Down on the Farm

It was a moment seared into the minds of long-time Vikings fans: On November 7, 1976, the talented but star-crossed Vikings played the Detroit Lions. Legendary quarterback Fran Tarkenton flung...

Columnist Val Farmer wrote a column published last week listing the advantages of rural life. Trust, long-term friendships, community traditions, volunteerism, conversation, concern for those in crisis were amongst the...

Life on and near the swamp this spring has been dominated by hard-working rodents. The big gray squirrel has solved the puzzle of one "squirrel proof" bird feeder and is...

Whenever I hear somebody suggest listening to a song because "it has a great message," I cringe, no matter if the song is a call to protest or a summons...

Early settlers built their settlements on rivers because that's where the power was for milling the crops. The larger rivers also provided transportation to ship the goods to market. Now,...

As storm after March storm rumbles through the area, people inevitably blame the weather forecasters for both the weather that comes and that which doesn't. So much just depends. It...

Are books going the way of the horse and buggy? Traditionalists may scoff, but the future of printed and bound books doesn't look good. After all, when you can carry...

While president of Princeton University, Woodrow Wilson asked a group of alumni a provocative question: Would Abraham Lincoln have been a better president if he had been college-educated? Wilson answered...

Last week, I sat down for a comforting dinner of baked chicken, escalloped potatoes and delicious bread pudding at a senior center over 100 miles from home. I didn't know...

During my last week in Arizona, I attended a spring training baseball game in Scottsdale. The game between the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies, two teams about which I know...

Everybody has their horror story about unions.

Last Monday, we celebrated President's Day. It caused me to reflect upon some of the characters we've elected to lead us over the years. One character in particular was really...

World-class violinist Joshua Bell played at Centennial Hall just a few blocks down the street in Tucson last weekend. Bell doesn't just play a mean fiddle. He is also a...

My great-uncle Burnett Bergeson passed away in Reno, Nev., last week at the ripe old age of 95. A member of the Minnesota House of Representatives from 1954-1962, Uncle Burnett...

Tucson is surrounded by four mountain ranges, one in each direction. The city is sandwiched between the two halves of beautiful Saguaro National Park. Coronado National Forest lies to the...