By JIM LUTGENS

Editor/Publisher

Another ballplayer with area connections has a shot at the big time.

Jake Johansen, grandson of longtime New Richland residents Ken and Neom Johansen, was drafted in the second round by the Washington Nationals last Friday and signed a contract the next day.

It wasn’t a first for Johansen, who was featured in the Star Eagle in 2009 after being drafted in the 45th round — the 1,364th overall pick — by the New York Mets straight out of Allen, Texas High School.

Last week he was chosen No. 68 overall and, according to officials, it could have been higher.

His extended family, which includes aunt and uncle Jan and Greg Jacobson of rural New Richland, could not be prouder of Jake both as a pitcher and a person.

How do you know? There is so much information out there, you don't know what to believe. There is probably always a little truth and a little fantasy in everything. Sometimes you have to go with your gut feeling and maybe use a little common sense thinking. It is good to remember that because I think or say something you still need to decide what is best for you. There are things in the past that seem out of date today but maybe they are still real. I call it B.C.: before chemicals and convenience.

Before chlorine there were other methods of sanitation and cleaning. Peroxide not only cleansed the germs from minor scrapes, it was added to the laundry to whiten whites and disinfect or could be used as a mouthwash. Try it, you will like that bubbly feeling as it works to remove all that bacteria in your mouth.

Every table had cruets of vinegar and oil to use on vegetables, salads and meats. There is something about vinaigrette dressing that seems clean and refreshing. So many things have reduced value because it is cleaned up — processed. Why are we obsessed with making something pretty when it is better to leave it alone?

Remember Mother of Vinegar? It was there for a purpose. (Still available at a price, it still has different characteristics than the old style vinegar.)

Fruits and vegetables can be safely washed to remove chemicals in a 1 part vinegar to 10 parts water solution instead of the pricey kinds you can buy.

Spraying a room with vinegar as a deodorant won't give you those sweet smells, but the scant vinegar smell soon disappears and it will make the air clean. It can also be used to clean surfaces. It works well to clean windows and mirrors and is cheaper than commercial cleaners. You don't have to use the expensive vinegar, distilled or white is a household staple.

Lemon juice or peroxide will brighten and remove stains in the laundry. They did a great job, long before chlorine came on the market.

In my grandmother’s day, she used a broom, hoe and lots of hand labor, but there were benefits — no chemicals to pollute the atmosphere, she got her exercise, time to think and there was a calm, serene feeling as she moved that hoe and often silent meditation time.

Low-calorie, sugar-free, fat-free can be deceiving. There is a theory that often these items have been enhanced with other not-so-nutritious and often not-as-healthy substitutes. Being creative helps. Taking the time or using a chart to discover correct seasonings supplies flavor saving for salt-free meals. Substituting what you do have works. No onion, use onion flakes. No celery, use two carrots instead of one. Get the point? Natural is naturally better. For some reason your body seems to know the difference. Sugar-free sounds good but many sugar-free foods have chemical sweeteners that are harmful to our health. The only sugar substitute I know of that is not full of chemicals is Stevia, because if comes directly from a plant. There are other sweeteners that seem to be more popular, but they contain sucrose. Stevia can be used "one-for-one" with sugar for baking purposes.

When our family used to visit my dad’s brother’s home in South St. Paul we knew the amounts of food would not be as generous as we often felt we had to have. George's wife, Marcie, was a smart cookie! She cooked by reality of how much was needed and not by "overload." Meat was sliced thin and cake (made from scratch) was too. How many times do we go by the amount of servings it suggests on the label packaging? 

History books tell us how ancient ancestors would often lay down to eat because they felt their stomach would hold more and fat was significant of wealth. We laughed about it as school kids. How stupid it was, yet we often do the same thing. Portion sizes are often a waste of money and fat on the butt. Paying attention to portion sizes saves money and is a healthier way of living. Much as we might love them - "all-you-can-eat" – is not a good advertisement.

Television shows that show food being misused, thrown, or excessive amounts being exploited, really go against my feelings about food. Advertising and adults often influence poor food choices for children. I vote for the kids who seem to know better without that influence. Tell them why and they seem to remember why some things are taboo or should only be eaten sparingly.

Sale or no sale, never buy more than you can prepare and eat before spoilage. What spoils and you end up throwing away is not a savings. Be creative before spoilage takes over. Wilted items can be juiced, souped, or baked into breads. Banana bread is a good example.

Buy fresh produce that doesn't spend too much time in transit or in a warehouse. A busy market place is a good indication of freshest products. Farmers markets abound in freshness. Reading labels for nutritional value isn't enough. We must look for the expiration date.

Be cautious of what you have in your kitchen. It is easy to get caught up in extras when you forget what you have at home in the kitchen cupboard.

They are telling us we should get rid of plastic coverings. Paper bags, no bags or mesh sacks are better. Think garbage disposable or temporary use as opposed to storage.

Plastic containers are popular but not as safe as glass. This is especially so when heating items. I don't use a microwave a great deal, and my grandmother wouldn’t have one in the house. The convenience is there, but there are those who would argue as to what microwaving does to food. I guess it is O.K. to microwave water.

Choices are yours to make. You know your body because you live with it 24 hours a day. What is good for one may not be good for another. You make the choice!

Birthdays and anniversaries:

• Thursday, June 13th: Steve & Rhonda Christensen, Fran & Fred Kennedy, Marilyn & Gary Ulland, Keith & Kristin Hamberg, Kaden Jon Homuth, Cory Donald Haberman, Brent Reese, Ray Otteson, Tira Vangen, Corey Haberman, Tristan Richards, and Gary Jepson

• Friday, June 14th: Camille Marjean Dunlap, Summer Stieglbauer, Herb Moon, Kelly Wacek, David Broskoff, James Deml, Obert Osmundson Jr., Richard Peterson, Mitchell Kubat and Michael & Stacy Keith  

• Saturday, June 15th: Donny & Mavis Bartsch, Dale & Nadine Strenge, Dale & Marlene Peterson, DeWayne Hagen, James Bremer, Dale Anderson, Jennifer Robertson, Kathy Jensen, Kim Nelson, Logan Vietze, Ken Sable, and Ovanna Haried

• Sunday, June 16th: Andren Richard Aaseth, Aven Leo Aaseth, Emily Otto, Bethany Otto Mikesell, Doug Smith, Lorraine Wallace, Vonda Humburg, Kenny Evenson, Kari Ingvaldson, Heather (Crabtree) & Keith Krenke, Rochelle (Butler) & Brent Chapman, Tracy & Paul Marcus, Richard & Becky Axmann, Kim (Anderson) & Rich Schneider and Dale & Marlene Peterson

• Monday, June 17th: Kimberly & Mike Luhring, Jim & Jeanne Worrell, Tiffany (Moon) & Josh Krueger, Natalie Jean Aaseth, Jim Hohansee, Eric Tobiason, Joshua Churchill, Aaron Casterton, Matthew Xavier, Tim Butler, and Anna Kay Hardyman.

• Tuesday, June 18th: Keturah Katherine Mae Gassmann, Brett Hagen, Dennis O'Neil, Dave Lieberg, Marie Dobberstein, Marvin Enzenauer, Bonnie Nelson, Krysti Cameron, Margo & Milton Wayne,

 Wayne & Diane Jensen, Greg & Linda Pavek, Brad & Tammy Thompson, Kathy (Barnett) & Chad Peterson, Amy & Brady Jensen, (2011)

• Wednesday, June 19th: John Jerome Olson, Josephine Ann Olson, Julie (Vanden Heuvel) & Dale Horihan, Ellen (Johnson) & Mark Johnson, Al & Carol Schultz, Julie & Chad Cornelius, Guy & Tracy Cromwell, Fred & DeLoyce Schmidt, Melissa & Scott Anderson, Tammy & Jeff Busho, Rich & Susan Hanson, Cesar & Heather Rosas, Ashlie Pence, Johnathan David Schewe, Mary Ann Stone, Jean Pelzl, Theresa Kasper, Monty Spurr, Erica Van Kampen, Tracy Cromwell, Erica McClaskey, and LaVerne Calverly

Wishing you a very special day blooming with warm and happy memories!

The amount of moisture we have had in the area the last few weeks has not only greened things up but has raised the water levels in our lakes and streams, which is good. This spring has been especially hard on the farmers who make their livelihood growing corn and soybeans.

The fishing in the area has been has been pretty darned good when it comes to panfish and Fountain Lake has been giving up some dandy northern. The walleye fishing on Walnut Lake was going hot and heavy earlier this spring.

My oldest grandson Trevor has been hitting the lakes in our area hard with some very good results. He has been catching a lot of nice northern and some dandy bass. Trevor has a nice fishing boat and he spends most of his spare time putting it to good use. He has probably caught and released more fish in this short fishing season than I’ve caught in the last five years. This is great to see because I know he is a true outdoorsman and does things the “right way” which makes Grandpa proud.

It is so important we get our youth interested in hunting and fishing to ensure the future of our outdoors heritage will be preserved. Seeing my grandsons interested in the outdoors brings back many memories of my own youth. In the summertime I was always doing something that involved fishing or nature. Maybe it was partly because my access to other activities was limited because I lived in the country

There were times when a few of us kids would walk a “crick” just to see where it went. Occasionally we would get in trouble if we went too far and were gone too long without notifying the wardens (moms).  Walking a “crick” didn’t always mean fishing, it just meant we’d follow it to see what types of critters were living those waters. One hot August afternoon my friend Jim and I followed a small creek that eventually connected to Goose Lake from the north. We found this small “crick” had dried up in places, leaving only pools alive with small bluegills, bullheads, minnows, crayfish and frogs. As a kid this was exciting, but yet sad at the same time because I knew there was nowhere for those creatures to go and what the end result would be. The exciting part was finding those bluegills in that water because we usually never saw other “edible” fish except for bullheads. Walking that small stream was exciting because the natural flow and route of the water was how it was always meant to be.

I spent many summers walking Lime Creek south of Emmons with my cousin Richard. That “crick” wound snakelike through the pasture of their farm. To me that is what a stream should be, natural, with a few trees and bushes sprinkled in. There were times we’d swim in that creek only to go around the corner and find the cows standing in the water doing what cows naturally do. I imagine that is why Senora, Richards’s mother, always made us take a shower after swimming.

I always enjoy watching the creek that winds through Twin Lakes from Lower Twin and eventually finds its way to Grass Lake and the Shellrock River. There is just something peaceful about seeing a creek that has not been turned into a drainage ditch but has been allowed to flow naturally as nature intended. As you travel farther north in our state you will see many beautiful streams and rivers that have not been altered and are pretty much untouched by man. Observing nature as it was meant to be always gives me that “life-is-good” feeling.

I was curious about the difference between a brook, stream and creek and the answer I found on the trusty Internet made some sense. A brook flows on pretty much flat land and sort of meanders along, a stream flows a little faster, and the beloved creek I always talk about flows even faster yet. If this is the case, do creeks in late summer turn into brooks as the water level goes down? Just a thought.

If you find a dry day and want a little exercise, taking a walk or a bike ride on one of our area trails can be a great way to enjoy nature and get a little exercise as a bonus. I have always liked walking on the Blazing Star Trail early in the morning because morning is my favorite part of the day and there are not as many folks out at that time. If you haven’t given it a try now is as good a time as any.

On another note: I have been seeing a black and white cat in my yard for the last few weeks and in that same time period I have found dead birds and a dead baby rabbit. No wonder the birds quit coming to the feeder. I did have quite a collection of critters between my yard and the neighbors that I enjoyed watching. Cats find baby birds easy pickings, so please keep your pets at home this time of the year. I am not a cat hater, but I feel if I really wanted one, I’d have one. Besides, I can pretty much see more cats than I care to on Facebook.

Until next time; get outdoors and enjoy some fishing, take a walk or just take in the beauty of one of our many lakes and streams of the area.

Please remember our service men and women who serve our country so that we may enjoy the many freedoms that we have today.

Echoes from the Loafers’ Club Meeting

"I lost three balls today."

"Where were you golfing?"

"Who said anything about golf? I was bowling."

Driving by the Bruces

I have two wonderful neighbors — both named Bruce — who live across the road from each other. Whenever I pass their driveways, thoughts occur to me, such as: I discovered gold the other day. It came out of a gas pump.

The news from Hartland

The Corporal Store (one day, it will be a General Store) reminds shoppers that the western department is on the east side of the store and that they will match all prices higher than theirs.

Cat arrested and charged with tongue thefts.

Things No One Wants Store offers a 10-for-the-price-of-1 sale.

I’ve learned

"Ah, ha" moments come right after "oh, oh" moments.

Forgetting where you put things is an effective exercise program.

We should listen to our bodies unless they trash talk us.

The boy nose diets

My young grandson was eating some onion-flavored corn snacks and put one of them up his nose.

I related this tale to a friend, who asked a question she already knew the answer to, "I wonder which side of the family he takes after?"

Perhaps this youngster will one day, after eating all the pickles in a jar, save the juice for use as a sandwich dip.

My grandson knows he's supposed to eat the snacks, which I find nasty, but he also knows that he’ll get more attention if he places one in his nose. I think he might have stumbled upon an innovative, new diet. When we want to lose weight, we stuff snacks into a nostril instead of eating them.

Camping with a cat

A friend told me that she and her husband went camping with their seven kids and a cat. They filled a Suburban the size of an apartment with people, camping supplies, and a cat. The cat went along because it wasn’t always easy to find a good cat sitter in that part of the world. They took along a nice china bowl for the cat to eat from. The family did that because they knew that while cats enjoy camping, they don’t want to do without the finer things in life while they are roughing it.

Did you know?

John Wayne was born Marion Morrison in Winterset, Iowa in 1907. He grew up in California and earned his nickname Duke as a child because he was always with his Airedale dog, Duke. People began calling him Little Duke. He liked that name better than Marion and it stuck.

According to the Writers Guild of America the top 10 best written TV series of all time are, in descending order, The Sopranos, Seinfeld, The Twilight Zone, All in the Family, M*A*S*H, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Mad Men, Cheers, The Wire, and The West Wing.

Louisiana is the state with the highest percentage of native-born residents at 78.8 percent. Michigan is second at 76.6. Iowa is seventh (71.7) and Minnesota eleventh (68.8).

Nature notes

I checked a bluebird box housing nesting tree swallows. There was fur in the box. I suspect it had been plucked from an eastern cottontail rabbit that had been killed on the road. Only about 1 percent of bunnies live to be 2 years old. A Buick bugs bunnies. A road isn't the best habitat for a rabbit. It’s bad rabbitat. Almost everywhere else is good habitat for a rabbit. Under the deck of a house is a great spot for a rabbit. It hops out from the security of that location whenever it’s hungry and uses its incisors like scissors to devour vegetation. This has little to do with anything, but a rabbit’s tail is sometimes referred to as a scut. Tree swallows favor large feathers, particularly white ones, for their nests. I surmised that the fur had been placed there by a black-capped chickadee that had considered the nest. Chipping sparrows and tufted titmice also use hair from animals for their nests. There are no titmice in my yard and the chipping sparrows would not use the nest box. A robin’s nest in a small tree teetered precariously in the strong wind. My wife tied the nest in place. The robins didn’t miss a beat in feeding the three babies. It had been dry. It became wet. We all knew it would happen. Each season of each year has its own agenda. It rained hard as I watched the mother robin spread her wings to make sure her nest of babies was adequately covered and kept dry.

Meeting adjourned

A kind word is the voice of a smile.

At the beginning of the funeral service for Kenny Toft, held at First Lutheran Church in Ellendale, the Rev. Richard Sliper asked for those wanting to speak to come to the microphone. Two people spoke.

The first speaker was Chuck Crabtree. Chuck told about his being a lifelong resident of Beaver Lake, and what he had noticed regarding the pranks pulled between Ed Jensen and Kenny Toft. He had noticed a number of items on the flagpole at Kenny’s that shouldn’t be there. From his observations he knew they were the best of neighbors.

Norrine Jensen, wife of Ed Jensen, was the second speaker. She told how Kenny and Ed were the catcher (Kenny) and pitcher (Ed) of the Great Beaver Lake Baseball Team for a number of years, and later in life lived across the road from each other at Beaver Lake. She mentioned that earlier in the morning Ed had put a baseball in the coffin with Kenny.

Kenny and Ed were very good at pranks on the baseball field – any prank was okay as long as it helped their team win.

One of their best pranks was when they played the Pontoppidan Nine of Lemond (pronounced “Lamond”) Lutheran Church (the church can be found by following the Lemond Road west out of Owatonna). To be on the team, you had to be a member of Pontoppidan Lutheran Church with a last name ending in “-son.” (The player’s last name was either Anderson, Hanson, Jacobson, Johnson, Larson, Nelson, Paulson, Swenson, or Tollefson.)

The game was played at Beaver Lake Park, with the winner playing Albert Lea for the Minnesota State Amateur Championship. With the score at 2-1 in the top of the ninth with the Beaver Lake team ahead, it was time for Kenny and Ed to win with any prank possible. The Pontoppidan Nine managed to load the bases with nobody out and 3 balls and 2 strikes on the batter.

Kenny Toft called for time out and a new shiny baseball. The umpire granted his wish, and Kenny went to the mound for a conference with Ed and the other infielders. As Kenny left the mound you could see him give the white ball to Ed as the infielders went back to their positions.

The ump said “Play ball!” and the batter stepped back into the box. Ed wound up and threw one of his famous fastballs. The batter swung and was called out, even though the white (paper) ball never reached home plate. The shortstop, who had the real ball, tagged the runner off second base out, and threw to the first baseman, who tagged the runner off first base out. He then threw to home, and Kenny tagged out the runner from third trying to score. Net result: four outs and Beaver Lake won 2-1.

How do I know all this to be true? Because my father Harold was the batter. My uncle Mentor tried to score from third. My uncle Laurel was the pitcher. My aunt Lois was the cheering section leader, and I was the young batboy.

Ed took the winning ball home with him. Where is that ball today? Please reread what Norrine Jensen said at the funeral of Kenny Toft.

———

Bob is a retired AAL (Aid Association for Lutherans) agent, currently working on his master’s degree in Volunteering. His wife, Genie, is a retired RN, currently working on her doctor’s degree in Volunteering. They have two children, Deb in North Carolina, and Dan in Vermont. Bob says if you enjoy his column, let him know. If you don’t enjoy it, keep on reading, it can get worse. Words of wisdom: There is always room for God.

When the scurs are on a tear, they’re tough to stop. Of course when all you predict is cold, wet and cloudy, odds of being right have been pretty good. How good will this week be? Starting Wednesday, mostly cloudy with a good chance of a shower or thunderstorm. Highs in the upper 70s and lows in the upper 50s. Mostly sunny on Thursday with highs in the upper 70s and lows in the low 60s. Partly cloudy on Friday with a modest chance of a daytime shower or thunderstorm with a better chance in the overnight. Highs in the upper 70s and lows in the mid 60s. Partly cloudy on Saturday with a modest chance of a shower or thunderstorm. Highs near 80 and lows in the low 60s. Partly cloudy Sunday with a slight chance of a shower or thunderstorm. Highs in the low 80s with lows in the low 60s. Monday, partly cloudy with a modest chance of a shower or thunderstorm. Highs in the upper 70s and lows in the mid 60s. Mostly sunny on Tuesday with highs in the upper 70s and lows in the low 60s. On June 15th we will see 15 hours and 28 minutes of daylight, with only one more minute to gain by the summer solstice. On June 15th the normal high is 79 and the normal low is 58. The scurs will be staying up past their bedtime to enjoy every minute of the warmer weather.

The past week saw very slow meaningful progress once again. Fields remained too wet for widespread planting to occur in general. The only fortunate thing about the cool conditions so far has been the slow growth of the weeds in most fields. Most farmers used a pre emerge herbicide on the corn and it has paid big dividends as operators wait for fields to dry enough for post emerge applications. Some of the corn planted in May under less than ideal conditions is beginning to emerge and somehow, the stands don’t look too bad. There was additional corn stabbed into some of the dead spots in areas, although the time for that is soon running out. Soybeans remain largely unplanted, although a few days of dry weather could change that rapidly. We continue to get just enough rain in areas to keep fields from becoming fit and the calendar becomes an increasingly large factor even with soybeans. Yields of soybeans planted in mid-June generally fall into the 30 – 40 bu./acre range and decrease from there down to the 15 – 20 bu./acre range once we get into July. After about July 10th, all bets are off as to whether a crop could be harvested for grain. Soybeans could be harvested as a forage as oddly enough, that’s what they were first used for back in the early 1900s.

Something that continues to grow extremely well this spring is area lawns. As one observer pointed out recently, it’s already time in a lot of cases to put a sharp set of blades on. Once the grass starts to head out, it gets tough and isn’t nearly as easy to cut as it was early on. And if you’re like moi, battling to keep up with it and only able to mow late in the day once a week, you’re probably mowing grass that’s wet and longer than you’d like. A sharp set of blades never hurts in that circumstance. I have a hunch the evening lawn mowing here may be coming to a screeching halt pretty soon if the burgeoning mosquito population has anything to say about it. 

Some area gardeners have taken to their gardens finally. Here at the ranch we’re getting closer, although water was still standing on the edge of the main garden Monday morning. Unlike Betsy’s Dad, who has a system tiled garden, ours seems to have become wetlands. We’re going to have to file for prevented planting pretty soon if it doesn’t change. We may opt more towards some container gardening for some things and plant things we know will still make it given the shorter growing season we’re likely to have. Things like string beans, sweet corn, cucumbers, tomatoes, and peppers will all still be fine for several weeks yet. We were planning to plant some things anyway in late July after experimenting with them the past several summers. The winter radishes worked well seeded then, although the snap peas have been a tad more stubborn, perhaps needing to be planted a little earlier. The fall lettuce was extremely good and in fact reseeded itself where the row had been. So at least something has been planted.

The birds remain active although they appear to be busy nesting and not consuming as much at the feeders as they did a week ago. The possible exception would be the jelly feeder that needs to be filled every couple days. In addition to the orioles using it, now we have catbirds, buntings and grosbeaks eating jelly too. Often wonder what would happen if I put a loaf of bread and some peanut butter out for them. They really do sing beautifully though. Even tonight as I type, the robins have been singing along with the wrens, orioles and common yellowthroats. Can’t beat that kind of musical talent. It really frees the soul as they eventually find their roosts and go to bed, until about 4:30 a.m. anyway. At least they drown out the racket from the ewes and late lambs we just weaned.

It never bothers me to separate ewes from lambs in a year like this one where brood ewes are gobbling down 10 and 20 dollar bills, particularly when the pastures are lush. That really got my attention last Friday when feeding the group we’ve since weaned off. I put a hanging feeder over the panel and when it didn’t hang quite right I leaned over to adjust it. One of the greedy ewes who had immersed herself in the pan suddenly flung her head up, catching me in the melon above the left eye. I saw stars for a second, then felt a warm rush as blood appeared on my chore glove. I pulled a wadded up Kleenex from my pocket and began heading towards the house.

Mrs. Cheviot saw me holding the bloody rag over my eye and frantically asked what was wrong. When I uncovered the wound and asked if it warranted a trip to the emergency room, she told me in no uncertain terms she wanted nothing to do with it until I cleaned it out and got the bleeding stopped. I did just that. When she came in and saw the inch long gash, we headed for the ER. The nurses cleaned it out some more and the doctor glued it shut with some surgical glue. We had a discussion as to whether the glue burned or stung when placed in the wound. I thought it stung but he said some kids were of the opinion that it burned. Whatever. All in all it turned out O.K. However, it only strengthened my resolve about sheep: Just another reason we eat them. 

See you next week…real good then.

In the fantastic novel The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams, the characters search for the Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything. The answer they find is somewhat unexpected: 42.

This was the response from my high school English teacher and inspiration, Mr. Larry Tise, when a student would say, “I have a question.” I never understood that until I read Adams’ novel. After that, everything clicked, and my vision of everything in the universe became clear.

Not really.

This has become my pat answer when students come up to me and say, “I have a question.” I emulate Mr. Tise because of the great impact he had on me as a student. His style of teaching is reflected in so many things I do, which is an homage to him. Mr. Tise died of lung cancer a few years ago, but I still have one special lesson I teach every year in creative writing that is blatantly copied from one he used with us as 10th graders.

42 is also what I tend to write in grad party books and yearbooks. When kids ask me math questions, I tell them to figure out a way to make 42 work as the answer. (I’m discovering more and more that today’s junior high math is often above my capabilities. Further proof that the powers that be are pushing math to such a degree that, in trying to get more kids interested, they are pushing them farther away. But I digress…)

So why write about 42? Well, this just happens to be my 42nd column. While there’s nothing remotely special about that, at the very least, it shows my anal side in that I keep track of how many columns I’ve written.

What is truly the Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything? Do you really want to know?

I don’t.

While I am a naturally curious person, if I knew everything, life would become boring. It’s awfully fun to foment discussion on wide-ranging topics and to explore deep topics with well-spoken people. If I knew all the answers, those discussions wouldn’t rate so high on my list of interesting parts of life.

Confession: I have a decent-sized ego. I think of myself and portray myself as someone with a high IQ (148, actually). Still, nothing stimulates my mind so much as having someone challenge a thought I have with some rationale that is thought out so well that I begin having second thoughts.

As I’ve wrapped up another year of teaching junior high students, that type of discussion is sometimes hard to find outside the teachers’ lounge. However, I’ve run across a handful of students the last few years who enjoy challenging the way I think.

Why do I enjoy teaching junior high, a job many say certifies you as insane? It’s students like that, the ones who help propel education both for themselves and for others. For it’s not just me they challenge, but those around them, and everyone benefits.

So for me, the Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything will remain 42. That seems like a good enough answer and leaves plenty of wiggle room to explore.

Truth be told, I had no idea where this column would go when I started writing it. As I look back over it, that shows the true power of 42. If that’s confusing, the magic is working because you’re thinking! (And if you have a somewhat warped sense of humor, read the book!)

Word of the Week: This week’s word is foment, which means to stir up, as in, “The student tried to foment a revolution against homework, which fizzled when the teacher threatened to up the amount if the student did not get off the desk.” Impress your friends and confuse your enemies!

Schiltz takes two medals at state

NRHEG’s T.J. Schiltz celebrates after winning his first of two medals in the 2013 Minnesota State Track and Field Meet at Hamline University in St. Paul June 7-8. Schiltz, who will be a senior this fall, finished fifth in the 1600 meters and eighth in the 3200. (Star Eagle photo by Chris Schlaak)

Remembering Gene Dodge…..

Funeral Services for Gene C. Dodge of New Richland, MN will be held at 11 a.m. on Monday, June 10, 2013 at Trinity Lutheran Church, New Richland. Pastor Paul Andree will officiate. Interment will be in St. Olaf Cemetery, New Richland. Military Honors will be accorded by New Richland Veteran’s Organizations. Visitation will be held from 4-7 Sunday at Friedrich Funeral Home in New Richland and one hour before the service at the church.

Gene passed away surrounded by his loving family at St. John’s Lutheran Home in Albert Lea, MN on June 6, 2013, one day after his 70th wedding anniversary. He was 94 years old.

Mildred Pofahl, 91, of Wells, MN, died Tuesday, June 4, 2013, at Parkview Care Center in Wells. Funeral Services will be held Monday, June 10, 2013 at 10:30 a.m. at St. Paul’s United Church of Christ in rural Minnesota Lake, MN. Visitation will be held one hour prior to the service at the Church on Monday. Pastor Brooke Wickliffe-Fisher will officiate and the interment will be in the Church Cemetery. Bruss-Heitner Funeral Home in Wells is in charge of the arrangements.