Cemeteries are filled with interesting stories. Some of them are triumphant, many are tragic. My sister and I stumbled upon the latter the other day when we wandered through St. Fridolin Cemetery. We were almost to the end of our meander when we spotted the grave of Brooke Elizabeth Thompson. She was born in 1980 and died at age 22. A plastic container stood next to her grave. It had a notebook inside, tucked within a resealable plastic bag. The note on the container invited visitors to leave a message. “Open it up,” I said to Kris. “Let’s see what’s inside.” Continue reading
Monthly Archives: April 2013
The Beat Goes On
A few years ago I read a Star Tribune story about Pam Taschuk, a Lino Lakes woman who was killed by her husband. I didn’t know Pam, but her story inspired me to write this poem, and Brooke Thompson’s story (see blog entry “Brooke The Sun Goddess“) inspired me to post it.
Maple Syruping at the Danson Farm
We have been experiencing a winter that never ends. It’s mid-April and today is snowy, icy and just plain gross. Yesterday was half-way decent in comparison. Sick of hibernating, I thought it would be fun to head north to Uncle Russ and Aunt Sue’s farm in Rush City to partake in maple syruping activities. Maple sap runs best when overnight temperatures are below freezing and the daytime highs are in the 30s to mid-40s. We finally had that combo Friday (4/12); contrast that to last year when we hit 80° in March and the temperatures were so warm the sap season was skunked.