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Don’t worry, they’re just dangerous parasites
Birch trees are nature’s version of that guy you know strung like a trip wire for any good excuse to start wearing shorts again. It’s not about temperature. It’s about attitude. Anyway, it actually is warm now and the birches have already donned light green, pale trunks shining in the sun. Trees of all colors and ages…
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The mighty power of the freshwater seas
In Northern Minnesota, one’s eyes simply adjust to seeing the Canadian flag alongside the Stars and Stripes. Whether it started as a diplomatic favor, or a ploy to pull in Canadian tourists, the practice shows no signs of changing. The pep bands learn “O, Canada” and it’s widely understood that we have a lot more…
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The Iron Range is dead; long live the Range
“The king is dead; long live the king.” This saying from the height of European monarchies meant when the person at a nation’s helm physically died, the title lived on with the next person in the royal line. Massive change could be seen as mere progression. This simple continuity kept order even at a time…
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On wilderness
This week the ice retreated from the lake. Hard-blowing southern winds warmed the jackets off our backs before knocking over the driveway basketball hoop just hours after we set it up. Colorful birds, fresh off winging 2,000 miles, flitted through our old trees, considered the scene, moved on. When you live in the woods of…
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Eat the exercise, drink the burn
If exercise were a food or drink, I would want more of it. It makes me feel great. It helps me function better around other people. My clothes fit more comfortably and I have more energy. But I can’t eat exercise, nor can I chug it from a brown paper sack. So when the time…
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Ma Peep and the way things are
“It ain’t easy being no Peep,” she said. She puffed a jelly bean flavored e-cigaratte on the porch of the large cardboard box her family has lived in since last March. “Things come harder for me, fo’ sho. I went up the doctor’s office, nurse says to me ‘I need a vein.’ I says I…
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Chaos Theory reigns in global iron ore war
I must admit, somewhat sheepishly, that I first learned about the mathematical concept of Chaos Theory not from exhaustive graduate study, but from Jeff Goldblum in the movie “Jurassic Park.” To quote his character, the wry Dr. Ian Malcam, always quick with a cynical retort amid encroaching dinosaurs, “A butterfly can flap it’s wings in…
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The forgotten dome city of Northern Minnesota
One of the most compelling aspects of studying history are the “what-ifs” of our past. In our personal lives “what-ifs” can drive us mad — “What if I?” “Why didn’t she? If only he” — but in the abstract “what-ifs” make for enjoyable party talk. Since I don’t go to parties (I have children) I’ll…
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The wheels on the bus go on your phone
Each morning, out on the dirt road by our house deep in the Northern Minnesota wilds, I wait for the bus with my elementary school-aged boys. It’s a special time for reflection, conversation and encouragement. We build the special bond between father and sons. I wouldn’t trade those first five minutes of the day for…
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Live to sauna; sauna to live
Merriam-Webster’s dictionary defines sauna as “a Finnish steam bath in which the steam is provided by water thrown on hot stones; also: a bathhouse or room used for such a bath.” Now research suggests that sauna might also be the ticket to a longer, healthier life. Back in 2013, I wrote about the traditional Nordic/Finnish sauna (pronounced “sow-na”) as a…
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Minnesota will take you back
With the notable exception of Minnesota Lynx WNBA fans, most who follow our state’s professional sports teams survive on memories of competitive Twins, Vikings, Timberwolves and North Stars squads. They must, in order to tolerate those same franchises, or their grammatically incorrect replacements (I’m looking at you, “The Minnesota Wild”) today. Last year’s Minnesota Twins…
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Time to retire state’s ‘flag by committee’
If you ask folks to name something about the Minnesota state flag, most would remark “It’s blue.” And, for the most part, it is blue. With some gobbledegook in the middle. Now, perhaps you’ve spent some time looking closer at that gobbledegook, enough time to realize that it looks like one of those old newspaper…
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Glowing green mystery in the skies above Hibbing
Twilight fell upon an unusually cold day on March 28, 1950. Amid the dirty snow piles of downtown Hibbing, Minnesota, a short, thin, properly-dressed podiatrist pushing 40 and his wife, four years his junior, walked down Howard Street near the office where they would both work most of their lives. They looked up at the…
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The seasonal alchemy of frozen septics
Modern heating technology and time-tested knowhow makes living in Northern Minnesota much easier than it was for our ancestors. Sure, the harsh winter conditions might cause a few angry comments on social media (we get it, your face hurts). True, the cold creates real danger in certain situations, especially if people fail to wear adequate clothing or face other…
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Tomassoni can’t have it both ways with RAMS job
If you haven’t heard yet, the duly elected State Senator from the Iron Range, David Tomassoni (DFL-Chisholm), recently announced he would take a job as Executive Director of the Range Association of Municipalities and Schools (RAMS) while continuing to serve in the Senate. RAMS is a public influence group that helps Range cities and schools…