The catalpa tree growing on the lot line with our neighbor blossomed beautifully in June, a late bloomer, but the vanilla type pods it deposited in fall were a mess. When neighbor Ken helped me cut the trees to make hobby wood to create, little did I know what the results would be. The grain […]
Author: Loren Elkin
Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury: Summer, New
Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury: Summer, New
The book Dandelion Wine caught my attention because of the descriptions of growing up in a small community, seen through the eyes of a 12-year-old boy. The variety of opportunities and choices mirrored my life in the area east and west of Amery, Wisconsin. I’ll present parts of the first chapter in which Douglas woke […]
Summer Memories and Anticipation: Finalized
Summer Memories and Anticipation: Finalized
Summertime. June, the perfect month for anyone who enjoys summer and has an advantage of a time without responsibilities. As a student for 17 years and a teacher for 35, summer was a smorgasbord of possibilities. As a youth growing up around Amery, WI, the choices were nearly endless. It’s been common to lay out […]
Writing: What Is the Perfect Environment?
Writing: What Is the Perfect Environment?
The ideal writing setting may be summed up in this photo. Once I tried writing at a lake cabin north of Amery, no distractions and no interference. Everything was there. But I had no ideas, no plan of what to write. That didn’t work. My writing as a serious hobby began at a summer class […]
“Growing Up in Amery”: NOW Available on Amazon
“Growing Up in Amery”: NOW Available on Amazon
Amery stories are out on Amazon, and the book only costs a buck. The stories are from my childhood, some fictionalized, some 100% true. This is not a history of Amery, and you do not have to know about Amery to enjoy this memoir. Sampling of the Stories in the Book — Amery–The City of […]
The Guy in the Song Who Drove Through Phoenix
The Guy in the Song Who Drove Through Phoenix
The song about Phoenix was minimal, the implications many, and “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” was a Glen Campbell hit before 1970. This Jimmy Webb song was based on a real incident, and in the mid 60s Johnny River sang it before Glenn Campbell made it even more famous. The traveler, let’s call him […]
A History Class Reading Nostalgia by Candlelight
A History Class Reading Nostalgia by Candlelight
Nostalgia was a popular topics in history class. When students came back to talk to me after years away from our junior high experiences, they’d often say they recalled with good feelings the time we all read by candlelight. Nostalgia was an emphasis I developed for the end of the year holidays, Thanksgiving and Christmas. […]
It Began with a Manual Typewriter
It Began with a Manual Typewriter
My first typewriter was a treasure and an ally. When I first attended college at UW Superior after graduating from high school in 1966, my parents bought me a desktop full sized Royal typewriter, a heavy and solid model that didn’t slide around on the desk when I typed. It was a well designed machine, […]
Variations on a Hug
Variations on a Hug
Hugs vary depending on the setting. In wishing well to a waitress who just survived a bout with cancer, a full hug meant so much to each of us. Then I realized that hugging can take many forms. Growing up in the Norwegian area of Amery in western Wisconsin, hugs were rare. Maybe at funerals, […]
Remember When You Had This Kind of Energy?
Remember When You Had This Kind of Energy?
Energy. When we were kids it was endless. My memory of running full speed in the pasture over the well shorn field and pasture that the heifers chomped down. About sundown when it started to cool off. The tall weeds, rods to avoid and the strange looking divots that looked like someone buried a body; […]
Desserts Always Topped Off Our Meals
Desserts Always Topped Off Our Meals
Desserts? Always. Growing up in a not so wealthy home and family, Mom made sure we had dessert to look forward to at the end of supper. For lunch and supper, we could count on a dessert. The ritual, if it can be called that, might mean eating a small sweet item or sometimes larger […]
Dear Morgan, It’s Grandma Bonnie
Dear Morgan, It’s Grandma Bonnie
From Grandma Haller. Oh, Morgan, I just love it when you send an email and tell me what’s going on in your classes. I remember those days when I was in school, believe it or not, and in those days girls were only expected to become nurses, teachers, or mothers. Now you have so much […]
Brenda, the Good Shepherd in Western Wisconsin
Brenda, the Good Shepherd in Western Wisconsin
From a modern sheep herder: “People think I’m crazy, but I don’t care.” April can be a busy month for raising sheep because of the birthing and follow-up care needed. Brenda from western Wisconsin says, however, “I love it.” Her worst experience? She sold a lamb to a person who let it starve. Since then […]
Pea Shooter Wakes Up Workers: true history
Pea Shooter Wakes Up Workers: true history
Peashooter as a job. Waking up shift workers in industrial England became a profession, a way to earn money. Using a variety of methods, they woke up people who had contracted with the “wakers”. Early attempts at waking people up meant knocking on room doors, but neighbors complained about the noise in the hallway. The […]
Gladys and Henry Prepare and Perform on Easter Sunday
Gladys and Henry Prepare and Perform on Easter Sunday
Singing at Easter. Above, Henry and Gladys Armitage prepare for the service tomorrow at Our Savior’s Lutheran in Amery. For the last 15 years Henry has sung the Old Rugged Cross on Easter Sunday. (At Christmas, his special song is “O, Holy Night”). They’re cramming on this evening, not having worked on the song as […]