Opinion

This week, I had the pleasure of interviewing Art Norby, an author and artist who resides in Arizona, but was raised in Montevideo. Mr. Norby has authored a number of books, and chooses his hometown of Montevideo to be the setting for them. He and I had a discussion about “serials”, and I’m sure he was quite surprised to know that I am a big fan of them. If you’ve never heard about “serials”, they’re really quite interesting.

Spring is Sprung. Or has it? They say it’s Spring.

When I started my career, I lived in California. I grew up in Sacramento, a town of 1,000,000. I later moved to a small town up north, Redding. Redding was a town with a population of 100,000 where the shock of living in such a “small town” was difficult to adjust to. In these towns, I’ve worked around journalism for the past 25 years. I have always loved journalism. It is the reason I sought my first job in newspapers (Accounting), just so I could be near the printed word in the hopes that maybe someday, my words could be on the page.

My son, who is currently stationed overseas, seems to have acclimated so much to his environment, he has a hard time with remembering what time of day it is in the United States. And so phone calls happen very early in the morning. Most often moments after I actually wake up.

As we’ve been working our way through the transition to new systems, and a new layout, we’ve definitely had some learning by experience moments. We’ve been working out all of the kinks, and brainstorming for the future with the capabilities we now have.

Man vs Golf You know how sometimes you go to visit your parents but you don’t want to stay with them because, you know, they’re your parents? So you decide to stay nearby, but not that nearby because, well, they’re your parents? But it’s also spring break for the kiddos so you dish out a little more scratch than usual and stay not just at a hotel but a resort with a full-on water park, with lots of pools and water slides galore? And you know how the first few days are good, clean family fun, swimming during the days, seeing the folks in the evening but then you learn that the resort offers something else and that something else is… golf? And you know how halfway through your stay, the PGA walks in like they own the joint? I hate it when that happens. One minute, parking is first come first serve, the next it’s: Are you with the Open? Oh, you’re not with the Open.

As April 1st draws near, one of my favorite holidays on the horizon, I can’t help but think about my grandfather. You see, if any of you ever traveled to Hanley Falls and visited any of his businesses - Stölen Foods, Stölen Guns, Stölen Antiques, Stölen Construction and whatever other businesses he had going on over the years that I may have forgotten about, then you may have found yourself the victim of a prank. Certainly, none of the ladies that gathered in the mornings for coffee in the “cafe” side of Stölen Foods was safe from his antics.

This column takes pride in bringing to light the truest truth. Saint Patrick was no saint.

It was a chilly weekend across the state of Minnesota. Highs on Sunday were only in the 20s and 30s.