Revolutionary War

 Today I joined the "Learning Club" which is a group organized by Winona State and held at the Winona History Museum. Today the topic was the revolutionary war. I was ten minutes early. The very enthusiastic speaker (former botany professor) asked me if I was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. I said I wasn't and that my ancestors were immigrants after that (which is true as far as I know). She is a member of DAR and proud of it. She is a distant relative of Thomas Jefferson and proud of that too. She spoke about the resolutions the first European settlers had in this new country which were freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and they were against slavery. She plans to give two more talks in the future.

 

 

Leaving Rollingstone

 I read Kevin Fenton's autobiographical book called Leaving Rollingstone. He was born in 1959 and grew up in Rollingstone which is 11 miles northwest of Winona. He grew up on a farm and was the youngest sibling in his family. His mother was a nurse in Winona. His Dad was a farmer. As a farmer, due to physical disabilities, was not successful as a farmer. Kevin was into rock and roll. His sisters loved to dance and his eldest brother joined the Army. Everybody in town was a Catholic and the only school was a Catholic school. After they lost the farm they moved to Minnesota City. Once his father died and all the other siblings moved out, Kevin and his Mom moved to Winona so she could be closer to work and he could be closer to high school. He floundered as a young adult and made some self-destructive choices. He eventually became an ad man in the big city (Minneapolis). More about this time in his life is implied in his other book, Cyan Magenta Yellow Black. I enjoyed his looking back with nostalgia but also honesty.

 

 

Dakota Project

 Today I attended a seminar at Winona State University in their student center ballroom. I sat with a couple of teachers and one other lady from the community. The teachers were glad to see such a big turnout and that members of the public were in attendance. Six speakers from the Prairie Island area came to speak. One spoke about natural law and inherent rights. He spoke about the 1837 and 1851 treaties. According to the treaties, the town of Winona belongs to the Dakota. After the 1862 uprising, all treaties were abrogated. He also said, and I found this surprising, conservative Supreme Court judge, Neil Gorsuch, has always voted in favor of Native rights. There were about six speakers talking about land rights, land trusts, the environment, social work, art, and community relations. The main message I took away from this three hour session is that Mitakuye Owasin or we are all related.

The Nest

In Cynthia D'Aprix's novel, The Nest, the four siblings of the Plumb Family gather together. Before their father died he set aside some money for them to inherit when the youngest sibling, Melony, turned forty. Thanks to their uncle, George, the nest has developed into a very tidy sum. All the Plumb siblings are looking forward to receiving the nest. Two of the siblings need the nest to escape their present financial difficulties. This meeting takes place when Melony is 39. Their eldest brother, Leo, has not been a responsible son nor brother lately. His irresponsible actions lead to a car crash where a waitress was severely injured. To preserve the reputation of the Plumb family, the nest is used to pay people to keep quiet. I enjoyed the story but honestly the four siblings of the Plumb family are highly self-absorbed and unlikeable with the exception of Bea.

 

 

Blaack Cake

Charmaine Wilkerson is the debut author of Black Cake. In this fiction novel siblings Byron and Benny are reunited after the death of their mother. They had been estranged for 5 years. Their mother leaves them a audio recording with the true story of her identity and life. Byron and Benny had been told lies all their lives. Their mother was also a great cook. For Christmas she made a black cake that had fruit soaked in alcohol all year. The book is full of secrets and betrayals. Byron lives in California and is mapping the ocean floor for science. Benny lives in New York City and is saving so she can open a cafe/coffee shop. Their mother did not grow up in an orphanage in England. Instead she grew up in a beach town on an Caribbean island (probably Jamaica) where she was a champion swimmer.  This book does a nice job while touching many sensitive subjects.

 

 

Ice Park

Winona has an ice park which is part of Sugar Loaf Park. Sugar Loaf is just to the left of this photo. Highway 61 is at the bottom of the hill. Last weekend they had their ice festival. People came from around the country to climb these person made cliffs of ice. Volunteers run hoses off the cliff to form the ice. The ice park is a twenty minute walk from the parking area. I have been up there in the summer but not the winter.

 

Lights Out

Last night I attended an Audubon meeting here in Winona. The topic was light pollution. We watched a 35 minute documentary called Lights Out In Texas. Next we heard from a Winona State Professor who studies astronomy specifically when two objects collide in space. She also knows about light pollution because twenty years ago she had a student who was interested in light pollution in Winona and he also happened to have a pilot license. She showed us pictures of light pollution over the last five decades. Light pollution for the most part is worse. According to her figures, 60 to 80 percent of today's children will never see the Milky Way because of light pollution. Winona State has done much to reduce light pollution. They replaced their outdoor lights with lights that shine only down. Also, the lights go dim unless someone walking by triggers the light to come on fully.  The residential parts of Winona are fairly dark. The lightest places are automotive dealerships and big box stores like Walmart and Target.  According to her, light pollution is better but there is still room for improvement.