There's a sad kind of goodbye that happens on my deck every year, and I never quite get used to it. The pots that have been full and spilling over with color since May —...

Part 4 “Money Mona and “Milk Maid Mary”. “I remember Mona at the city office; I was a kid,  but I’m not sure about Mary. Why did they call her...

At the Bergman house, fall officially arrives with the Minnesota Vikings home opener. That happened this past Sunday, and the Vikings won. Game day usually means it's my...

One of my dearest friends is visiting this week from Florida, and I have been fretting about the weather.I had hoped Minnesota would behave itself and give her a few...

 October 1958. Without any further business, the meeting was adjourned; the gavel rapped on the wooden disc the chairs began to slide. “Not so fast...

Twenty-five years later, I can still see the bulky television in the corner of my office.It was Tuesday morning, Sept. 11, 2001, and we were on deadline to produce our...

 “Old Skunk Road” comes to an end when it reaches the city limit and merges with Highway 11. Overnight, about a quarter mile upwind from Oak View...

It's good to be writing again, even though — if I'm honest — I don't really love the actual sitting-down-and-writing part of it. I never have. Every column starts the same...

Part One. “Old Skunk Road”In 1920, Highway 11 was built on a natural sand ridge, a leftover beach from a long-receded ancient lake. The highway was...

Life used to feel simpler.Not simple, exactly, but simpler in the sense that fewer things demanded our attention before we could even get out the door.We had a telephone,...

A few weeks ago, I spent an entire afternoon on my knees in the flower bed, waging war against quack grass. If you've never pulled it, count...

We all carry a strange kind of ledger in our heads — hundreds, maybe thousands of people we've known just enough to nod to. The mail carrier who retired. The waitress who...

My husband, Rolly, has been in love with trains for as long as I’ve known him. He dreamed of being a train engineer as a young boy, but was...

On May 17th 1814, the constitution was signed by Edsvold freeing Norway from Danish rule. In November of 1814, a union was established between...

 One of the things that I liked most about my youth was the absence of ticks.I find myself spending way too much time pondering why they seem so...