Managing the ‘distance’ in learning
On Thursday, April 23, as we wrapped the third week of “distance learning” in our house, Gov. Tim Walz announced that schools would be closed for the remainder of the school year. That was a…
The Mondrian Racer
This is Don. While I was out for a walk with my wife and daughter last week, we saw this vehicle parked at the side door of a house we were passing. It was something…
Essential service, essential people
This is Shelby. She cheerfully rang me through at Mississippi Market this past Tuesday. She is one of the “essential” workers (along with the others at the market I saw that day stocking shelves, helping…
St. Patrick’s Day Parade Shots! (2018, that is)
Yes, in our sudden new Covid-19 reality, a parade certainly counts as a large gathering. And a St. Patrick’s Day parade and subsequent celebrations that result in extremely tight crowds and some folks’ body fluids…
Diesel Heart
St. Paul’s history bridged vividly to the present If there is an important local author—wait, scratch that. If there is an important author to read this year, it’s Melvin Whitfield Carter Jr. Carter is a St. Paul…
Amid snow, summer reflections
The first blizzard of the season rolled in after Thanksgiving. It wasn’t a “doozy” (the technical term for “big,” I believe), it was one of those that unravel slowly in temperatures that hover around freezing:…
The Uncomfortable Embrace
Social media is not going away (duh), and to succeed, businesses need to embrace it (again, duh). But it doesn’t have infect your life (much). “Facebook is the Internet for a lot of people,” said…
The Labor of Lobster
The price of lobster has dropped, but the cost to catch and process them it has not. Note: A version of this story was first published in Foodservice News in February 2013, thus explaining some…
Photography, Dignity and Journalism
While looking through (and jettisoning) some virtual desktop materials, I found photographs I took for a story I wrote for Foodservice News back in 2009 about nutrition at assisted-living/memory-care facilities. It was an interesting story…
Primate Blues
Mirror mirror in my hand Who’s the fairest creature in The land? Not the jerks back there that beWhen I turn this glass like this, You see? Rainbow hulks point their fingers, Turn their backs…