The Ghost of Christmas Celebrations Past

No, you haven't stepped backwards in time. This blog post is just to announce the re-publishing of my most recent Drummer article. It's the last feature article I'll be publishing to my site until I finish writing one of the 2-3 stories I've been toying with. Really, I'm just waiting for a nice day to go take pictures. Today is not it.

The Ghost of Christmas Celebrations Past was a combination article. It was about a "Victorian Tea" event and a time in the Victorian period of history. Its point was to explore how Christmas celebrations had changed over the last 100 years, but really, how much it had stayed the same. It was a lot of fun to write and especially research, since I got to "play" with real historical artifacts. And I got to know some of the great people at the Rockford Area Historical Society. I hope to donate some of my time and energy there in the near future as the building and activities there thaw out for the winter.

On December 7th of this year, the Rockford Area Historical Society held its 19th annual Christmas Tea at the Ames-Florida-Stork House, where visitors could experience how Christmas was celebrated in Wright County at the turn of the 20th century. It might seem hard to imagine, but with all the advances in technology and changes in lifestyle that have occurred in the past few years, many Christmas customs have been unchanged for over a century. Most of these traditions can trace their roots to the period known as the Victorian Era, between 1837 and 1901. In many aspects, Christmas is celebrated much the same way now as it was back then.

For those who are unfamiliar with the Ames-Florida-Stork House located at 8131 Bridge Street in Rockford, it is a museum that contains 150 years worth of preserved rural Minnesota history. George Ames, who helped to found Rockford around 1855, began construction on the home in 1860. It belonged to the Ames family until the home was sold after George’s death in 1875 to his friend, Joel Florida. It was passed among members of the Florida family for almost 60 years until it was purchased in 1936 by Clinton and Meda Stork. Realizing how special it was, the house was lovingly restored and maintained by the Storks and its treasures shared with the community. In 1985, the house was purchased anonymously and donated to the city. The Rockford Area Historical Society (RAHS) was created in 1986 to help the city preserve and manage it ever since.

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Third Annual Minnesota Garlic Festival

This was one of my favorite articles to research and write ever for the Wright County Drummer! I didn't know that Minnesota had a Garlic Festival until I was trying to find ideas on what to write about. This is one of my new favorite 1-day events. As expected, there is garlic everywhere, but there are other things too. My particular favorite were these jars of jams and jellies we bought that were fruit mixed with hot peppers. The flavors I think were Strawbanero, Raspbanero, and Bluebanero and they were awesome with cream cheese and crackers. The whole event was a feast for the senses.

On August 16th of this year, thousands of people attended the Third Annual Minnesota Garlic Festival at the Wright County Fair Grounds in Howard Lake. The Garlic Festival is a family friendly and fun-filled event for garlic lovers of all ages. Hosted by the Crow River Chapter of the Sustainable Farming Association of Minnesota, this fragrant and flavorful festival promotes gourmet garlic farming within the state.

The Sustainable Farming Association of Minnesota supports the development and enhancement of sustainable farming systems through innovation, demonstration, education, and farmer-to-farmer networking. Founded by Jerry Ford, the Crow River Chapter president, the Minnesota Garlic Festival itself was started in support of vital rural communities, sustainable farms, local food, and a healthy environment. It’s also a fun and entertaining way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

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National Night Out Across the USA

National Night Out across the USA was the second article I wrote for the Wright County Drummer. This one wasn't quite as much fun to write because I was writing it as an informational piece before the event. I briefly attended NNO events nearby, but had a lot of work to do at the time, so I couldn't linger. Not too long after National Night Out happened, Minnesota decided that it wouldn't do it anymore and instead would to Night to Unite. Anyways, hers is the first paragraph of the article:

On August 5th, thousands of families across the country will gather together in their respective communities to participate in this year's National Night Out. This national-but-local event provides an opportunity for people to meet and mingle with their neighbors, laying the groundwork for a more close-knit community. It’s also a night during which residents can foster a relationship with the badge-wearing members of society that keep their neighborhoods safe. Wright County will be no different, as thousands of residents in local cities and communities will be holding their own National Night Out festivities.

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Great Parks in Wright County

Great Parks in Wright County was the very first article I wrote for the Wright County Drummer. Before the research I wasn't aware there was such a variety of parks available there. Camping and swimming galore! And tramping through the woods to get pictures was a lot of fun.

It was the first time I really exposed myself to writing a story outside my typical environment behind a desk and with a book in my hand. It has set off a desire to escape indoors as often as possible, because the outside world fosters such creativity. Something about the fresh air, sunlight, and light breezes really cleans out your senses.

Re-posting this article right now is very appropriate, too. The weather gets more mild with each passing day. It reminds me of how nice it was outside when I was doing my, ahem, research (tramping through the woods). The first paragraph really says it all:

Though it is easy to get caught up in the fast pace of modern life, it is important to take a step back and relax – probably more often than many of us do. Add to this the fact that this is Minnesota, where cold temperatures, snow, and ice dominate the landscape for about half of each year. The result is that when summertime rolls around, Minnesotan’s tend to spend many warm days outside at parks, swimming at beaches, and tooling around 10,000 lakes in all manner of watercraft.

Continue reading Great Parks in Wright County.

Cheating on My Blog

But in a good way! I've been adding some pages and links to the writing, editing, and proofreading samples page of my website. I am long over-due to update it, 'cause it barely had anything on it. What's more, in order to do the site properly, I needed a place to put my photos.

Ever since I found Flickr, I've been really gung ho about finally getting all of my articles up. What point is having a webpage to advertise your skills if there is nothing on it? No point at all, no reason to stay on the site if there is nothing to read, so I'll be adding more and more examples of the type of work I've been doing over the next few days and weeks.

I'm going to continue to post to this blog two or three times a week and I'm only going to allow one of those posts to be a promo for the articles I'm putting on my site. It's going to be a busy few weeks around here, but it will be worth it!

Haiku News - March 22 2009

Thriftiness is not
firing the help. It’s to not
hire in the first place.

The Australian
fire victims, human or beast,
persevere, live on.

Eat, drink, be merry:
The best things in life are good
for body and mind.

Something New

Wow, have I been a busy bee! I started a new daily writing project last week for one of my clients, so I have been adjusting my schedule. I should be back to my regularly scheduled 2 blog posts per week beginning next week. In the meantime, I have started something new.

Dissatisfied with how the Moon Halo pictures I took showed up on my Blogger site, I've started my own photo stream with Flickr. Now I can upload them and have them look as good as I want them to without sacrificing quality. Then I could also use links to show the images and I won't have to worry about using up my storage space on this blog, which could go towards other things.

Here is one picture from my first and most recent photo set. It's from the vacation to Fort Myers Beach, Florida, I took just a few weeks ago. It's been nice here in Minnesota for the past week, but today, the first official day of spring, it snowed. Though its not sticking around, it is cold and I miss the 85 degree weather, the sand between my toes, and the smell of salt in the air.

Go ahead and take a look at the rest of the album if you're pining for sun, surf, and sand, or at least just a little warmth. Summer days aren't that far away!

Moon Halos and Coronas

I was up ungodly early this morning, as I often am. The moon, high in the sky when I left the house, was radiantly bright in its full form at 4:30 a.m. Usually, nothing of interest happens on my early morning excursions, but as I returned home, I noticed that instead of just one bright light in the sky, there were three. A ring of dim light that was now circling the moon was brightest at the horizon, creating the opposite of what is known as "sun dogs." Basically, when you see either of these atmospheric anomalies, its because it is damn cold. So cold, that ice crystals have formed in the air and are reflecting the moonlight (or sunlight).

Cold or not, I'm glad I got to see this and better yet, that I was able to snap some pictures of it. I need a new and better digital camera so I can get even better pictures than these!


Here you can see the "dogs" faintly with standard photography with a +2 exposure compensation (the most I could give it on my crappy camera).


Here you can see them better with the +2 and "Tungsten" lighting, whatever that means. It gives it the bluish color and I think its pretty!


Diagonal regular photograph to try and get the full picture.


Tungsten light setting.

Another phenomenon that accompanies such ice crystals are moon coronas. That's when the ice crystals make the outline of the moon appear fuzzy.



Finally, here is a picture of a moon pillar. This is when the ice crystals make it look like there is a beam of light emanating outward from the top and bottom of the moon and in some cases, from the sides.

This exercise in photography has made me really, really want to get a better digital camera and even a different place to put these photos, because the small space here doesn't do them justice.

Florida Vacation Inspired Haiku

Okay, so it has been nearly a month since my last post and I was the antithesis of a prolific blogger last month both personally and professionally. I did have a good excuse though: I was preparing for and then taking a vacation in sunny Fort Meyers Beach, Florida! Visiting a tropical location was a fantastic escape from the bitter cold we've been experiencing here in Minnesota. My trip inspired me to write some poetry, so here are some haiku for your amusement!

As we head southward,
watch the temperature rise:
Thirty to eighty.

You stay in your lane,
I'll be sure to stay in mine
and we'll both drive on.

Sun, sand, surf, and shells:
Signs one is on vacation.
Don't forget the rum!

Snow in The Cities,
I am in my bikini.
Florida, my friend.

Sitting on the beach,
moonlight shines on the ocean.
Waves lap at the shore.

Driving northward bound
the thermometer drops from
Eighty to zero.

Little silver car
always in the passing lane:
Move the hell over.

Soft bed, I missed you.
Allow me to count the ways:
1, 2, 3, Zzz, Zzz.