Thanksgiving, 2025

                                     My boys have outgrown me!

Pie Day

 Pie day at the Sons of Norway. My menu consisted of a ham smorbrod sandwich, cup of mushroom soup, side of salad, and a piece of sour cream peach pie. Filled me right up!

Random Thoughts - Wed, Nov 19, 2025

 It’s been awhile since my last “Random Thoughts.” Well, here is one today…

Some will soon realize their hideous tattoos are permanent … In my life there have been 15 presidents; therefore this, too, shall pass … When they cremate me, I want them to fill me with popcorn so I go out with a bang … On this day Nov 18, 1872, Susan B. Anthony was arrested by a deputy marshal and charged with illegally voting … In Branson, one restaurant throws the biscuits at you … In Dolly Parton’s, they serve a Cornish hen to each/ it takes a big flock … Too bad Carson Wentz got hurt … High school football came and went … What will result from the release of the Epstein file? … I’m still reading history and watching the PBS Revolutionary times … In one of the Branson theaters, this sign hung over a doorway + Some of the riders at Dolly Parton’s.

Seasons Pass Me By

As we write this, a hearty wind is blowing, gusty and damp, as if saying, “get ready, something stronger is right around the corner.” We leave behind the summer season of growth. The more I age the more I appreciate the summer hatches of geese, the flowering plants, the rustling leaves, the gentle breezes combing the grass. But with that cycle completed the earth has started to rest and will soon pull a blanket of snow over itself to sleep. 

Quite a few seasons have passed me by, and when I stop to look back I can add some memories up as lists. For instance, fifteen different men have held the office of president in my lifetime. Franklyn Delano Roosevelt was the first for me, although I do not remember anything about him. I’ve read many history books about that time, so it seems I have some false memories of him. I do remember his successor in real time, Harry Truman, who took office upon the death of FDR. 

The closer we get to the present day, the more clearly they appear. After FDR and Truman came Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush Sr, Clinton, Bush Jr, Obama, Trump, and Biden. I am reminded of Abraham Lincoln's favorite saying “This too shall pass”

after I look at the list and realize its reality.

Thirteen governors of North Dakota have served the state in my lifetime, beginning with John Moses, the twenty-second governor.  He was born in Strand, Norway on June 12, 1885. His education was attained in Norway, where he attended high school and junior college. After moving to the United States, he continued his education at the University of North Dakota, earning both an undergraduate degree and law degree. Moses was a popular governor who connected with constituents by giving speeches in English, German, or Norwegian depending on the audience. Elected to the U. S. Senate, he served only three months before dying while in office.

If we look at the state’s first governor, John Miller was a bonanza farmer and business man in North Dakota. He served from 1889 to 1891, after it was admitted as a state to the union.

Born of Scotch ancestors in New York state, Miller had moved to Dakota Territory in 1878. With a partner, J. W. Dwight, they bought thousands of acres of land in Richland County.

We can travel back to the first Dakota Territorial governor, William A. Jayne, a medical doctor and  Abraham Lincoln's personal physician. He set up the first territorial government in Yankton. Ten other men followed him in the territorial governor’s chair prior to statehood.

One other group interests me, and I am sorry to say no women have yet appeared as “movers and shakers” in North Dakota’s politics. The group is made up as representatives to North Dakota’s Constitutional Convention in 1889. While in session woman suffrage concerns were led by a historic lady in state politics named Linda Warfel Slaughter. When all was said and done, North Dakota gave women the right to vote on school issues only. Unfortunately for them, women did not receive full suffrage rights until the 19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1920.

In order for the convention to function, delegates were chosen to help draw up the constitution that had to be adopted before the state could achieve official statehood. Delegates came from predetermined districts. While looking at the background of the six men representing this area, including Cass County, something interesting reveals itself. They all came from somewhere else. Andrew Sandager of Lisbon, from Iowa; Reuben Stevens, Lisbon, from New York; Samuel Moer, LaMoure, from Iowa; Eben Chaffee, Amenia, from Connecticut; Enos Gray, Embden, from Maine; William Clapp, Tower City, from Massachusetts.

When you look at the complete roll of all 75 delegates, almost all of them came to Dakota Territory to make their home. The same can be said for the other states that wrote their constitutions at the same time, South Dakota, Montana, and Washington, 136 years ago.

Now plans are being made for The United States Semiquincentennial, a fancy term for this country’s 250th birthday on July 4, which is only about eight months from now. 

I liked the way the Sandra Day O’Connor Institute anticipates this anniversary when they said it isn’t just about dates and documents. It’s about people, places, and stories—millions of them. It’s about how a group of colonies came together in 1776 to declare independence and how that moment set the course for the country we live in now. 

Reaching 250 years is a significant event for any nation. It offers a chance to learn more about how the United States began, how it grew, and how it has changed over time. Every era of American history has shaped the present in some way, from early settlements to westward expansion, from war and invention to civic achievements and cultural growth.

Ms. O’Connor herself represented a step forward when she claimed the distinction of being the first woman seated on the United States Supreme Court. It was a giant leap forward considering the 1889 constitution in North Dakota only gave women the right to vote for school affairs. Justice O'Connor championed civility as a cornerstone of a civil society. The Sandra Day O'Connor Institute's three pillars include civic education, civic engagement, and civil discourse. All are crucial in our current moment, but especially civil discourse, which has rarely been more important and is foundational to our constitutional republic. 

Branson, MO, 2025

 We returned from Branson, MO, tired but happy to have seen many great shows. Here are a few pictures I've collected. Danny O'Donnell is a favorite of many, esp. the ladies.

Veterans Day, 2025

Most of our observed federal holidays come and go without much notice. Some insensitive people might even grumble about no mail or bank service those days. Veterans Day, always on November 11, is upon us. We will just have returned from Branson, Missouri, a town that I’ve concluded is the most patriotic city in the whole USA. We travel with organized bus tours that have always scheduled seven shows per visit. Over the half dozen times we’ve traveled there, I can vouch for the fact that every show we’ve attended has paid respect to veterans in the audience by having them stand and be recognized.

The 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918 has a certain ring to it that we can easily remember. That marks the time when the warring countries agreed to a ceasefire in World War I. Beginning in 1938, the date became a national holiday in remembrance of all citizens who wore the military uniform at any time in our history. 

The buildup to entering this war fought on European  battlefields was complicated, almost beyond understanding. Bullets had started flying already in the summer of 1914 after the assassination of the rather insignificant leader of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Previously, European countries had been harping at one another and were divided into confusing factions of alliances and treaties. As a consequence to the assassination, war began and resulted in a staggering 17 million deaths with 20 million wounded. Probably the best   history of the affair can be found in reading Barbara Tuchman’s The Guns of August.

Here in North Dakota, the mood of the people tended towards maintaining neutrality and that the war in Europe resulted from trade rivalries. As for entering the war, Elwyn Robinson’s book History of North Dakota states “Most North Dakotans believed that munitions makers were behind the preparedness movement.”

President Woodrow Wilson promoted neutrality despite harassment from German submarines that continually sank shipping, including the Lusitania, and a faction who pressured him to enter the war. Wilson maintained his neutrality stance until escalating events forced him to ask Congress for a declaration of war. One good reason for not entering the war had been our woefully unprepared military.

Teddy Roosevelt just couldn’t contain himself. He did not like Wilson and wanted him to step up. He said of his refusal to prepare, “My God, why doesn’t he do something?” Apparently TR wanted to lead a military unit to battle again. Wilson would have none of it, thinking that Mr. Roosevelt would propagandize it into another “Charge up San Juan Hill” and then try to win the presidency again.

The interception of a secret document called the Zimmerman Telegram had a lot to do in convincing Wilson that the U.S. must go to war. Germany had learned of the anti-American sentiment in Mexico and tried to take advantage of it by sending a coded message to Mexico in January 1917. It urged them to consider joining a potential military alliance between Germany, Mexico, and Japan in the event the U.S. entered the war. It promised military and financial support if the Mexicans would attack the United States, and in exchange Mexico would be free to claim its old territory in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona.

“Good Lord,” President Wilson said when he was told of the details. The telegram was then leaked to the American press that published it to an astonished public in March 1917. A month later, America was in the war.

A book titled Ransom County’s Loyal Defenders by Michael and Ann Knudson gives an excellent picture of the county’s contributions to the military in World War I. The following quote from the book states, “There were over 600 veterans from Ransom County who served in many different units, including the Navy, the Marine Corps, and the Army. There were at least five women from Ransom County who served as nurses.” Thirty one county men and women died in service from wounds, accidents, or illness.

I remember years ago hearing the term Armistice Day mentioned while referring to the holiday. In 1954, President Eisenhower officially changed the name of the holiday from Armistice Day to Veterans Day so it would honor all veterans rather than commemorate the end of a single war.  Unlike Memorial Day, Veterans Day pays tribute to all American veterans—living or dead—but especially gives thanks to living veterans who served their country honorably during war or peacetime.

By the way, “Veterans Day”  spelled without the apostrophe is not a grammatical error. According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the holiday doesn’t belong to veterans (in which case it would be Veterans’ Day) but is, instead, “a day for honoring all veterans.” We’ll  commemorate the day many times in Branson, Missouri.

A Dozen Roses

A dozen roses, just because...