Winter. It might not be over but it hardly feels like it ever began. Maybe I should watch what I say. As Minnesota-native, Bob Dylan, once sang in Idiot Wind, “change in the weather is known to be extreme.” The sun had yet to rise. Across the dark expanse of lake, I could see the … Continue reading The Winter That Wasn’t
Minneapolis: Photos From the City of Crows
This Old Can
This old can is dented and pocked with holes, one side missing in a jagged outline like someone with a shotgun used it for target practice. I snagged the can from the bottom of Lake Nokomis while jigging for walleyes in my waders. I don’t recall if I caught any fish that evening. Probably not. … Continue reading This Old Can
And I Happened Upon Death
I was one delivery away from completing my postal route yesterday and I happened upon death in the form of a lifeless crow. His dark corpse startled me, so motionless and large on the sidewalk. The black bird must be covered in white snow by now. We had flurries last night in Minneapolis. I suppose … Continue reading And I Happened Upon Death
Scavengers
Each year around Thanksgiving when the season turns cold, a plague of crows descend on the city of Minneapolis from Canada and northern Minnesota. Here are some photographs I recently took of large concentrations of these wintering crows in the treetops above the University of Minnesota campus. Such gatherings of crows are colloquially referred to … Continue reading Scavengers
Under the Bark
Last Sunday, my nine-year-old son and I hiked the perimeter of Pike Island in nearby Snelling State Park. With the Minnesota River bordering one side and the Mississippi River the other, the small wooded island is home to a plethora of wildlife. Early winter is upon us here in Minnesota and there was a light … Continue reading Under the Bark
Lily Pads and Clouds
My thirteen-year-old son returned to the classroom today. This will be his final year of middle school. I’m always deeply saddened to see summer end. At least we had one last bicycle adventure on the river bottoms before he resumed that tiresome slog of quizzes and essays. As we left the neighborhood, I cautioned him … Continue reading Lily Pads and Clouds
Ashes of American Flags—a father’s reflections on George Floyd’s murder and the Minneapolis riots
Life with Fidel (Chapter 1 of The Skinny Kid)
My childhood began inside a brown, single-wide trailer in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The décor was depressing—dark wood paneling, furniture upholstered in varying shades of baby shit, pea green shag carpet, and linoleum like a psychedelic hangover. When I reflect back on the Seventies, I don’t remember disco. No offense to John Travolta, but that … Continue reading Life with Fidel (Chapter 1 of The Skinny Kid)
A Mailman Remembers the Dead
The dead are remembered as they are forgotten because it is the rememberers, after all, who are dying too. I count myself as one of them. What I mean is that when you die people will remember you, but when they die you will be truly gone. It happens. Almost all traces of an individual … Continue reading A Mailman Remembers the Dead
Crow City 