KindaSquare #1 – Kinda Cute Kids, 1969

10/01/2020•Family, memories, Minnesota

Waiting for the Parade to Start, 1969, J.P.W. Friederichs

One of my pandemic projects has been going through my dad’s slides and getting them ready to send off to be scanned, which I did on Monday. My dad took a lot of pictures of us growing up and looking at them brings back lovely memories. Just what I needed at the moment. I grew up in a small town in northwestern Minnesota, close to the North Dakota border, population about 8.000. Smalltown America in the 1950s and 1960s was not perfect and certainly not the idealized bucolic place to grow up promoted by many people who look to return to a time that never existed. But it was a good place to grow up. Life was slower. There were school and community activities. Kids could roam the neighborhood or ride their bikes to the city swimming pool in the summer without adult supervision. Candy at the corner store cast a penny. We knew most of our neighbors and the “neighbor ladies” had coffee outside on summer mornings. It was good to get a glimpse of this former life, to restore a bit of faith in humanity.

Every summer, Crookston held an annual festival. In my day, it was called Pioneer Days. Now it was called Ox Cart Days. The Red River Valley (of the North) was famous huge carts pulled by oxen along the route between St. Paul, Minnesota and Canada. At least one summer, they had a kiddie parade as part of the festivities. I think this shot was taken in 1969, based on the age of my two sisters who are in the photo. Our neighbor Christie is on the left, then my sister Karla and my sister Ruth. I’m not sure about the other girl but I think it is one of the neighbors. Dressing up was always a fun way to spend part of a day. I was 15 at the time, much too old and dignified for a kiddie parade. Here’s to those days, my friends, we thought they’d never end. (The image is not the best. I took a photo of the slide with my phone before I sent it off to be scanned.)

Join Becky’s October Squares: KindaSquare #1

Pink It Is #28

09/29/2018•backroads, nostalgia, Pennsylvania

Retro Pink

Faded Sign, Ligonier Beach, Pennsylvania

Join BeckyB’s Square in September: In the Pink. Photos must be square, and for September, have to contain something pink. See this link for more information on how to take part in BeckyB’s quarterly square challenge..

Backroads America: Big Mantrap Lake

07/30/2018•backroads, Minnesota, Photography

Beautiful day for our first day camping at the lake.

Backroads America: The Best Laid Plans . . .

07/25/2018•backroads, transportation, United States

My goal to follow the Lincoln Highway to central Iowa hit a snag today. One of my own making. I underestimated how much extra time the long stretches of two-lane roads and going threw small towns would take. So, sorry Illinois but I took the interstate all the way across. I had places to be tonight.

Once I hit Iowa, I was back on track. Two pictures from Clarence, Iowa.

I stayed on US 30 across Iowa though much of the Lincoln Highway turned on and off parallel gravel roads. Maybe next time. Arrived in Dysart, Iowa, about 15 miles north of US 30.

Headed north to Minnesota tomorrow. So long, Lincoln. I hope to drive you again. Maybe next time I will actually have a chance to take more photos and explore more byways..

Keeping Cool in Summers Gone By

07/17/2018•Family, memories, Minnesota

Chilling at Big Mantrap Lake

My family was large and our summer vacations generally involved camping at a lake in Minnesota. Over the years, our favorite spot changed; when I was in high school, we started going to Big Man Trap Lake, in Hubbard County, Minnesota. It is part of the Paul Bunyan State Forest. No way is it glamping. It is not fancy. No electricity. No flush toilets. Water from a well. But it is a true Minnesota camp ground. Park Rapids and Itasca State Park are within easy driving distance. I haven’t been “to the lake” since 2008, when we had a sizable gathering including five of my siblings and their kids at least for part of the time. One of my sister’s and our extra sister have gone to Mantrap for a week in August for decades. After my niece’s wedding (the one with the gladiolai) at the end of July, I will spend a week at camping with a couple of my sisters, assorted nieces and nephews, and close family friends. I am looking forward to it. A few shots from trip. (P.S. No one in my family or anyone I ever grew up with called it car camping, which seems filtered into American media and blogging.