Wednesday, May 12, 2010. Sorry about this: I came down with something late Monday, slept most of Tuesday, and thought I'd have a Sauk Centre Journal entry done today. I was wrong.
I hope you'll bear with me: There should be something here, by late Thursday. That's what I'm planning, anyway.
Showing posts with label Sauk Centre Journal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sauk Centre Journal. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Winter Storm: Not the Washington D.C. One
Sauk Centre, Minnesota, and Washington, District of Columbia, have at least one thing in common: we're both dealing with winter weather.
I wasn't be able to update the Sauk Centre Journal page today, and may not have an update there until Wednesday. If then.
Meanwhile, it looks like schools in the area will be starting late tomorrow.
Sauk Centre's first on-the-street webcam (as far as I know) should continue giving you a look at the corner of South Ash Street and 9th: "Small Town America: Central Minnesota."
I wasn't be able to update the Sauk Centre Journal page today, and may not have an update there until Wednesday. If then.
Meanwhile, it looks like schools in the area will be starting late tomorrow.
Sauk Centre's first on-the-street webcam (as far as I know) should continue giving you a look at the corner of South Ash Street and 9th: "Small Town America: Central Minnesota."
Monday, October 12, 2009
Back in Sauk Centre - and Glad of It.
As I noted in another blog, I'm back in Sauk Centre - and it's good to be home.
My plan is to look around tomorrow and Wednesday, and get back to the regular Sauk Centre Journal schedule. Thanks for your patience!
My plan is to look around tomorrow and Wednesday, and get back to the regular Sauk Centre Journal schedule. Thanks for your patience!
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
All About Not Much to Report
Apart from the observation that it's finally feeling like fall, today's entry is the sort of thing I write when I don't have all that much to report.
I was out of town yesterday, Tuesday, spent much of Monday getting ready for a funeral, and a remarkable portion of today experiencing the emotional after-effects. That, and a bit of a fever.
I've had perkier days.
And, somehow, I didn't fit in the usual look-around-town time in. Not when I had a camera or a notebook along, that is.
Too bad, since there's a few things I saw that I want to cover.
Not bringing a camera along, when I took the family van to the shop, shows how distracted I've been, what with one thing or another.
Well, tomorrow's another day, and I'm rather hoping that nothing too dramatic happens.
I was out of town yesterday, Tuesday, spent much of Monday getting ready for a funeral, and a remarkable portion of today experiencing the emotional after-effects. That, and a bit of a fever.
I've had perkier days.
And, somehow, I didn't fit in the usual look-around-town time in. Not when I had a camera or a notebook along, that is.
Too bad, since there's a few things I saw that I want to cover.
Not bringing a camera along, when I took the family van to the shop, shows how distracted I've been, what with one thing or another.
Well, tomorrow's another day, and I'm rather hoping that nothing too dramatic happens.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Sunday's Entry Should be On Schedule
It looks like I'll be able to get the Sunday entry in the Sauk Centre Journal done on time this week.
It's been a trifle hectic in my household. A week ago today, my second-oldest daughter got married: a very happy occasion. Earlier this week, we got word that another big transition may be coming soon: it's possible that my father is dying.
One thing I'll say about the last quarter-century of raising a family: it hasn't been boring.
It's been a trifle hectic in my household. A week ago today, my second-oldest daughter got married: a very happy occasion. Earlier this week, we got word that another big transition may be coming soon: it's possible that my father is dying.
One thing I'll say about the last quarter-century of raising a family: it hasn't been boring.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Excuses, Excuses
The first half of this week wasn't exactly uneventful: for me. I grilled burgers Sunday and Monday, getting my weekend quota in despite the intrusion of my second-oldest daughter's wedding.
Not that I minded taking as much time as it took for that happy occasion.
On the other hand, even though I didn't have to do much more than walk through the rehearsal, make sure I didn't trip anybody with my cane as my daughter and I walked down the aisle, and enjoy time with family I knew and those who were new: I'm a bit pooped.
Or maybe it's a sort of post-holiday letdown.
Doesn't matter. The point is, between coming to a full stop after the pre-wedding swirl; and working out a new self-management system for myself, I didn't really have all that much to say about Sauk Centre today.
I could have ranted a bit about jaywalkers - always a reliable standby topic - but that's probably getting a bit stale. I've done it often enough over the years.
Sunday's another day - and I've got the rest of the week to nose around town and see what's happening.
Not that I minded taking as much time as it took for that happy occasion.
On the other hand, even though I didn't have to do much more than walk through the rehearsal, make sure I didn't trip anybody with my cane as my daughter and I walked down the aisle, and enjoy time with family I knew and those who were new: I'm a bit pooped.
Or maybe it's a sort of post-holiday letdown.
Doesn't matter. The point is, between coming to a full stop after the pre-wedding swirl; and working out a new self-management system for myself, I didn't really have all that much to say about Sauk Centre today.
I could have ranted a bit about jaywalkers - always a reliable standby topic - but that's probably getting a bit stale. I've done it often enough over the years.
Sunday's another day - and I've got the rest of the week to nose around town and see what's happening.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Sauk Centre Americana: Sawdust Plant, Basketball Nets, Gardens, Race Track and All
This post is mostly for people who don't live in Sauk Centre, or any other small town: which is why I'm pointing out some obvious things.
Sauk Centre, like most small towns, doesn't have the heavy industry that places like Detroit have. Considering the way things are going these days, I don't mind a bit.
We've got 'industry' here - but it's more along the lines of 'light industry.' Like Felling Trailers Inc, the Minnesota Sawdust & Shaving Company, Engle Custom Tank Builders, Kane Transport and Advanced Lighting Systems. (ALS got acquired by Nexxus Lighting in September, 2007 - not bad for a small-town outfit).
Like most small towns, this isn't the sleepy - or festering - backwater you read about in stories. We're pretty much like New York, Detroit, or Los Angeles. Except the air's cleaner, there isn't as much crime per capita, our traffic jams clear up in minutes, and the cost of living's lower.
It's rough, living without all that major metropolitan areas have to offer: but I can stand it.
Like most places in America that I've been, you'll see basketball hoops on driveways: permanent ones like this, or something that can be taken down and stored in the winter.
Quite a few folks around here have the usual flower gardens: and sometimes their own produce. You won't be able to feed a family on what'll grow on a city lot: but it does help with the grocery bills.
Speaking of groceries: this is Coborn's, a couple blocks down from where I live. Don't let the appearance fool you: The folks working here are my neighbors, friends of my kids: a great bunch. If you don't live in town, they won't know enough about you to ask about your family - but my guess is that they'll be friendly.
Picturesque? I suppose so. This is in the Prospect Avenue area. It could have turned into a sincerely high-end residential enclave. Instead, it's a really nice-looking neighborhood.
Propane tanks: lots of them. Lake Wobegon Trail is behind that line of trees, and the back yards of a house or three are past the right edge of the picture. Industrial blight or contemporary landscape sculptures? Take your pick. I like the way sunlight shines off them.
Quite a few householders have set those ground-level lights along walkways or around their house. I'd think they're a bit hard to mow around, but they look like a low-power way to light things up.
As it says on the City of Sauk Centre's Tourism page: "I-94 Raceway / Racing every Saturday night." The raceway's own website seems to be down right now. Too bad. They put on fireworks displays now and again: we can see them from an upstairs window. There's advantages to living this close to everything else in town.
You want Americana? We got Americana. Home-grown, spontaneous. The sort of thing that happens when there isn't a neighborhood association to keep people from expressing themselves.
Sauk Centre, like most small towns, doesn't have the heavy industry that places like Detroit have. Considering the way things are going these days, I don't mind a bit.
We've got 'industry' here - but it's more along the lines of 'light industry.' Like Felling Trailers Inc, the Minnesota Sawdust & Shaving Company, Engle Custom Tank Builders, Kane Transport and Advanced Lighting Systems. (ALS got acquired by Nexxus Lighting in September, 2007 - not bad for a small-town outfit).
Like most small towns, this isn't the sleepy - or festering - backwater you read about in stories. We're pretty much like New York, Detroit, or Los Angeles. Except the air's cleaner, there isn't as much crime per capita, our traffic jams clear up in minutes, and the cost of living's lower.
It's rough, living without all that major metropolitan areas have to offer: but I can stand it.
Like most places in America that I've been, you'll see basketball hoops on driveways: permanent ones like this, or something that can be taken down and stored in the winter.
Quite a few folks around here have the usual flower gardens: and sometimes their own produce. You won't be able to feed a family on what'll grow on a city lot: but it does help with the grocery bills.
Speaking of groceries: this is Coborn's, a couple blocks down from where I live. Don't let the appearance fool you: The folks working here are my neighbors, friends of my kids: a great bunch. If you don't live in town, they won't know enough about you to ask about your family - but my guess is that they'll be friendly.
Picturesque? I suppose so. This is in the Prospect Avenue area. It could have turned into a sincerely high-end residential enclave. Instead, it's a really nice-looking neighborhood.
Propane tanks: lots of them. Lake Wobegon Trail is behind that line of trees, and the back yards of a house or three are past the right edge of the picture. Industrial blight or contemporary landscape sculptures? Take your pick. I like the way sunlight shines off them.
Quite a few householders have set those ground-level lights along walkways or around their house. I'd think they're a bit hard to mow around, but they look like a low-power way to light things up.
As it says on the City of Sauk Centre's Tourism page: "I-94 Raceway / Racing every Saturday night." The raceway's own website seems to be down right now. Too bad. They put on fireworks displays now and again: we can see them from an upstairs window. There's advantages to living this close to everything else in town.
You want Americana? We got Americana. Home-grown, spontaneous. The sort of thing that happens when there isn't a neighborhood association to keep people from expressing themselves.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Thucydides, Al Tingley, Myth and Me
I live in a small town in America, but I wasn't born in one.
I grew up in a college town with a population of a hundred thousand and climbing when I left. I've lived in a number of places, from Dunseith, North Dakota, to San Francisco: and found something attractive about all of them.
I've lived here in Sauk Centre, a town with about 4,000 people, since early 1986. I like it here, too.
That wasn't quite accurate, the way the word is used these days. A historian is generally thought of as someone who looks for documents about dead people and past events; reads them carefully; then writes a report on who they were, what happened, and why.
That's not what I do. I've been a historian of sorts, but that's another story.
On the other hand, I'm a historian now, in the way that Al Tingley and Thucydides are: Someone who actually experienced the events that he or she is describing, while making an effort to be sure of the facts; but having a point of view.
'Things that really happened' is history. Or, "the aggregate of past events", as Princeton's WordNet puts it.
Quite a few people think that myth is 'things that didn't really happen.' They're right - sort of.
There's only one problem with those examples: none of them is real. Like Brigadoon, they're settings for a story. Or, in the case of Harper Valley, a song that told a story.
They are, arguably, mythical Small Town America: the contemporary equivalent of the 'kingdom far away' where Cinderella and Jack the Giant-Killer lived.
Mythical settings are fine for story-telling. An unnamed petty kingdom somewhere 'out there' lets a storyteller enhance elements of reality, making the story more entertaining and memorable. And, highlight selected ideas and beliefs.
Note: "mythical" doesn't necessarily mean "not real." One definition of a myth is "a traditional story accepted as history; serves to explain the world view of a people" (Princeton's WordNet)
The first part of that definition is what's behind the widely-accepted meaning of 'myth' as something that's 'not real.' The second part, myth as a story "to explain the world view of a people" is what I have in mind, when I call Mayberry RFD and Harper Valley 'mythical' places.
I don't think that people in small towns are particularly gifted when it comes to ruining their lives, and the lives of others. No more so than people who live in places like San Francisco or Chicago.
But then, I don't see big cities as dens of iniquity, set to trap youths with vain promises of fame and pleasure.
On the other hand, I've been around enough to know that big cities offer opportunities for self-destruction that aren't quite so available in small towns. Still, we're not all that isolated from what's now and wow.
December of 2005 was a bit more eventful than most. The month started out with about $20,000 of shot-up windows - including one of ours - and drug-related arrest across the street.
That arrest across the street was the end of an incident that started with a domestic assault and gunshot in a town down the road. What I called Version 3.0 of the story came out in local papers in early January. A 'resolution' of sorts for the incident where kids decided to spend time shooting at windows came in September of 2006.
Those biweekly posts will be copies of what appears on the Sauk Centre Journal, with the occasional additional comment.
Now, it's high time I start working on today's entry.
Related post:
I grew up in a college town with a population of a hundred thousand and climbing when I left. I've lived in a number of places, from Dunseith, North Dakota, to San Francisco: and found something attractive about all of them.
I've lived here in Sauk Centre, a town with about 4,000 people, since early 1986. I like it here, too.
Town Historian? Well, Sort of
Not too long ago, someone called me the town historian.That wasn't quite accurate, the way the word is used these days. A historian is generally thought of as someone who looks for documents about dead people and past events; reads them carefully; then writes a report on who they were, what happened, and why.
That's not what I do. I've been a historian of sorts, but that's another story.
On the other hand, I'm a historian now, in the way that Al Tingley and Thucydides are: Someone who actually experienced the events that he or she is describing, while making an effort to be sure of the facts; but having a point of view.
'Things that really happened' is history. Or, "the aggregate of past events", as Princeton's WordNet puts it.
Quite a few people think that myth is 'things that didn't really happen.' They're right - sort of.
Mayberry RFD, Peyton Place, and Myth
Say "Small Town America," and people who don't live in one - and some who do - are likely to recall Mayberry RFD; Lake Wobegon; Harper Valley and their PTA; or Peyton Place.There's only one problem with those examples: none of them is real. Like Brigadoon, they're settings for a story. Or, in the case of Harper Valley, a song that told a story.
They are, arguably, mythical Small Town America: the contemporary equivalent of the 'kingdom far away' where Cinderella and Jack the Giant-Killer lived.
Mythical settings are fine for story-telling. An unnamed petty kingdom somewhere 'out there' lets a storyteller enhance elements of reality, making the story more entertaining and memorable. And, highlight selected ideas and beliefs.
Note: "mythical" doesn't necessarily mean "not real." One definition of a myth is "a traditional story accepted as history; serves to explain the world view of a people" (Princeton's WordNet)
The first part of that definition is what's behind the widely-accepted meaning of 'myth' as something that's 'not real.' The second part, myth as a story "to explain the world view of a people" is what I have in mind, when I call Mayberry RFD and Harper Valley 'mythical' places.
Ah, the Simple Bliss and Tranquility of Small Town America
Or maybe it's the ignorance and squalor of of small towns, those havens of hypocritical bigots. Depends on who's telling the story.I don't think that people in small towns are particularly gifted when it comes to ruining their lives, and the lives of others. No more so than people who live in places like San Francisco or Chicago.
But then, I don't see big cities as dens of iniquity, set to trap youths with vain promises of fame and pleasure.
On the other hand, I've been around enough to know that big cities offer opportunities for self-destruction that aren't quite so available in small towns. Still, we're not all that isolated from what's now and wow.
Small Town America's No Brigadoon
For example, police found a meth lab a few blocks from my home in 2003.December of 2005 was a bit more eventful than most. The month started out with about $20,000 of shot-up windows - including one of ours - and drug-related arrest across the street.
That arrest across the street was the end of an incident that started with a domestic assault and gunshot in a town down the road. What I called Version 3.0 of the story came out in local papers in early January. A 'resolution' of sorts for the incident where kids decided to spend time shooting at windows came in September of 2006.
Small Town America, Twice a Week
At least, that's the idea. The Sauk Centre Journal has a new entry late every Wednesday and Sunday - circumstances allowing.Those biweekly posts will be copies of what appears on the Sauk Centre Journal, with the occasional additional comment.
Now, it's high time I start working on today's entry.
Related post:
- "Sauk Centre Journal: The Blog"
(September 2, 2009)
Sauk Centre Journal: The Blog
Don't worry: Most of this blog will, I expect, be copies of entries from the Sauk Centre Journal.
First, thought, I thought it might be a good idea to write a sort of 'background' post.
At all.
I could have started my own website, gushing with angst at the awfully unfair way small towns were presented.
Instead, I created a website called "I Love it Here!" - which grew into Brendan's Island. Eventually, I wrote this:
Over the next eight - nearly nine - years, I got into the habit of updating the page twice a week, re-named it the "Sauk Centre Journal," and gave the Sauk Centre Journal it's own URL: saukcentrejournal.com.
That's enough about the Sauk Centre Journal. Now let's talk about me.
First, thought, I thought it might be a good idea to write a sort of 'background' post.
Hypocritical Bigots, Tom Sawyer Clones, and a Reality Check
In 1997, I'd found two sorts of 'Small Town America' described online:- Morasses of hypocrisy and intolerance
- Generally stifling someone self-described as
- Creative
- Misunderstood
- Maligned
- Generally stifling someone self-described as
- Beautiful, serene havens of bliss populated by
- Jolly shopkeepers
- Unhurried natives
- Tom Sawyer clones wearing
- Bib overalls
- A straw hat
At all.
I could have started my own website, gushing with angst at the awfully unfair way small towns were presented.
Instead, I created a website called "I Love it Here!" - which grew into Brendan's Island. Eventually, I wrote this:
I started the Sauk Centre Journal on November 7, 2001. At that time it wasn't called by that name. It was the home page for the "Sauk Centre this Season" section of the Brendan's Island website, which I updated as the seasons passed, or something interesting happened.Small Town America: This Dad's View
Like the Brendan's Island of legend and history, "Small Town America" is often more of a myth than a real place.
But, just as real places very likely lie behind the story of St. Brendan's voyage, real places lie behind the myth of Small Town America.
Brendan's Island, the website, reflects the reality of small town America, at least in my experience here in Sauk Centre, Minnesota.
Brian H. Gill, Webmaster
Over the next eight - nearly nine - years, I got into the habit of updating the page twice a week, re-named it the "Sauk Centre Journal," and gave the Sauk Centre Journal it's own URL: saukcentrejournal.com.
That's enough about the Sauk Centre Journal. Now let's talk about me.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
