Be the change

© harrington

Welcome! I fear I'll loose a substantial share of my recent readership now that folks will no longer need to check in to see if I'm still a practicing Minnesotan blogger. I was discharged today. (By the way, as much as I could support the idea, I can't verify that Minnesota's heaven looks like this with a lake in the center.) In about two weeks, I'm supposed to go back and get the staples in my head removed. I suspect that may be as bad as it sounds Meanwhile, I intend to do as much as possible to achieve some good and enjoy life. Today, one of my doctors made my day (actually made my life all of which needs to be taken into account to explain where I am today). When a doctor expresses even a mild amount of envy regarding the good I can do in my job, I sure as hell pay attention and decide to do better work. The only other thing of note that's been happening recently on these pages is the beginning of a conversation about 25 books every Minnesotan should read. We're now up to a listing of 15 authors with an objection to one book. Here's the current listing, still in no particular order. I'll try to add links to potential local sources tomorrow. We're still looking for suggestions. Fifteen obviously isn't twenty-five, which number was selected because it seemed like a readable number of books.

Paul Gruchow:	Journal of a Prairie Year
Robert Bly:	Silence in the Snowy Fields
Howard Mohr:	How to Talk Minnesotan: A Visitor’s Guide
Craig Blacklock:	Lake Superior Images
Paul Gruchow and Jim Brandenberg:	Minnesota: Images of Home
Mary Lethert Wingerd:	North Country: The Making of Minnesota
John Tester:	Minnesota’s Natural Heritage: An Ecological Perspective
Jim Gilbert:	Minnesota’s Outdoor Wonders
Sigurd F. Olson	Wilderness Days
Bill Holm:	The Music of Failure
Laura Ingalls Wilder	Little House on the Prairie [series]
Lorna Landvik	Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons
Helen Hoover	The Gift of the Deer; Place in the Woods
Grace Lee Nute	The Voyageurs Highway
Justine Kerfoot	Woman of the Boundary Waters

 If you haven't noticed, our North Country once again seems to dominate. I don't object at all to the attention paid to the peace and beauty of our northwoods and lakes. I do think it's a shame if our magnificent prairie country is neglected. Is this list the best we want to offer the world of readers who want to learn about our Minnesota? Thanks for helping. Come again when you can. Rants, raves and reflections served here daily. By the way, even with bright afternoon sun in my eyes, I am truly, truly grateful and realize I am very very lucky to be writing this from my patio at my house in my yard in My Minnesota. From one who's been to a dangerous corner of life and returned, please don't take anything in your life for granted. The fellow that was in the bead next to mine seems to have a longer path to recovery than I think I'm faced with. Those who should know tell me it could have been much worse for me and mine. Our lives, our loves and our Minnesota are too fragile to be taken for granted or wasted frivolously.