Today’s post is a letter from perennial sophomore Bubby Spamden.
Hey Mr. C.,
Happy New Year!
Hope that’s an appropriate thing to say. I guess people your age don’t get too excited about another year coming along when you just barely got used to the last one. Writing in that “..14” on the date can take older folks a while, I know. My grandpa says he’s still not used to the “20..” at the beginning. He says by the time he gets the hang of it, we’ll be ready to change it to “21..” But I don’t think that’s even possible. He likes to pull my leg.
Anyway, we’re going back to school today (after TWO EXTRA DAYS off!) and I’m pretty sure Mr. Boozenporn will do his New Years’ Resolution unit about how habits form and how hard it is to break them. He does it every single year without fail as soon as we come back from Holiday (Christmas!) break. At least he has as long as I’ve been around, and I’ve been around a while!
I really love the habits unit. It’s so familiar! And Mr. Boozenporn says the older people get, the more they appreciate their traditions and routines. But when we did the habits unit last year he didn’t teach it right, and when I brought it up to him that he made us read the textbook chapter on Obsessive Compulsive Disorder BEFORE we did the whole-class repetitive behavior assessment rather than the other way around which is how it SHOULD have been done, he told me I was too young to be so inflexible.
What kind of answer is that?
I know plenty of inflexible young people – a lot of them are my best friends, and they’re as crotchety as old folks. Griping about stuff is one way for them to seem grown up, I guess. Even though I think they’re overdoing it. Jennifer Gadberry made a huge fuss at lunch the other day because the cooks served her the wrong color jello. Why would that even matter? I’m sure it’s something she learned from her grandfather, but I have to admit she brought a really fresh level of energy to what would have otherwise been a pretty boring meltdown.
As part of the habits unit, Mr. B. will put everyone on the spot to reveal a major behavior they’re going to break during our post-holiday, full-of-hope-for-a-new-me period. This is a really tough moment for us high school sophomores because everybody wants to look like they have some major private disfunction going on, but nobody wants it to be particularly bad or embarrassing. Once it has been named you can get typecast for the rest of High School if you’re not careful.
And yes, word travels fast.
The ones who aren’t ready for the question sometimes come up with something their parents already criticize them for, like not washing their hands or not keeping their room clean or nose picking. Saying out loud that you want to work on something like that is a really serious mistake.
The right thing to say is “I want to find a way to stop being so awesome so my friends can relax around me and not be intimidated all the time.”
Which is, of course, an awesome answer.
Awesomely, your pal,
Bubby
I told Bubby I wouldn’t be like Mr. Boozenporn and put people on the spot for a New Year’s Resolution. Not for themselves, anyway.
Write a New Year’s Resolution – for someone else.
Trail Baboon 
Morning all. This resolution is for way too many people around me this week…. “Stop complaining about the weather.”
LikeLike
“But I’M CCCCOOOOLLLLDDDD,” she whined.
My dogs are waiting for a warm walk tomorrow and time at the dog park this weekend. They are not talking about it, but they both appear depressed and pouty after a month.
LikeLike
You’re no fun, vs! We not only have to put up with the pain of living in an uninhabitable climate but we now don’t get the compensation of being able to whine? You’re no fun at all.
LikeLike
A little complaining I can handle… but I have one co-worker and one neighbor who feel militantly about the weather and it’s their sole topic of conversation during the winter months. Most of us whine here and there, but I think if you really hate it all that much, you should research finding a climate you like better. After all, that’s what I did!!
LikeLike
exactly
LikeLike
My resolution for someone else: that my brother move steadily toward joining John, Molly, and little Liam by summer and live happily ever after. Oh – and that he continue joining all of us on the Trail!
LikeLike
Absolutely!!
LikeLike
YES!!!!
LikeLike
I’d like to go a slightly different direction here. I do have a special resolution wish for a very special person, but we can leave them private. She knows already.
There was a time in my life when I despaired of making positive changes. I not only thought positive change was beyond me but beyond the realistic range of what is possible for most people. When I looked at my own behavior or that of others, it seemed that the best predictor of what a person would do was just what he or she had always done. That means that making resolutions is silly and even pathetic. Change is mighty hard. Changing bad habits is harder than hard. Anyone who succeeds in losing ten pounds and then succeeds in finding twelve of them again right afterward will know what I’m talking about.
Then a friend told me she had given up with grandiose resolutions. She said, “There isn’t any point in my resolving to do things that are beyond me. But that doesn’t mean I can’t be the best person possible. Each day now I try to become the best Carol I can be. That’s all. I just try to be the best Carol possible. Every day.”
I was jolted out of my cynicism by that. My goal should be to be the best Steve I can be. That might seem like setting the bar mighty damn low, for Steve is a weak and compromised sort of guy, but even he can try to be the best person possible, given his many limitations. I can’t be Anna or tim or Dale or anyone else. But within the range of things possible for me, I can at least try to be the best Steve I can be. That may not be much, but it is a good goal for me.
LikeLike
There is evidence of much wisdom and soul-searching in your words, Steve. I think you’re a pretty cool guy – and an excellent writer.
LikeLike
words to live by
LikeLike
Aha! I can feel good about fooling you two!
LikeLike
Rise and Shine Baboons!
I love resolving things for other people–I am sure I do know what is best for them! If they would just listen to me, their lives would shape up and fly right. Hmph.
I resolve that St. Paul City and MN DOT will get plows on the roads more pre-emptively!
I resolve that politicians, local, state, and national, will work together cooperatively for the common good.
I resolve that a personal friend will enroll in chef school.
Now who will tell ME what to resolve?
LikeLike
you should resolve to travel one week a month to make your work load more tolerable and there by make life better all around. wouldnt it be fun to pick 12 places a year to go screw off.
LikeLike
I will be close to this in the beginning of 2014:
Jan 30 to 2-2 Phoenix
late FEb, Ankeny Iowa WooHoo
Mar6-8 Chicago to a conference
April 8: Amsterdam, Oslo, Bergen, Edinburgh Home May 2
May Garden
LikeLike
bingo
now get on to june july and august
LikeLike
Good morning. This will not be easy because making a resolution for another person could offend that person. I guess I need one that is similar what VS said which isn’t for just one person. How about “mind your own business”. It could apply to people who want to interfere in other peoples’ personal lives such as the right wingers who want to impose their way of life on all of us. It could also apply to anyone who is too “nosey”.
LikeLike
I resolve that parents of small children will not allow them to watch more that 30 minutes of television per day, will remove all video and computer games from their homes, and will read to their children every night.
LikeLike
yes
LikeLike
My social studies colleague across the hall did a unit on habits and had students journal an attempt to break a habit with behavior mod. It was interesting. A few made the three weeks but very few reported success at the end of the semester because so many of the habits they chose had strong social dimensions, such as smoking.
Teenagers are inflexible, or they are not. Most are then there are the fun ones. It starts earlier than that.
Two grandkids were at out house a month ago. We had spaghetti. We had paremessean, but I also had some permessean/romano mix. I offered them there choice. Complacent, happy, staid Lily chose the parmessean. Her brother, Mr. Tuxedo, wanted to know if we had any romano alone.
LikeLike
hes such a fun kid.
LikeLike
He dreams of things that never were and asks why not.
LikeLike
My resolution for the citizens of this area: when out and about always ask yourself the question “how does what I am doing impact those around me.” A large one I know.
Checking out Monday morning in the Cub right by our house, the COLD morning, Cub had only two checks-outs going. The woman ahead of me bought $213.43 of groceries. The clerk asked her if she had any coupons. The woman, a thirty-something professional, said that some of the items she bought were coupon buys, could the clerk just pick them out and cut out the coupons for them. (The Cub clerks now just scan off the coupon sheet instead of cutting them out. A nice change.) A few minutes later the clerk had found all or most but pointed out that the woman had bought five each of two different items but the coupons applied to only two each. The customer said she knew there was limit but she could remember the limit so she had just grabbed a bunch of each. She told the clerk she was only buying two each. So the clerk undid those buys. The woman wrote a check for $20 extra and told the clerk she wanted ten dimes, 12 quarters, a one, a five and a ten. I did say something to her.
A resolution for me to quit letting idiots get to me.
A resolution for the woman above us to quite smoking. It is not a problem for us; I’m just feeling sorry for her. We hear her going out on the deck many times a day to smoke in this very cold weather.
LikeLike
wow.
That woman is a fine place to use one of my favorite quotes from “Are You Being Served”: I’m glad her nerve isn’t in my tooth.
Just to keep the balance of the cosmos going, I have to say that at the store I frequent once a month to stock up on staples, there are many people who I am pretty sure stock up at the beginning of the month when their check comes in- they almost always will ask if the person behind them with a few items would like to go ahead of them.
LikeLike
I was not commenting on the size of her purchase. She may well, (but I bet not) have let me go ahead but I got in line after that would have been possible. The Cub check-out clerks by us are excellent to a person. All very quick. I could have gone to self-checkout but somehow those always get hung up for me (and I notice other folks).
I could tell many examples to prove my point, such as the unwillingness to use turn signals these days. Or how young perfectly fit people block store entryways to just run in, or like yesterday, to at that point start sorting out the stuff in their car. I am aware of this because I try to drop Sandy off at store entryways so she does not have to try to walk on ice. I seldom can get to the door and get her off the ice. Don’t know about where you are, but we have lots of ice.
This one does not apply to me because I only use the handicapped parking at Cub, which has really too many handicap spots, but lately people seem to think they can use those spots if they are just running in quickly.
Now I’ve ended up a whiner. Sorry.
LikeLike
going out on the deck is the only healthy thing she does.
quitting smoking is only a 4 day project but it is 4 days of hell. when you are ready you do your time and then jsut remember not to do that again. nothing to it but ill bet it took me 150 tries.
the idiots…. my kids drive and are typical young people, drive too fast, tailgate and bitch at the morons in front of us. i use my drive time with them to remind them that this is the case each and every time they go on the road, not just this time. and that if the presence of idiots is a surprise its time to wake up and smell the coffee. i try to remember my dad driving toward the end and what a challange it was and my mom now . if i had to follow them or ride with them id scream but they were absolutley doing the best they could. now the woman in the grocery line makes your day pleasant by realizing you only have to be involved with her for this short little bloip of time. imagine having her in your life 24/7. wouldnt that be enough to make you want to poke out your eyes and ears?
LikeLike
A resolution of sort which I made many years ago was to always let people with less groceries go ahead of me.
Not only does doing this surprise them, but, I hope, provides just a little uplift in their lives.
LikeLike
This is an easy one for the mother of the newly minted 15-year-old.
As we all know, the son and heir is an exemplary child, probably due to superior parenting 😉
however.
I resolve that the s&h tend to matters of grooming on a regular basis without parental reminders, and take out the trash when it is obviously full. There are more items along the lines of the second one, but I will be happy if the coming year grants at least that one.
LikeLike
We, because of me, never required our kids to do chores like take out the garbage. Compared to my childhood, such tasks just did not seem worth the fight, contrary to a study that came out right about then and the niggling at me from the social studies teacher friend I refer to above, As a result my two workaholic children are supposed to be lazy and make poor workers from my failure.
LikeLike
I must add that the social studies teacher and hes elementary teacher wife fought hard wit their kids on chores, clean room, etc. Like us they have a son and daughter who are workaholics. My daughter is currently trying to decide what to do about the kids and their rooms, how hard to fight the battle. The eternal problems of parenting! Who knows.
LikeLike
who cares? what would happen if she did ….. nothing?
LikeLike
Strange things would start to grow in there (this from experience).
LikeLike
i think that may be the lesson you are trying to teach.
LikeLike
I agree with you Clyde. If kids resist requests to do chores, it might be best to back off and not require that they do those chores. I couldn’t get my children to show much interest in gardening. I have heard various people say that you need to get your children involved in gardening so that they will become gardeners as adults. As adults my children have become gardens in spite of doing very little gardening when they were kids.
LikeLike
Teenager has been fairly exemplary about chores her whole life. She has always had chores and doesn’t even balk now when she’s home from college. (I didn’t give her any chores when she was just home for a weekend or even Thanksgiving, but now that she’s home for a month…..) In fact, she has occasionally called me at work to say “did you leave me chores” or “email me my chores”. When I print out chores for her, she likes to cross them off as she does them. Apple didn’t fall far from the tree in that respect!!
LikeLike
can i have you put my do to list on the end of yours and you can send her to my house. maybe she wont catch it?
LikeLike
I was quite nervous when daughter started her barista job as she was so terrible at home with chores. Imagine my surprise when she told mer some of her chores at work: vacuuming, sweeping, washing floors, taking out trash, cleaining bathrooms, etc. She never washed a floor in her life at home, yet here she was doing that plus all those other things. Go figure.
LikeLike
Yep. Both our kids first jobs required them to mop floors, clean, wash dishes. etc. Our kids loved to laugh about that back then. They would brag about all the cleaning they had done at work as they watched me cleaning. I was going to make my son mow the lawn for a variety of reasons, but then he was allergic to grass.
I have a friend whose theory is that those kind of chores you can and will probably learn as a adult but things like generosity and people skills need to be learned as a child.
LikeLike
Renee, I remember being shocked by something like this. When my daughter went off to college, my erstwife and I apologized to her roommate’s parents about how our Molly would not hold up her end on room maintenance and cleaning, etc. We were just shocked when our daughter set a higher standard for neatness and cleanliness in her room than we did in our home. All I can figure is that my daughter was content to let us harass her all those years to do stuff, but that once she was responsible for her own life she became a model for us all. Parenting has had many amazing surprises for me, and this was one of the nicest.
LikeLike
I’m not saying what I did was right, but only that personality/character development is complex. We did not involved our kids at all in cooking once they got past the age of about 10 and only a little before that. They both could feed themselves when they went off to college but not really cook. Both are excellent cooks now who love doing it. My daughter like in everything is extremely efficient and has been a professional bake and decorator.
LikeLike
I certainly think it is great when kids help with chores. However, I think there are some kids who will do better if you leave them alone when they tell you they really don’t want to do what you ask them to do. I’m talking about requests to do things that are not of great importance. I would be more forceful about asking them to treat other people fairly and to not do things that are harmful or dangerous.
LikeLike
I never learned to cook a darn thing from my mom. To be fair, she never learned much from her mother either (long story that I think I’ve already told here). But after many years of trial and error, along with an egregiously large cookbook collection, I’ve turned out to be a great cook! I’ve tried to include Teenager over the years, but she doesn’t show any tendency yet. Guess we’ll have to wait and see….
LikeLike
agreed,
LikeLike
boy did that move a long way down the line. it was from back when clyde said he didnt assingn chores first time.
LikeLike
Oh the s&h does not have anything like an onerous chore list. I do make him do the morning shovelling, as I need to deal with other things –like meals.
I just want a bit more awareness that there is an option for coping with a full trash receptacle, other than letting it cascade artistically about the vicinity.
My goal is not to make the child a hard worker, just more considerate of the staff. IMO, far too many people think custodial staff have nothing better to do than clean up after their inconsiderate selves. It is one thing to have a spill in a public place and have staff do the clean-up, quite another to leave trash and belongings scattered about where they fall.
It isn’t about being clean, it’s about being considerate.
LikeLike
I applaud you, mig.
LikeLike
I would make resolutions that I think would create a more cooperative work place, resulting in a more harmonious home for the individuals we serve. I would resolve that:
Coworker #1 controls his irritability, or at least tries to do something about it, and that he develops a system for ordering supplies so that we don’t run out on Christmas Eve.
Coworker #2 does something about her extremely low self-esteem and resulting mild depression. She is so insecure that she is constantly offended when I do a good job of something. I am constantly praising her so that she doesn’t fall into this mode, but eventually I forget to praise her and inevitably do something that she is offended by. It is always something that I’ve done in the course of doing my job and has nothing whatsoever to do with her. It’s only that she wasn’t the one who did it.
Coworker #3 would realize that the petty criticisms she has for others are hurtful. She is critical about the most minor details but will bring them up at staff meetings in a derisive tone and insist that whatever it is should not be done, or should be done her way. She also sends out critical e-mails to anyone who does not conform to her ways of doing things. This is not to even mention the passive-aggressive behavior she uses to manipulate the parent/guardian of one of our individuals.
Coworker #4 should realize that working in the same home as her own mother is a less-than-perfect situation for others. She spends quite a bit of time gazing into the mirror, and while she is young and lovely, she should get over herself and her critical, picky mother.
Coworker #5 needs to lose a lot of weight and coworker #6 needs to quit smoking. These last two are the night staff.
For myself, I need to remember not to let the actions of others destroy my inner peace. I need to stay focused on doing my job the best that I know how and ask for the help of my experienced coworkers when I need it. I need to remember to keep myself healthy and to try to live up to all of the things that I want for others. I need to remember that silence is usually the best answer.
LikeLike
I had a client several years back who unwittingly did me a big favor. She was forced to work with my company by her upper management and she was NOT happy about it. This was in addition to being a naturally aggressive, in-your-face, crabby A-hat. She went around my back to suppliers, was foul to everyone on my team and made everything about 10 times harder than it needed to be. One day she mouthed off to me when I had been as nice as nice could be and tracked down several details that she had asked for (although they were all silly and not needed). That’s when I realized that it wasn’t about me and how accommodating or resourceful I was. There wasn’t one darn thing I would be able to do that would impress this woman or change her mind about having to work with us. This freed me up from having to give any more extra thought or effort to the project. I did my job the best I could and let the rest go. It was an epiphany. I’m happy to say that I haven’t had to use this strategy often since then to get through a program but I have it in my back pocket if I need it.
LikeLike
I think that is a critically important insight, vs. In recent years I’ve learned that I need to take responsibility for myself and care less about how others run their show. The two big challenges are often to be calm and to do one’s work with pride. If you can bring that off, the criticisms of others just sort of bounce off.
LikeLike
I am able to think like that, VS, but unfortunately so far I have been unable to let go. I truly want to be liked by my coworkers and that has been a big disappointment in the past year.
I feel a little bad about posting all of that. It’s the tip of the iceberg, really, as a description of what I’ve been going through at work for the last year. I don’t want to complain or discuss these things, especially online; therefore, I haven’t posted a lot during the past year. I’m only now coming to grips with the dynamics of the workplace – how the relationships work or don’t work; what I’m doing to perpetuate the situation; where I’m helpless to change the people around me and where I could make positive change. 2013 was a year of learning. I need to implement those lessons in 2014, let go of results and remain focused on the primary responsibility which is the care of the individuals we serve.
LikeLike
for you, Krista, I have a great big {{{hug}}}
LikeLike
just remember that if you had the good fortune of ahving them all gone pffft like sa wisp of smoke, that the replacements would be a variation of the humans needing fixing that would just be different not better than the twits of the day. hang in there krista., nice to have you back your thoughtful mellow voice here on the trail.
LikeLike
#2 sounds annoyingly passive aggressive.
LikeLike
I would like to write some resolutions for the folks who get to project the popular images of culture: to quite portraying anorexia as the ideal female body, to reduce the images of rampant materialism, to ignore the ill-behaved and focus on those who give of themselves, to return sports to, well, sports.
LikeLike
wouldnt that be refreshing. i have asked my kids teachers about the illness we all have with sports. why dont we get excited about people doing science or english writing or debate or reenactments of history.there are endless topics and different aspects of life we could congregate around and instead we are glued to 20 something millionaire basket cases whose idea of the world is so skewed that you shake your head. the perspective of life that makes the front and center appearance in the world today is a loud brash in your face version of a human being. i like quiet soft thoughtful types. is there a way to put that up on a link where you can retreat to calm and nice instead of news, sports, politics weather and crime scene investigations. reality shows where you are better than him and so you win and he is out. who would even want to visit our planet if they were watching. we are a bunch of little children who dont play well and dont care.
thats the resolution…
care
LikeLike
my resoloution for everyone is to plug in ben franklins 13 principles and or tweak it and make it your own.
ben was a taskmaster but had a good head on his shoulders and thought a good way to get bettter was to write down a list of 13 traits to work on until you are dead, do one for a week then move on and it will come back around again in 13 weeks to be re plugged in again with the experience of how you did with it last time. i have been trying this for a while now and to be honest it hasnt imprived me at all but i look atht ehlist and think of how much better it could make everyone else and think maybe you all would enjoy it.
they came out with a smart phoe app that makes it easier. i had a reset last week on my calendar in the middel of the week and was wondering what the hell was going on . it started over with the new year. i would have left it but if that the only problem i have with the app ill be ok. here is the link to the web site. http://thirteenvirtues.com/
on your phone search for bens virtues
decent stuff to work on and the second third fourth time around it gets easier. its kind of fun to notice.
LikeLike
Ah, so many directions one could take here! These are related to my goal to be healthier. How about: restaurants will start serving regular portions instead of giant size. Husband will suddenly learn to love non-gluten bread, or maybe one of us learns to make it. I learn how to attend a pot-luck without eating everything in sight; or alternately, more people start to shope up at potluck with veggies. The Y schedules our favorite aerobic classes (and teachers) daily so we have more chances to get to them. The hills between here and my mom’s residence flatten out so I can bike there if it ever gets warm again.
LikeLike
a bike with gears flattens the hills. do you know how to make that work?
LikeLike
I would agree that being healthy is a good goal. But I’d like everyone to resolve to be more active rather than obsessing about what they eat. So much of the advice about “eat this”, “don’t eat that” or “eat less” or “eat less often” or “eat more often” turns out to be based on the shakiest of evidence. The one thing that is undisputed is that people who walk, bike, lift, stretch, dance, get out and move around are healthier than those who don’t.
LikeLike
care
LikeLike
I just finished a book about two young guys who did the End-to-End bike ride in Great Britain, that is, Land’s End to John o Groats, which is a favorite ride of close to 1000 miles, depending on the many many routes you can chose. But they did it without spending any money. They started at Land’s End in just shorts and nothing else but a camera to take pictures and a notebook and pen. they had to scrounge the bikes, clothes, food, housing. Their goal was to prove how nice British people can be. They did it in 18 days. It’s a fun book but you have to like quirky travel books to like it. They proved their point, but a theme they missed was how many people in helping them commented what nice-looking young men they were, in other words they did not look like bums. But still they proved a point. They expected to get more help from locals than chains, but it was about equal.
“Free Country: A Penniless Adventure the Length of Britain” by George Mahood but I think you can only get as an ebook.
LikeLike
so yo and i wouldnt be able to pull off the same trip eh clyde?
LikeLike
With your charm, we’d make it.
LikeLike
it wouldnt be our good looks thats for sure
LikeLike
beards would anyone feed beards?
LikeLike
Amazon says they have it in paperback for $14.26, but the Kindle edition is $2.99.
May have to get this one. Sounds interesting.
LikeLike
I joined Amazon Prime before Christmas to get “free” shipping for Christmas presents and the access to “free” movies. Their movie set matches me better than Netflix. It also lets me borrow one book a month. This book was my “free” book for January. Prime costs I think it is about $80 a year. A brand new DVD rental store just opened up by us. Can you make money renting DVDs from a real full store these days?
LikeLike
no you cant. the dvd store will be gone soon
prime on amazon is wonderful but with books the shipping is simply included in the price. if you look at book prices there are many that are 1 dollar then the 3.99 shipping. prime is 5 dollars often times nbut on other things it is amazing and the 2 day shipping is great. enjoy it
LikeLike
Went to Mankato library. As I checked out books, the woman told me I had not returned a book last April. This is the fourth time I have been through this with them. The other times I was told contradictory information on what to do when that happens, either I should go get the book off the shelf and show them or I should let them go find it. I was accused of lying outright and by inference each time. But there are multiple copies of this book, which means I cannot prove anything. I pointed out that their computer system did not tell me that the book was not returned as it had the first three times. Anyway I 1) just made a donation to the Mankato library and 2) resolved to not check out books there any more. I was bringing Sandy in to get books ans was not sure why I was checking any out.
LikeLike
you might check into the possibility of their ebook check out system hennipen county has a bunch not all but a bunch available free with your card
LikeLike
Not here. This is an awful library.
LikeLike
At libraries, there is a question of to beep or not to beep. When you scan something in a store, usually the terminal beeps, which is a good aural confirmation that you have scanned successfully. When you scan something at a library, I have noticed there’s no beep. You have to look at the screen to see if the book you passed under the scanner actually scanned. I think the same happens when library personnel scan the returned items, making it easier to miss something. On the one hand, the silence is sort of nice and peaceful in the modern world where there is always stuff beeping at you. But you have to watch for errors.
I’ve returned something and not been credited for the return perhaps once or twice. Since I’m online regularly I noticed and reported the error(s) promptly and wasn’t challenged on it.
LikeLike
I just requested it from Interlibrary Loan — we’ll see if I have any luck.
Clyde, a couple of days back you mentioned that you had just finished two books, but you didn’t name them. Do you remember which two?
LikeLike
Son of the Middle Border. Hamlin Garlands memoir about growing up on “the middle border” (the leading edge of settlement). I did submit a guest blog to Dale about this book a week ago.
Biography of a Prairie Girl by Eleanor Gates. An unknown and rather silly in some ways attempt to duplicate L. E. Wilder. MN writer. Set in the very heart of Reneeland. Pure fiction. It charms me oddly. Not really very good and Gates clearly did not know her subject matter personally.
Both are free ebooks, otherwise I doubt would be available.
LikeLike
Interesting to see Hamlin Garland’s name come up. Not many people are reading him anymore. He happens to be one of my areas of special interest. I have perhaps two dozen, maybe more, volumes of his work in various early editions, plus biographies written about him. I’ve even been to the cemetery outside of West Salem, Wisconsin where he is buried. Oddly enough, I haven’t yet read “Son of the Middle Border” but perhaps I should make a point to do so.
LikeLike
I did quite a bit of my graduate research on Garland. Have never stopped in West Salem. It seems to be the consensus that his memoirs (he did Daughter of the Middle Border, too) are his best, most balanced work. I prefer the early short stories myself.
LikeLike
I think I’d like everybody to just think about changing their priorities. So many people have something that they’ve elevated to the position of highest importance in their lives that shouldn’t be that important. If everyone could ask themselves, is this really what I should focus the majority of my time and energy on? And maybe they’d shift their focus to something more meaningful.
LikeLike
The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.
LikeLike
Oh, yes. Exactly.
LikeLike