Sophie's Story

     Last week the Cleveland Indians changed their name to the Cleveland Guardians. The name is taken from the Guardians of Traffic statue on a bridge near the park where the team plays. Sport teams in the United States have been slowly ridding themselves of names deemed to be offensive.     I first noticed this many years ago when a controversy arose over the name of the University of North Dakota teams. Since UND was the main rival to North Dakota State University, my alma mater, I paid attention.     I had always known the team as The Fighting Sioux. In 2005 the NCAA and several Native American groups had deemed the nickname to be offensive. Supporters, of course, claimed that the nickname was a source of pride and was not demeaning. This controversy split the UND community with many supporting the name change and others opposing it. In a nutshell, UND was required to get the permission of local Sioux tribes in order to continue use of the...

        After I got my hair done, C and I decided we wanted to do something fun. We decided to drive to Baldwin. Baldwin is a small town in western Wisconsin We thought we'd have some lunch there and go to a store I heard about.     Baldwin has memories for me. When I was a child and  my family travelled to my grandparent's farm, we went through Baldwin Sometimes we would stop to eat at the A&W restaurant just outside of town. I knew when we got to Baldwin that we were halfway to the farm..    C and I drove into Baldwin and drove past the windmill. It looked like the same windmill I remember driving past as a child. It's not a working windmill. It looks more like the windmill you see on boxes of potato chips.      Both of us were hungry so the first thing to do was get lunch. We found a bar and grill on the main street, parked and went inside. There was one guy playing pool and a few people at the bar. The minute ...

   If you read the column I wrote yesterday, you'll know that C and I went on a long bike ride. We rode to Cannon Falls starting at the midway point of the Cannon Valley bike trail. Our plan was to eat lunch in Cannon Falls.  The rule we have for whenever we go on a day trip is that we must eat at a locally owned restaurant not a chain. We knew there were several places in Cannon Falls where we could eat.    C spotted a place where several bikes where parked. A few of the people going in were people who most likely were riding on the CV trail. It looked interesting so we walked out bikes over to it.     It was a small diner. There were a lot of places for bikes all around the restaurant. C and I locked up our bikes and went in. A waitress showed us to a table near the window which made me happy. We could keep an eye on our bikes. It was nice to see all the people. There was a small boy sitting at a table with two women who were most likely his mot...

     C and I found out about the Cannon Valley bike trail from friends of ours at church. Ever since he heard about it C has wanted to ride on it.     The trail runs from Red Wing through the town of Welch and into Cannon Falls. It's about 20 miles long one way. It runs along the Cannon River through fields and a forest areas.    C and I stopped by the midway point in Welch to pick up some information and to check the trail out. It looked good. The trail has a small incline, but not anything unmanageable. We decided the best thing for us to do was to get on the trail at Welch and ride to Cannon Falls and back. It's a 20 mile round trip and would give us a good sample of what the trail is like.    Twenty miles sounds like a long way. C and I have ridden that distance before. When we ride around the lakes in Minneapolis, we go around each lake twice, which is  roughly 20 miles. The big difference is that the trail is a straight shot w...

     "What happened to your wife?" C asked a man that was passing by our row at church. His wife was sitting in a pew with a crutch leaning next to her. We had watched her come in. One foot was in a plastic boot.    "I tripped her," the man replied in a light tone of voice. "Then I kicked her a few times, she likes it." He then continued on his way to talk to another man before Sacrament meeting began.    I froze in my seat for a minute. I couldn't believe what I had just heard. I was shocked. You might be thinking that I just heard a man admit to bettering his wife. I didn't. What I heard, in my eyes, was something much worse. I had just heard a man joke about battering his wife.   I knew that he hadn't done what he said he did. I've known this couple from a distance for many years. She had actually tripped while they were hiking and had badly twisted her ankle. I'm certain that he would be surprised if he thought that I had taken him ...

     One thing about me that most people don't know is that I am a Sunday School teacher. For the past few years I have been assigned to Primary (children ages 3-11). The past few years, another teacher and I have been teaching 8-9 year olds. During Covid we delivered lesson packets to our class. Things were going on well.    Until they decided to have in person classes again.    It was decided that the teachers were going to be reassigned. My partner and I have going to get a new class. We were going to teach the Sunbeams. That is what the three year olds are called. I should have taken this news with good grace.    That's not what I did. I was....not.....happy...... I was just getting accustomed to dealing with the eight year olds. In fact I was starting to enjoy it. Now I was going to have to teach a group of children that I can't understand and have no idea how to deal with. None. How could they do this? Did they think this was funny? I c...

     Last weekend two members of my Toastmaster's group got married. They had been a couple for several years and got engaged two years ago. They had planned to marry last August but Covid intervened. Then a couple months ago they decided to get married. They decided to marry on the second anniversary of their engagement.    The original plan was to marry on the actual anniversary which would be on a Thursday. They would have a small ceremony with a party on the following Saturday to celebrate with more friends and family.  As more and more people expressed an interest in attending the ceremony, it became clear the small ceremony on Thursday would not work.   They would have to have the ceremony on Saturday. Sandy and I talked a  about her wedding plans. I like listening to brides planning their weddings. I like hearing how they decided to do things. I'm interested in hearing how they plan to make the day special and meaningful for themselves and ...