Personality inventories intrigue me, so how could I resist offering to play guinea pig for a friend learning to analyze personalities? Piece of cake, I thought. I know myself. When we got to talking about organization, I explained that I’m random and don’t come by organization naturally, but that I’ve learned to organize myself. My elementary school desks were always […]
A look back at people and places that shaped Cook County
Ole Brunes one of first settlers of Hov(e)landIn the Spring of 1888, Ole Brunes and his friend Nels Ludwig Eliasen left Duluth in a 26-foot sailboat the two carpenters had built over the winter. They headed up the shore, landing at Chicago Bay where they planned to pursue a commercial fishing business. They became the first white settlers of a village called Hoveland, named by Brunes’s wife. […]
This one’s for my Peeps
Easter is approaching. For Christians, it’s a solemn and joyful time to celebrate the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. For many it’s the one time of year they actually go to church. It is a time for reflection, celebration, and, of course, Peeps. Peeps, as everyone already knows, is an Easter candy, a yellow marshmallow shaped like a bunny. […]
From Wren houses to flying wooden ducks
The kids used to make the holes for the house wren house one inch in diameter. That was from the instruction books. Those books are outdated now, and the kids are old. Now all the newer instruction books advise the hole for a house wren home to be one-and-one-eighth inch. For the downy woodpecker the holes are to be one-and-one-quarter […]
Scotch Eggs and Whiskys
On the 31st last, my brother Byron, friend and author Dave Saari, and I joined 47 other alleged Scotch snobs at the second annual Scotch Tasting Fundraiser. It benefits the Cook County Community Fund (“CCCF”) and was a most pleasant way to celebrate Byron’s advancing years. The event was limited to 50 people, so if you think your Scotch snobbery […]
Grand Marais road improvements cited in international engineering
Upgrades Enhance Community Health, Tourism, and Business AccessLHB, Inc., of Duluth, Minn., has earned a National Recognition Award for exemplary engineering achievement in the American Council of Engineering Companies’ (ACEC) 56th annual Engineering Excellence Awards (EEA) for the reconstruction of Trunk Highway 61 in Grand Marais, Minnesota. The comprehensive 11.3-mile-long project through downtown Grand Marias included a 3/4-mile conversion of rural commercial corridor to urban design with […]