Opinion

Valentine’s Day happens to be one of those holidays that becomes less exciting once you are an adult with adult children. In my house, not much hoopla surrounds the holiday. Each year I do gift my children something thoughtful, combined with some form of confection. This year, my daughters received snarky-themed socks and a box of chocolates. My original plan was to send a Door Dash meal to my son as he lives on the Fort Drum military base in New York, and being able to send him a Door Dash or Instacart delivery for holidays like this is very handy. Those kinds of deliveries have also been handy when he calls with “Mom, I’m sick...” and I can send a Instacart delivery of cold medicine, vitamin c and soup within the hour from halfway across the country.

In Which Apologies to A.A. Milne are in Order Very recently, Mùchén, a low-level but good-hearted Chinese administrator of very little brain in the Ministry of National Defense was admitted through a red door to the ovce of The Minister.

Countryside Public Health serves the same five counties as Prairie Five (Big Stone, Chippewa, Lac qui Parle, Swift and Yellow Medicine) and we are so lucky to have them in our region. I’ve gone to them for different vaccines and boosters, sampled produce from a community garden they supported, and enjoyed the sights on one of the walks they developed.

License Plates Question: What is the requirement for displaying front and rear license plates in Minnesota? What is the fine for not displaying both? I notice a lot of vehicles without a front plate, especially on Corvettes and Tesla cars. Answer: Corvettes and Tesla’s are required to have a front license plate in Minnesota, this is a common equipment violation.

Recently my friend Chris suggested something radical: the Paper Plane. That got me thinking. There hasn’t been a hard-hitting piece on the paper plane in a long, long time. Maybe ever. Probably because any wouldbe writer fears his piece de resistance/fate would end up sailing through the sky. But I do not suuer from aerophobia and I am quite comfortable with my writing euorts ending up in all kinds of places, including, sometimes, even the air.

For the last year, I’ve been working on a cre- ative project with photog raphy, building intricate sets in studio and pulling in volunteer models to be costumed and photographed. The end result of this will be an exhibit in a gallery showcasing the work. It’s fairly similar to the final project I worked on at the end of my university coursework for photography, but in this instance I have full creative freedom, whereas that project was specifi cally designed to hit all topics learned in lighting, posing and technique, thus every photo had to be entirely diuerent.

Emergency Vehicle Encounter at an Intersection Question: I was wonder - ing if you are stopped at a stop light in the left turn lane and an emergency vehicle with lights and sirens come in behind you (either in the turn lane or the lane to your right), what is the proper procedure? Thank you! Answer: When it comes to encountering emergency vehicles while stopped at a stop light and the only place to move is the actual intersec - tion, it is best to stay in place and let the emergency vehicle maneuver around your vehi - cle. Unless otherwise direct - ed by law enforcemement.