Mom's first long-distance phone call

When I was five, my parents took me to the 1939 World's Fair in New York City's Flushing Meadows where the UN is now. They photographed me on a scaled down model of the perisphere, one of the fair's icons. I remember that because I saw the picture frequently as a I grew up. The only event I remember without the aid of a picture is the announcement on the fair's public address system that my mother had won a free telephone call to anywhere in the USA. We were ushered to the Bell Lab exhibition building and into a glass enclosed cubicle containing a desk and a telephone. She called her mother in Detroit Lakes Minnesota. The conversation was broadcast live throughout the fair's P.A. and because grandma was on a rural party line, a number of Becker County families listened in too.

Books I liked the most in 2010

My reading habits have changed considerably in this first full year of retirement. Of the 10 books I liked the most, only one relates to my pre-retirement teaching discipline.  In no special order: 

The Four Stages of Cruelty by Keith Hollihan
North Country: The Making of Minnesota by Mary Lethert Wingerd
After by Jane Hirshfield
Omega Point by Don Delilo
Wandering Stars by Sholem Aleichem
Crazy Horse by Larry McMurtry
Out Stealing Horses: A Novel by Per Petterson
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
The Man Who Stopped Time by Brian Clegg
Every Man Dies Alone by Hans Fallada

Tom & me

Tom & me, originally uploaded by TedSher.

Tree swing on the Beaver Island trail

Sunday on the Beaver Island trail, originally uploaded by TedSher.

true grit

true grit, originally uploaded by TedSher.

Window for Malevich

Window for Malevich, originally uploaded by TedSher.

woman in a white blouse

woman in a white blouse, originally uploaded by TedSher.

Seven snowmen and a banana peel in a Ford pickup

Magnificent Seven and a banana peel in a Ford pickup, originally uploaded by TedSher.

November, 1967
By Joyce Sutphen

"November, 1967" by Joyce Sutphen, from First Words. © Red Dragonfly Press, 2010.

Dr. Zhivago was playing at the Paramount
Theater in St. Cloud. That afternoon,
we went into Russia,

and when we came out, the snow
was falling—the same snow
that fell in Moscow.

The sky had turned black velvet.
We'd been through the Revolution
and the frozen winters.

In the Chevy, we waited for the heater
to melt ice on the windshield,
clapping our hands to keep warm.

On the highway, these two things:
a song from Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
and that semi-truck careening by.

Now I travel through the dark without you
and sometimes I turn up the radio, hopeful
the way you were, no matter what.

DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME ends tonight.

DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME ends tonight., originally uploaded by TedSher.

My son Eric made this etching about 30 years ago when he was 10 years old. Today I took it to Hollenhorst Framing in St. Cloud to have it properly mounted. Note that drawings on etchings come out reversed when printed. The glasses are those of the framer, Randall Hollenhorst. Tonight Eric called from Minneapolis to remind me to set our clocks back one hour tonight.

the visit

the visit, originally uploaded by TedSher.

Nancy Weston Levy

Nancy Weston Levy, originally uploaded by TedSher.

She died this morning in Charlottesville VA. She taught art history for many years at SCSU and was one of my favorite colleagues.

Munsinger Park, St. Cloud

Munsinger Park, St. Cloud, originally uploaded by TedSher.

On Saturday, Oct. 14, 1967 I walked this path beside the Mississippi an hour after watching a loved one die in a nearby hospital. Unlike today, the weather was foul, the leaves gone. I was in a suspended state of anguish and deep sadness and trying hard to cry. I thought the river path and the weather would help uncork my emotions.. It finally happened but not until years later when I tried describing the moment to Lavona on one of our first dates.

St. Cloud Bakery Oct. 6, 2010

St. Cloud Bakery 10.06.10, originally uploaded by TedSher.

The tree line between Tom's house and ours at sundown today.

The tree line between Tom's house and ours at sundown today., originally uploaded by TedSher.

Oct. 14, 1994

Oct. 14, 1994, originally uploaded by TedSher.

St. Cloud

Oct. 15, 1994

Oct. 15, 1994, originally uploaded by TedSher.

Brooks Whitehouse, cellist

Oct. 10, 1994

Oct. 10, 1994, originally uploaded by TedSher.

Bill Munson, artist

Oct. 3, 1994

Oct. 3. 1994, originally uploaded by TedSher.

Chris, artist.

Oct. 12, 1994

Oct. 12, 1994, originally uploaded by TedSher.

Ann Pellant, artist

newsmakers, originally uploaded by TedSher.

September newsmakers in our town

The drag show comes to downtown St. Cloud (finally)

The drag show comes to downtown St. Cloud (finally), originally uploaded by TedSher.

and LaVona is there to welcome Cee Cee Russell

The fence and the tree, originally uploaded by TedSher.

Per Petterson reads from I Curse the River of Time

Per Petterson reads from I Curse the River of Time, originally uploaded by TedSher.

"... It is easy for you to criticise, she would say, who have had it all handed to you on a silver plate. You squirt...." Reading at the College of St. Benedict, St. Joseph. Meanwhile I continue the pleasure of his Out Stealing Horses.

incumbent

incumbent, originally uploaded by TedSher.

1

1, originally uploaded by TedSher.

2

2, originally uploaded by TedSher.

Lake George, St. Cloud

Sept. 7, 2010, originally uploaded by TedSher.

Sept. 7, 2010, originally uploaded by TedSher.

Sept. 7, 2010, originally uploaded by TedSher.

Sept. 7, 2010

When Charlie heard Tarryl Clark's name mentioned in the conversation, he said in a subdued aside, he wouldn't give a dime to her campaign. Ted thought that was an odd position for Charlie, considering he's such a lefty, and he said so. Why? Because she's accumulated so much money already, Charlie said. I refuse to pour money into a politican's pockets. But, Ted followed, Bachmann has more money. You want her to win? Charlie said he wouldn't give her a cent, if she were penniless.

Jerry @ 19 and 25

Jerry @ 19 and 25, originally uploaded by TedSher.

American daguerreotypes from 1841 and 1847.

Lake George, Friday afternoon

Lake George, Friday afternoon, originally uploaded by TedSher.

, originally uploaded by TedSher.

nightwatch

nightwatch, originally uploaded by TedSher.

Periodic stages of window light at Whitney Track while walking a distance of 5 miles

Periodic stages of window light at Whitney Track while walking a distance of 5 miles, originally uploaded by TedSher.

2:32 p.m.

Periodic stages of window light at Whitney Track while walking a distance of 5 miles

Periodic stages of window light at Whitney Track while walking a distance of 5 miles, originally uploaded by TedSher.

2:47 p.m.

Periodic stages of window light at Whitney Track while walking a distance of 5 miles

Periodic stages of window light at Whitney Track while walking a distance of 5 miles, originally uploaded by TedSher.

3:03 p.m.

Periodic stages of window light at Whitney Track while walking a distance of 5 miles

Periodic stages of window light at Whitney Track while walking a distance of 5 miles, originally uploaded by TedSher.

3:17 p.m.

Periodic stages of window light at Whitney Track while walking a distance of 5 miles

Periodic stages of window light at Whitney Track while walking a distance of 5 miles, originally uploaded by TedSher.

3:29 pm

, originally uploaded by TedSher.

July 25, 2010

Career change: Training to be a philospher, originally uploaded by TedSher.

Career change: Training to be a philospher

The complicated life of Betty

The complicated life of Betty, originally uploaded by TedSher.

Sleepers, wake up

Sleepers, wake up, originally uploaded by TedSher.

Another Silver medal for the Minnesota bocce ball team at the Special Olympic Nat'l games today in Lincoln NE.

Another Silver medal for the Minnesota bocce ball team at the Special Olympic Nat'l games today in Lincoln NE., originally uploaded by TedSher.

FLASH -- Eric Sherarts (right) picked up his second silver at the national games today, this one in the bocce ball doubles. Here he is with his teammate Jake.

Eric and the Minnesota Bocce Ball team take the silver in the Nationals.

Eric and the Minnesota Bocce Ball team take the silver in the Nationals., originally uploaded by TedSher.

FLASH...Eric Sherarts and his Minnesota teammates won the silver medal in the Special Olympic National Games in Lincoln NE this week. Here he is with his coach.

Set for "Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up?" at Lake George

Set for "Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up?" at Lake George, originally uploaded by TedSher.

Max Brown's homemade bike, an assemblage of mostly tossed bike parts

Max Brown's homemade bike, an assemblage of mostly tossed bike parts, originally uploaded by TedSher.

Sunday afternoon at the library

Sunday afternoon at the library, originally uploaded by TedSher.

LaVona the model

LaVona the model, originally uploaded by TedSher.

Jason Wachter photographs LaVona

LaVona the model, originally uploaded by TedSher.

Stick piece and other things by LaVona, Part 1

Stick piece and other things by LaVona, Part 1, originally uploaded by TedSher.

Stick piece and other things by LaVona, Part 2

Stick piece and other things by LaVona, Part 2, originally uploaded by TedSher.

wild one

wild one, originally uploaded by TedSher.