Distracted by Paris

Sunday, November 15, 2015. Yesterday and today were the good sort of autumn days: clear skies, sunshine, highs around 60. Coming next: about three days in the mid-40s, with rain.

It could be worse. There was the 1991 Halloween blizzard, and the Armistice Day Blizzard in 1940. I don't remember that one, but my folks talked about it: and the big one in 1888. More recently, we've had November winter storms or blizzards in 1975, 1981, and 1988, and the 1991 Halloween blizzard lasted until November 3. (MN DNR)

A few days of rain doesn't look so bad now.

I thought I'd have more to say, and show, but Friday's attacks in Paris distracted me. That was a very sad situation.

Here in Sauk Centre, though, life goes on. Maybe next week I'll have my ducks in a row: or at least near each other.

The Flu, Empty Storefronts, and All That

Sunday, February 1, 2015. The flu left town, so the nursing home is back to its usual visiting times. I'm feeling better, myself.

I'm not happy about the number of 'for rent/sale' signs in empty storefronts downtown. But we've been through this sort of thing before.


Main Street and South 4th: the corner building's been used as offices most recently. Now it's bleakly empty: or ready for new tenants, depending on your viewpoint. (January 26, 2015)


Left to right, a for-rent storefront; Centre of Attention, a new-to-me fashion store; and Centre Floral. (January 26, 2015)


The corner building, at one time home to Winter's drug store, is for sale. (January 26, 2015)

The old mansion that housed Vocational Biographies for the 20 years I worked there has been for sale for some time. Driving by this week, I noticed something new.


Tax forfeiture property. Not exactly a cheerful sign: but one of my kids pointed out that this means there's a better chance of someone buying the place. (January 26, 2015)

I'm old enough to start being a surly old coot, constantly kvetching about newfangled — everything. Never could see the percentage in that. Besides, I've got a pretty good memory, 'good old days' weren't, and that's another topic.

Downtown was a tad empty in the mid-1980s, when my family and I moved here. Things picked up a few years later: and I'm pretty sure that will happen again this time around.

Brookdale Cemetery, and Soybeans

Sunday, August 18, 2013. #1 daughter and I went to Brookdale Cemetery this afternoon.


Brookdale Cemetery, northeast of Sauk Centre, Minnesota. August 18, 2013.

Fourteen folks or more are buried there: mostly babies and possibly a few young mothers from the old reform school. Grave markers were removed when the state abandoned Brookdale, years ago. Some members of the local Knights of Columbus started mowing the grass recently, and are trying to reconstruct burial records.

The Sauk Centre Herald wrote about Brookdale in June:

"...The reformatory school for girls opened in 1911. Pregnant girls were often brought in by train so they could give birth at the reformatory with the agreement that the baby would become property of the state and then put up for adoption...."
(Bryan Zollman, Sauk Centre Herald (June 19, 2013))

On a happier note, soybeans in the nearby field are lush and green: and a few have small purple flowers. I think they're soybeans, anyway.


Soybeans, I think. August 18, 2013.

Next week I'll either have more to say, and some photos: or not.

Transitions, Thanksgiving, and Picture-Postcard Weather

Sunday, November 18, 2012. Thanksgiving is four days away. It's not "early," since the fourth Thursday in November is the usual date. On the other hand, this year November started on a Thursday: so Thanksgiving is a whole lot earlier in the month than I expected.

All of which has nothing to do with today's picture-postcard weather.


Sauk Centre downtown this afternoon. November 18, 2012.

I saw Wreck-It Ralph at Main Street Theatre today, with #1 daughter. That was time well-spent: particularly since it gave me an opportunity to use my camera.


A new(ish) store near the river. November 18, 2012.

A new (to me) store near the river is called Taste of Heaven. I gather that it isn't a '60s shop, and sells retro toys and candy. Maybe that should be 'retro toys, and candy.' I'm not sure that there's much of a market for retro candy.

Which reminds me: Hostess Twinkies, and all the other Hostess products, made the transition from current events to history this week. Some folks must take snack food very seriously, since the Twinkies Wikipedia page had to have its editing disabled: "due to vandalism."

Finally, I see that the Sauk Centre Historical Society is 25 years old. The Sauk Centre Herald has an article about them. (November 14, 2012)

'I'm Dreaming of a White Thanksgiving'

Wednesday, November 24, 2010. Like the song says, "it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas." And it's the day before Thanksgiving. The generic "Happy Holiday" sign is up over Highway 71/Main/"The Original Main Street, and there's a little snow on the ground.


Monday morning. Snow: covering the sidewalks, but getting lost between blades of grass. November 22, 2010.

Monday and today were dim days, the sort of thing that a Chamber of Commerce often doesn't tend to emphasize when discussing the virtues of their town.


That house next to St. Paul's on Sinclair Lewis Avenue: It's not there any more. November 22, 2010.

We didn't get the sleet and ice pellets that one forecast talked about. Can't say that I'm sorry about that. As it was, we've got a decent little coat of snow. While the snow was doing its decorating, around noon, it was dark enough for headlights to make sense.


Noon today. 2 of three vehicles have their headlights on. Seen through a decently-insulated window, it was a pleasant scene. November 24, 2010.


A closer look at the same photo. It's within a few minutes of noon - the mail truck and car have their headlights on. The SUV? I'm not sure what was happening there. November 24, 2010.

Tomorrow's Thanksgiving. I see in the news that Apple and Cider, two turkeys, were pardoned by the president.

That's been a light side of leadership that's been traditional since - well, actually it seems to go back to the Kennedy administration. Or Reagan. Depends on how you define the 'pardon.' (Snopes.com). You may have read something different in the papers. Can't say I'm surprised about that.

Back in 2005, by the way, the two famous turkeys - Snowball and Blizzard - were from Melrose. At least, that's what I read.

Very Safe School Bus Drivers

Sunday, November 7, 2010. Halloween's over: and after almost a quarter-century of living here, I still haven't seen the inside of "Monster Manor," in the fairgrounds across from Coborn's.

The midterm election's over, too: for which I'm duly grateful. The political ads for the state and national races - - - Well, it's over, and we've got a breather before the next one. I read in the Sauk Centre Herald that we had a pretty good turnout: 68% of the registered voters, ten points higher than the state average. I've suspected that we're a tad more likely to give a rip about what happens in our community: but I'll admit to a bias.

I love it here.

Take the front page headlines of this week's paper, for example. The first thing I saw was that Sauk Centre school bus drivers were "recognized for the superior procedures" after a surprise inspection. It's nice to live in a town where good news on the front page isn't a rarity.

Also in this week's Herald: Walt Junkin has played taps at military funerals here for 54 years. There's a pretty good write-up in the paper. And in the online edition. Something I didn't know: The VFW and American Legion posts here have a mechanical bugler.

Chamber of Commerce, Museum, School, and Decisions

Sunday, October 24, 2010. Another week, and it's Halloween. Then the midterm elections. I'm looking forward to the trick-or-treaters. At the rate things are going, I may be done with this cold (or whatever it is) by then. Or, maybe not.

There's good news, maybe, at the top of this week's Sauk Centre Herald front page. The article calls it a "former school building:" I still think of it as the IBAA building, but that's years ago. It's empty now. (September 1, 2010)

Looks like one of the options for what to do with the place is to have the Chamber of Commerce and the Sinclair Lewis' Interpretive Center move in there. Sounds reasonable to me: it's a decent location for the Interpretive Center and the Chamber, it seems, and has enough floor space for the museum.

Seems simple enough, from my point of view - particularly since I have nothing to do with ownership and working out financial arrangements. Besides having enough room inside, the old IBAA building has a good-size parking lot in back.

This weekend I'm in the position of the fellow who said, 'all I know is what I read in the paper.' The Herald had a good write-up of Gianna Jessen and the 1,300 or so folks she spoke to Wednesday before last. Also how the Miller family deals with Celiac Disease - from my own family's experience, I know it's interesting, trying to find gluten-free food.

I'd probably feel better if I hadn't grilled burgers in the rain today. That wasn't the smartest thing I've ever done - but I like grilling.

Storms, Fundraisers, and Why I Love Living Here

Sunday, July 11, 2010. Sauk Centre, at least the part of the south side where I live, didn't get much more than hail the size of shriveled peas on Saturday. Can't say that I'm disappointed in missing the more interesting weather.


I think that streak across the third brick to our left of the chair leg's base is a hailstone coming down. July 10, 2010, around noon.


Looking south along Ash Street, from near South 9th. Some of the more lively weather was happening behind that dark sky. July 10, 2010, near sunset.

I put more photos, plus some weather data and news from Saturday, in "Minnesota's Saturday Weather Wasn't Boring," on my Apathetic Lemming of the North blog.

The front page of this week's Sauk Centre Herald is an example of why I like living here so much. It's not all good news: like Chris Norgren's accident. On the other hand, that article told about a benefit for Mr. Norgren that was held - yesterday, I see.

The other 'above the fold' story is a feature about Dr. Keith Olson's years here. He came here in 1985, expecting to be the fifth doctor at Lakeview Medical Clinic and St. Michael’s Hospital. It didn't take long before he was there with one other doctor - I'll let you read the rest in the Herald.


Sauk Centre Herald front page. July 6, 2010.

Then, about 2/3 of the bottom half of the front page is about Stroll for Epilepsy, Marie and Gary Nelson, and their grandson Nolan Rock. Young Nolan's got epilepsy. Stroll for Epilepsy is a fundraiser. The article gives the address of their fundraising page: www.firstgiving.com/garymarienelson. The walk is on August 12, so you've got time to sign up for a donation. No pressure, of course: that's just an idea.


Sauk Centre Herald front page. July 6, 2010.

The Herald's front page isn't like that every week: three articles, two about charitable fundraisers. But I think it's a pretty good reflection of the town. We've got our problems: but folks around here do seem willing to help each other.

'Everybody Knows' What Small Towns are Like

One of the reasons I created my first website, back in 1997, was to offer a sort of reality check for 'small town America.' The ones I've lived in have been pretty good places to live, if you can get used to the lack of air pollution.

It helps, if you can get yourself accepted by the community. Which I've had little trouble doing: I'm inclined to thank my Irish forebears for that. Which is another topic.

'A Long Time Ago, in a Land Far, Far Away'

I think that part of the problem is simple ignorance. America is a largely urban country now, and has been for several generations. Most folks here have heard of small towns - but I don't know that many have actually spent time in one. The result, I think, is that "small town America" has become more of a mythical place, like Camelot or Mordor, than something that you can drive to. I've discussed that before.

Another public relations issue that small towns, in America at least, have is that - again in my opinion - the folks most Americans read or hear, discussing small towns are convinced that it's the stifling oppression of those small town bigots who made their lives miserable. That could be true, but I've got my doubts. Some of those angsty artists and unappreciated 'geniuses' probably wouldn't get as much admiration as they want anywhere. Which is definitely another topic.

Derrick Bird's Victims are to Blame?

Looks like small town America isn't the only place that 'suffocates' people. From today's news:

"Small town may have caused killer to 'snap' "
CNN (June 3, 2010)

"Detectives in England are retracing the bloody trail left by mass killer Derrick Bird to determine what drove the 'well-liked' taxi driver to slaughter 12 of his neighbors in a picturesque corner of Cumbria.

"For three-and-a-half hours on Wednesday, the heavily armed 52-year-old terrorized residents by driving his car through small villages and towns, firing apparently indiscriminately through the window.

" 'The focus of the 100-strong squad of detectives investigating the incident is firmly on finding out why someone would want to take so many lives in such a short space of time,' Cumbria Police said in a statement Thursday...."

"...The area he covered may be popular with tourists, but it is home to a small population of people clustered in tight-knit communities in a relatively remote part of England.

"One psychotherapist said the closeness of the community may have suffocated Bird to such an extent that he saw no other way out.

" 'It can feel very pressurized and too intense and when that happens people do tend to react out of character. They just snap,' London-based psychotherapist Lucy Beresford told CNN.

" 'If there is a problem, for example, that might have resulted in them losing face or to be embarrassed in some way, shamed in some way, it can be almost intolerable to deal with when you imagine yourself surrounded by people who know you very well.'..."

One psychiatrist a statistically significant sample doth not make - but I've heard that sort of thing before. Small towns 'suffocating' people - and blaming the victims of crimes - were very fashionable notions in my part of the world four or five decades back. Still are, in some circles.

Oh, Those 'Suffocating' Small Towns?

I didn't buy the idea that tight-knit communities of folks who know and care about each other were 'suffocating,' and saying that a rape victim was to blame because she 'asked for it' didn't make sense. To me, anyway.

There's an element of truth in what the psychiatrist said, though. Small towns aren't like big cities. Folks living here aren't anonymous faces in the crowd. And that bit about "losing face" is tied to the real world.

For example, if I'd gone to one of the bars downtown yesterday, tied one on, and thrown a brick through a shop window - I might be the talk of the town, if it was a slow week. Same goes for the guy who propositions his boss's wife at the office party, or makes a bank deposit while wearing a grass skirt. (This is central Minnesota - in winter, that'd be chilly.)

I've gotten the impression that it's a whole lot easier to fade away and start over elsewhere in a large city. On the other hand, in a small town a person has a whole lot of opportunities for correcting embarrassing situations - although in the hypothetical case of the boss's wife, that could take a lot of time to smooth over.

Back to that CNN article:

"...While Cumbria police have not commented on a potential motive, the British press has focused on two theories, both based on early targets of Bird's murderous rampage.

"Press reports suggest the divorced father-of-two was involved in a dispute with his brother over the contents of a family will. Bird's twin brother David was reported to be one of the first people shot, along with Kevin Commons, 60, who was a senior partner in the law firm KJ Commons and Co.

"CNN's Phil Black, reporting from Whitehaven, said Bird was also said to be frustrated by the competitive nature of the taxi business in the town, and by the techniques used by his colleagues to secure customers. A number of shots were fired at the Whitehaven taxi rank where Bird worked. Consultant psychologist, Simon Meyerson, told CNN that Bird's grievances could have been rooted in childhood.

" 'A twin has an added dimension. If one was a favored twin at birth then problems can lie down the line for the one who wasn't so favored, (the one) that wasn't so bright, that wasn't so good-looking. He may have fallen into that category from day one,' Meyerson said...."

The only person who could - if he wanted to - tell us why the shooter killed all those people is the shooter himself. Since he was his last victim: that's not gonna happen. Which won't stop folks from speculating, of course.

Reality Check: Small Towns aren't Eden; or Brigadoon, Either

There's a little more about people, and small towns, in the article. Told from the perspective of an urbanite, but with a smidgen of truth:

"...Despite the verbal clues dropped by Bird before his killing spree, psychotherapist Lucy Beresford said neighbors, colleagues and friends could not have known what he was about to do.

" 'You probably have to be trained and monitoring someone on a 24-hour basis to be able to categorically say, "yes I could spot this," ' she said.

" 'By definition we're actually talking about secretive behavior which takes place first of all in the head which is ruminated on and gets fantasized about. That person is never necessarily going to actually say "I'm in trouble." '

"The tight ties within the community that may have driven Bird over the edge could also help the community recover from the trauma of multiple deaths, Beresford said. 'I think communities and groups have an amazing ability to regenerate and to be able to survive trauma and loss,' she said.

"However, she said the residents who may need most help are the ones who are struggling to cope with the new reality that the idyllic rural retreat is now the scene of multiple murder...."

Oh, dear. Well, at least the psychiatrist recognizes that community ties have some value. Besides driving a victim of society (that hackneyed phrase does not appear in the article) "over the edge."

Eden? Small Town America isn't Even Close

I think that poetic allusion to small towns in the United Kingdom as an "Eden" is very nice, and may be an accurate description of the sophisticated Londoner's view of such places. Places like the ones I live in do photograph well.

But an earthly paradise? Let's get real.

Never mind the day-in-day-out bickering and discontent that I've observed everywhere, from a tiny town in North Dakota to San Francisco. I love it here in Sauk Centre, but in the twenty-odd years I've lived in this house, there's been a meth lab bust, a drug-related arrest, and shots fired within a few blocks. One of the latter hit one of my windows.

What's different about that sort of thing in small towns, I think, isn't that our perception of ourselves as beings set apart from the world living on cotton-candy clouds is shattered. The folks I know are well-aware that people can do bad things.

What's different about the small towns that I've known - and certainly about the one I live in now - is that drug busts, shootings and other troubles are comparatively rare events. We're upset right after they happen - but life goes on, and around here 'it could be worse.'

Related post:

• "Thucydides, Al Tingley, Myth and Me"
  (September 2, 2009)

Coming Next: Memorial Day Weekend

Wednesday, May 26, 2010. We had a full rainbow, near sunset yesterday. Toward the north end, it was a double. I posted a couple more photos on the Sauk Centre Journal Blog yesterday.


Rainbow, near sunset: double in a few places. May 25, 2010.

This week's Sauk Centre Herald has a little more detail about that plot of land near the Interstate, where the Chamber of Commerce offices and the Sinclair Lewis Interpretive Center are now. Looks like there will be some strings attached. Or, as the paper put it, "criteria" for whatever outfit buys the property.

Looks like whatever's built there will have to be "for retail commercial purposes only." Also that whatever's going to go there has to start going up within a year of the sale's closing: and get finished two years from closing - with an option for the city council to give the developer some wiggle room. So far, so good, as far as I can see We wouldn't want somebody picking up the property and doing nothing with it. (maybe in hopes that Sauk Centre real estate prices will skyrocket?)

From my point of view, those conditions are good for the city - and, indirectly, everybody who pays city taxes. What came next looks like good news for the Chamber of Commerce and Interpretive Center.

Whoever buys the property is supposed to help the Chamber of Commerce and Sinclair Lewis Foundation relocate. I hope the city council specified some specific - and meaningful - amount. City hall's thinking, though: if the first buyer re-sells the property, those conditions apply to the next seller, too.

I'll admit that I'd been concerned about the Chamber and Interpretive Center. Not as concerned as those folks were, of course. It's still going to be a lot of work and stress: but moving doesn't seem quite so impossible now.


That's more like it: This looks like summer. May 25, 2010.

The weather forecast I saw says it'll be almost disgustingly nice weather, right up to Sunday, when we may have some rain, lightning and thunder. About a one in three chance, anyway.

Still, it looks like we'll have a nice Memorial Day weekend. The (City Street Department, I think it is) has flags up on Sinclair Lewis Avenue and Main ("The Original Main Street," I should say).


Two days to go before Memorial Day weekend: and the flags are already up. May 26, 2010.

The Sauk Herald has a nice writeup on Father Sylvester Kleinschmidt, who'll soon be celebrating 60 years in the priesthood. The article tells how a young Sylvester Kleinschmidt got the idea of becoming a priest when a priest came to bless his family's farm. There'll be a special Mass with him a week from tomorrow, June 3. Two other priests in town celebrate their 25th and 26th anniversaries of ordination, on June 1 and 2. It's going to be a busy week.

Earth Day, 1970-2010

Today is Earth Day.

I remember the first one, forty years ago.

Those were heady times. In several senses of the word. Being worked up about saving the environment was kinda now and kinda wow. You know: groovy.

I'm still concerned about maintaining clean air, water and soil. I live on Earth, after all: and it's nice to walk outside without my eyes watering.

I indulged in a trip down memory lane yesterday: wandering with nostalgic Pilot shades over my mind's eyes.



Ah, yes: I was there at the beginning, and remember the grand swell of emotion I experienced, seeing that big green theta flying over the campus. A Wikipedia article says the 'ecology flag' came after 1970, and the person who wrote that could be right. Like so many other memories of that groovy period, mine aren't entirely precise. I wasn't part of the drug scene: but that's another topic.

Well, that was then, and this is now. Like I said, I still care about clean air and not drinking industrial waste. But I think I've got a trifle better grip on reality now.

I've been celebrating Earth Day's 40th anniversary by writing about a misunderstood and often-neglected sustainable resource: lint.

No, really. The stuff's more useful than you might think. Here's a list of links to what I've written, and a sort introduction, on another blog:

• "Lemming Tracks: STOP THE WASTE!!! RECYCLE EARTH'S PRECIOUS LINT!!!!"
  Apathetic Lemming of the North

Spring, Snow, and Moving Issues for the Sinclair Lewis Foundation: Chamber of Commerce, Too

Wednesday, March 31, 2010. I think spring is here for real. Of course, this is Minnesota: and it wouldn't be unheard of for us to get some more snow. Not terribly likely, though.


You may remember this photo, taken about two weeks ago, and shown in the March 21, 2010, entry. March 18, 2010.


Same scene, just over 10 days later. There's a little of the snow left: but not much. March 29, 2010.

I don't know that it's a sign of spring: but Sauk Centre has reminders out near several crosswalks. It's a state law to stop for pedestrians in crosswalks. It's also a good idea, I think. Almost all of us are pedestrians now and again: and if we don't stop when we're driving, how can we expect drivers to stop when we're walking? Or rolling, as the case may be.


Hard to miss: I hope. March 29, 2010.

There's the flip side, of course: Sauk Centre is still small enough for folks to think jaywalking is a good idea. I haven't had any near misses yet this year: but I haven't been out as much as I have been some previous years. Me? I've jaywalked a few times: but these days I think the benefit/risk ratio favors using the crosswalk. I haven't had the experience, but I'd think it would be downright inconvenient to get punted by a car.

The street sweepers are out: those Elgin units have been going up and down the streets in my neighborhood, dealing with a winter's worth of sand and grit.


An Elgin street sweeper, roaring along. March 31, 2010.

This week's Sauk Centre Herald has an article about the Sinclair Lewis Foundation: "Left in Limbo?" That building down by the Interstate has been their home since before my family moved to town, some two decades back. Since the city has decided to sell the land, they need to move. (I wrote about this on Sunday.)

So does the Chamber of Commerce.

The Sinclair Lewis Foundation is in a pickle. They doesn't have a backup facility to move into. And they don't have enough money to move, anyway. That Interpretive Center isn't the sort of thing you can pack up and move in the back of a pickup.

The Herald's opening sentence was suitably dramatic: "The city council's decision to sell the land that houses the Interpretive Center has drawn the ire of some who think preservation of history is more important than financial growth."

I'm going out on a limb a little with this, but here's a thought: Instead of just getting irate, how about doing something about the situation? From what I read, the really big issue is that the S.L.F. doesn't have enough money to cover moving.

Helping them to get the interpretive center set up somewhere else isn't, I think, quite the same sort of priority as the Haiti fundraisers earlier this year were. But the way we gave to help Haiti survivors demonstrated that folks in this area can pitch in when there's a need.

Moving is expensive, but a little upwards of 4,000 people live in Sauk Centre. and if each of us gave, on average, a few dollars - you get the idea.

I checked earlier today, and this is the current mailing address for the Sinclair Lewis Foundation. As far as I know, they haven't started passing the hat: but maybe you could help get them started.

Sinclair Lewis Foundation
PO Box 25
Sauk Centre, MN 56378

No pressure, but I can think of worse ways to spend a few bucks.

The Chamber of Commerce has to move, too. Not this week, but I'd be surprised if that property isn't sold before too many months pass. The Chamber of Commerce may not be in quite the same fix that the S.L.F. folks are in: but they've had a really nice location there, and probably won't get the sort of walk-in traffic they've had after they move. That's too bad, because I think they've done a pretty good job of letting folks coming into town know what visitors can do, besides drive straight through.

I'll get off my soapbox now. And like I said, no pressure.

One More Holiday, and We Can Relax

Wednesday, December 30, 2009. I see in the paper that we got an estimated 15 to 18 inches, Thursday through Saturday. That seems about right. My household's gotten the driveway and sidewalks cleared - several times - and now my son's working at excavating my oldest daughter's car.

Ads saying "no payments until 2010!" and Christmas decorations on discount signal the end of 2009. Sauk Centre's about the same now, as it was a year ago. Except for stuff that changed.

For example, Coborn's Pharmacy has a drive-through now.


It'll be interesting to see how this works: Coborn's Pharmacy drive thru. January 10, 2009.

Ace Hardware's storefront got finished early this year.


Let there be no mistake: Ace Hardware is open! February 18, 2009.

Spring came, along with a bit more water than the streams and storm drains could handle.


Not every small town has street fountains. Or wants them. This pair was gone the next day. March 16, 2009.

Part of the Conservation Park was underwater. Good for the ducks, I suppose.


It's actually rather restful down there, with the sound of rushing of water in the air. Bitterly cold, that day, though. Felt that way to me, anyway. March 25, 2009.

Main Street Press, downtown, is now Main Street Printing. They've gone by that name before, I heard. It's the same outfit, same people: just slight name change.


Rather classy sign, I think. April 6. 2009.

The County Road 186 bridge over I94 looked like it was unraveling, but it's been rewoven. Or repaved, or something.


Most of the bridge deck's off Sauk Centre's County Road 186 overpass. That wad of steel bars puts me in mind of a bird's nest. A really big bird. May 19. 2009.

AmericInn, by the Interstate: I really ought to stop by there and get a closer look at their addition.


AmericInn, Sauk Centre: Looks like they're adding maybe two dozen rooms. June 11, 2009.

The Sinclair Lewis Days Parade, alpaca and all, didn't go by my house again. The Chamber of Commerce Sinclair Lewis Days page has 2010's events listed already.


Someone called this fellow a llama. I'm pretty sure it's an alpaca, though. Also quite tired after walking the entire parade route. July 18, 2009.

Next stop, the Stearns County Fair.


A colorful affair: Ferris wheel and tractors at the Stearns County Fairgrounds. July 28, 2009.


There's a reason why that skunk looks odd. It's two skunks. August 1, 2009.

Our Lady of the Angels church has a Marian garden now.


The Marian Garden by Our Lady of the Angels church: statues, a bench or two, flowers and plantings. I'll want to spend a little time there. September 6, 2009.

Flooding in the spring, drought in late summer. Too bad we can't average out the water.


From the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, U.S. Drought Monitor
The way it was, Almost a week ago September 8, 2009.


From the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, U.S. Drought Monitor.
The way it was, almost three weeks back. August 25, 2009.

The Marian garden at Our Lady of the Angels has been used for at least one wedding now. Which isn't when I took this photo.


The Marian Garden by Our Lady of the Angels church. October 25, 2009.

Getting back to "now," that foot-and-a-half of snow gave us a sort of picture-postcard 'white Christmas. And nearly buried some of the yard displays.


There really is a manger scene under the star. And snow. December 30, 2009.

In a way, it'll be good to have a vacation from the Halloween-Thanksgiving-Christmas-New Years holiday marathon. That's hardly a new thought.

"If all the year were playing holidays, To sport would be as tedious as to work." (William Shakesepeare, "King Henry IV Part I", Act 1 scene 2, from The Quotations Page)

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.

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)