Clinging to a Minnesota Spring
By Diane Dettmann
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“Often as I trekked along the snow-covered roads during my walks I wondered, ‘What keeps me in this frigid, gray winter state?’”
True Gifts of Christmas
By Diane Dettmann
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Over the years, my family’s lives have moved in new directions and we seldom are able to come together in one place. . .The true gifts of Christmas are love for each other, hope in times of darkness and keeping the memories of those we love wrapped in our hearts forever.
A Small-Town Artist With a Big Heart
By Diane Dettmann
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Kate Sullivan has learned a lot about herself as a woman and as an artist. She’s dedicated to preserving the fiber art processes of spinning, weaving and rug making that have been a tradition in the small town of Afton for generations.
Father’s Day: Let Us Now Praise Steadfast Men
By Diane Dettmann
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My father, Harold Elleson, had all the virtues expected of a husband and father in Minnesota in the 1940s: he was loving, steadfast, dependable, faithful. His was a hard-luck life, and, like Minnesota fathers back then, he shouldered his burdens without complaint.
CHANGE? Diane Dettmann Responds to Our March Challenge
By Diane Dettmann
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In which the author tries to placate the Change Lioness with convincing excuses for staying put.
July 4 in Afton, Minnesota: Heartfelt in the Heartland
By Diane Dettmann
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Afton, just fifteen miles east of downtown St. Paul, is a step back in time. Afton has no shopping malls, fast food restaurants, or stoplights. On a normal day it has very little traffic. Well, a traffic jam might happen if more than three cars arrive at the post office at the same time.
Minnesota, Colder than Antarctica: Winter-Coping Tips from a Native
By Diane Dettmann
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Tip No. 7: Invest in a high-powered electric blanket. Before retiring, crank the dial to “high." Wait two hours. Pull on your flannel pajamas and socks. Crawl under the covers. Snuggling and hot sex optional, but highly recommended.
Reconnecting . . . but Warily
By Diane Dettmann
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Why would a Mounds View High School classmate invite me to a mini-reunion after nearly 50 years? Most of the ladies on the list were cheerleaders, honor students, and class leaders. But my lack of fashion sense and my incessant studying had definitely qualified me for the “out group.”
Inheriting an 88-Year-Old Mother-in-Law
By Diane Dettmann
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Standing in my bedroom, dressing for my retirement party, I heard a tiny voice filtering down the hallway and through the door. I hobbled into the living room; my eyes landed on a petite lady, dressed in a blue suit, relaxing in our swivel rocking chair. She smiled at me. My first thought was, “Oh my God, that’s my future mother-in-law!”
Valentines—the Second Time Around
Valentine’s Day is about sharing our lives and love with others. Which is what every day should be!
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Icicles in Their Hair: Christmas in Embarrass, Minnesota
Christmas Eve in "The Cold Spot of the Nation": At dinnertime we ate in shifts, with the youngest children squirming on their mothers’ laps while the older cousins squeezed in wherever they could find a space. The early-evening meal disappeared quickly and was followed by the stream of bathers bundled in jackets walking through the snow to and from the sauna, with icicles occasionally dangling from their hair.
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Rediscovering Our Passions
My mother, like many '50s wives, embraced her household jobs with vigor and pride. Every Friday she “shoveled out the camp.” She tackled the kitchen sink stains with Hilex and scouring powder, scrubbed the worn linoleum floor on her hands and knees with Spic and Span, sterilized the bathroom from floor to ceiling. For a while she continued to dabble in her painting and embroidery . . .
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