned to the Boundary Waters with Mother and two friends, Carl and Doris Sand. My younger sister, Jenny, went along for the ride. From the single photograph I remember of the expedition, Mother and Jenny, at least, wore a life jacket—the same one: Mother was six …

BIG WATER (PART II)

NOVEMBER 27, 2022 – (Cont.) Although “Big Water” Grindstone Lake warrants a “noticeable blue dot” on a modest map of the United States, its configuration (basically oval, but in detail it’s like a Pilgrim’s shoe in profile) is such that you can’t get lost on it—at least for long. If you find your way into …

MIRACLE MEAL MEMORIES

NOVEMBER 14, 2022 – We’ve long been graced with Miracle Whip—for 90 years, to be exact, since the cheaper alternative to mayonnaise made its debut at the Century of Progress World’s Fair in Chicago in 1933. When I was a kid, Miracle Whip was a staple in our pantry. A coordinate miracle, I discovered, was …

GARAGE FLOOR LETTER (PART II)

NOVEMBER 10, 2022 – (Cont.) According to a story my dad later told, however, George Campbell was as thrifty as my Swedish grandmother was frugal. One fall day when the Campbells were closing up their cabin for the season, George hiked over through the woods to offer my grandmother a leftover, half-stick of butter wrapped …

GARAGE FLOOR LETTER AS ATTIC TRUNK (PART I)

NOVEMBER 9, 2022 – The directive was clear. Soon after Beth had left this morning in search of more inventory for her online-used book sales, she sent me a text: “Could you please try and get your car in the garage today.” Implicit was the sub-directive (or was it the main directive?): clear out all …

HALLOWEEN HORROR . . . AND A TRIGGERED MEMORY

OCTOBER 31, 2022 – When I heard about the horrible incident in Seoul last Saturday, it stirred a terrifying memory. Exactly 22 years ago, our family was in Seoul on a tour with a half dozen other families with adopted, Korean-born kids. It was the trip of a lifetime, and we saw many wonderful sights, …

GREATNESS

SEPTEMBER 28, 2022 – When I was a kid, I was inspired by “great people” whose reputations had withstood the test of time. As I dreamed about my future, I wanted to strive for “greatness” in the way that George Washington or Abraham Lincoln had achieved that status. Yet, I sensed that “greatness” transcended the …

CAMPING SUPPLIES (FOR REAL, THIS TIME)

AUGUST 20, 2022 – Blogger’s note: The gracious reader will accept my apologies for the poor self-editing of yesterday’s post. The explanation (versus excuse) is that our hyper-imaginative granddaughter was under our day-long charge. Among her plays, musical performances, story-telling, painting sessions, and backyard expeditions, all of which required audience/spectator participation, I assembled very few …

MEN’S SHOES (PART I OF II)

AUGUST 6, 2022 – I once read that “shoes make the man.” Throughout life I’ve observed this fashion principle in practice. The first example was my dad. He owned several pairs of high-end dress shoes—shells and wingtips—and at an early age I noticed his treads more than his threads; doubtless because at two, I stood …