Category: Miscellaneous
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The search for the source (part 2)
For most of its course, the Mississippi River runs from north to south. But things are different at the headwaters. Here the Mississippi is a meandering stream that arcs vaguely north and east before turning south. Through marshes, woodlands and glacial lakes, this little river forms a giant question mark across north central Minnesota. Part…
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The search for the source (part 1)
The Mississippi River system covers most of the American interior. Its many tributaries fan out like the branches of an enormous tree across the Midwest and Great Plains, stretching from the Appalachian Mountains in the East to the Rockies in the West. The river system remains critical to American shipping and commerce, and its historical…
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Notes from the heartland (Part 5: Home)
I am home now after my road trip, a road trip long enough to permit some reflection. If you’ve read my previous posts, you won’t be surprised that I’ve been reflecting on our place in history. We Americans are living in a challenging time right now in terms of historical storytelling. Challenging but not unprecedented.…
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Notes from the heartland (Part 3: Texas)
Happy Rudesgiving! I can’t remember when Rudesgiving originated, but with such a geographically dispersed family — and with each of my brothers having their own families and in-laws — we needed to come up with our own convenient time to gather. So, for several years we’ve been finding an off-peak weekend to meet up. This…
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Center of the world
My dog Spence and I journeyed to the center of the world on Wednesday. We’re back, and we thought we’d tell you a little about it. Minnesota’s indigenous people have passed down a variety of creation stories. Several of these speak of humankind’s origins at the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers. This land…
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Glimmers from a golden age
Norway is one of those countries – like Macedonia or Mongolia – that has a modest footprint today but once settled and ruled distant lands. This is not to say that Norway’s best days are behind it. But it does have a storied, almost mythic past. Unlike the Greeks and Romans, the Old Kingdom of…
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Twisted symbols
Pick any aspect of ancient Scandinavian culture – from Norse religion to runic writing – and do an online search. It won’t take you long to find groups and individuals who are co-opting this culture to serve white supremacist ideologies. The Nazis were of course fascinated with Norse culture, believing that it harkened back to…
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Bridges across the pond
To travel abroad as an American in 2025, particularly to Western Europe, is to open yourself up to questions about what it means to be an American. For 80 years, Europe knew it could rely on the U.S. as a bulwark against the forces of despotism and tyranny. That faith has been shattered. Norway was…
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Norway’s scattered children (part 2)
One-third of Norway’s population left the country between 1825 and 1925 — nearly a million people. As a citizen of a country that has more often been the recipient of migrants, I can scarcely imagine the impact those departures would have had, both for individual families and for the nation as a whole. In a…
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Norway’s scattered children (part 1)
Two hundred years ago this year, a small ship set sail from Stavanger, Norway bound for New York City with 52 passengers and crew. This was Norway’s “Mayflower moment”.* Who could have guessed that over the coming century the number of migrants from Norway to the United States would reach nearly a million? The Norwegian…
Deep Roots 