June 11, 2010
Good morning from Collegeville,
This is what the farmers call a “million dollar rain”. June is the wettest month of the year in Minnesota and this year may be true to form. The crops are looking great. Kerry is helping to keep the garden in Upsala under control. If you get out there every day for a few minutes, it is possible to keep most of the weeds out.
The garden is on church property. The parsonage was built in 1892 and in the early fifties the church built a new parsonage and Mary Heisick purchased the old one. In 1971 Mary died and her daughter Irene and husband John (my in-laws) sold the farm and moved to town. Their bachelor farmer son, Jackie, asked for permission to plow up a chunk of ground west of the old parsonage. He planted an asparagus bed further west. I purchased the house from the estate of Irene and now my daughter Kerry and her children live there. I never intended to be a gardener, but after a couple of years of letting it go to seed, I got hold of an old tiller and now I do enjoy gardening.
One of my life goals is to get on the design committee here at St. John’s University. The latest project is the reworking of the plaza between the new church (1961) and The Great Hall. The first step was the removal of the two giant silver maple trees. Steve Wendt of Wendt and Sons did the work. Steve told me that the larger one was “seeded” in 1893 and the smaller one was seeded in 1894. I had no idea that silver maples grew that big. The 11th annual Caramel Roll Ride on the Lake Wobegon Trail takes place tomorrow morning in Albany. Hopefully the rain will let up. You can register at the check-in booth next to the City Hall in Albany. 400 Railroad Avenue 56307. Registration fee for adults is $25, children ages 7 – 15 is $15 and children 6 and under ride free. Check out the new website at www.lakewobegontrail.com I will be there handing out caramel rolls.
The show this week is a live show from the Star Theater in Spokane, Washington. Special guests include the fine whines of veteran troubadours, Robin and Linda Williams, the coolest cow-poke around, Wylie Gustafson and singer-songwriter, Andra Suchy. Enjoy the show.
“Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out” John Wooden
Category : General 