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Cracker Barrel

    April 22, 2018
    Cracker Barrel: Classical insights
    Every so often, when the events of modern-day life threaten to shrivel my soul, I find refuge in reading the words of thoughtful people from earlier times. One of those people was Marcus Aurelius, ruler of Rome from 161 to 180 A.D. and known as the last of the Five Good Emperors....
    opinion/columnsApril 22, 2018 - 8:30am
    April 1, 2018
    The Cracker Barrel: A big place
    Everybody knows the universe is a big place. What's hard to grasp is how big. A few years ago I bought my wife a telescope for Christmas, figuring she could check out the moon and a few planets and get a fix on a star or two and help fill in some of the gaping holes in our understanding...
    opinion/columnsApril 1, 2018 - 7:30am
    March 18, 2018
    As we all know, gardening takes many forms, ranging from a single tomato plant growing in a rusting coffee can to experiments growing plants in straw bales or floating in water or climbing up the outside walls of skyscrapers. PineandLakes.com Illustration
    The Cracker Barrel: The most popular hobby
    Now that the calendar shows us that spring is right around the corner, it seems fitting to offer some thoughts about America's most popular hobby:...
    opinion/columnsMarch 18, 2018 - 8:30am
    March 3, 2018
    Secondhand world
    Today's youth may be suffering a serious disconnect from nature, thanks in part to the proliferation of electronic substitutes for the real thing. TV shows, computer games, PlayStations and smartphones all conspire to keep us dissociated from the world around us, forming a sort of...
    opinion/columnsMarch 3, 2018 - 7:30am
    February 18, 2018
    From late fall through winter, we keep a steady supply of cracked corn, thistle seed and black sunflower seed on the feeders on our terrace, along with slabs of suet for the woodpeckers. Metro Creative Graphics, Inc.
    The Cracker Barrel: Feeding the birds
    Like millions of other Americans, my wife and I enjoy feeding birds. Given the fact that we live in the woods and have accidentally also found...
    opinion/columnsFebruary 18, 2018 - 9:00am
    February 3, 2018
    "The tactic of focusing on a single troubled species had often proven costly and, at times, politically contentious as well," writes Tom Dunkel in Nature Conservancy magazine, harkening back to the controversies surrounding the snail darter and the spotted owl. "Why not take a wider-lens approach? Why not protect endangered habitat, which has the potential to save numerous species?" Metro Creative Graphics, Inc.
    The Cracker Barrel: A wild idea
    "What if the United States had a plan to protect all of its wildlife, to give animals the space they need to survive and thrive? What would that...
    opinion/columnsFebruary 3, 2018 - 8:30am
    January 18, 2018
    Nestled on the banks of the Mississippi River the Guthrie Theater building offers beautiful views of the city. Photo by Gallop Studios, property of the Guthrie Theater.
    Cracker Barrel: An amazing place
    Last month we took our granddaughter Grace down to the Guthrie Theater to see their 43rd annual production of Dickens' "A Christmas Carol." On...
    opinion/columnsJanuary 18, 2018 - 8:00am
    January 5, 2018
    "I'm told it's a Danish word," said my friend. "I think it's pronounced either 'hig-guh' or 'hoo-guh,' and it has something to do with simple pleasures. All I know for sure is that I've sold several different books in the past few weeks with "hygge" in the title. It's really getting popular." PineandLakes.com Illustration
    The Cracker Barrel: How to 'hygge'
    Not long ago, while talking on the phone with an old friend who runs a bookstore in Minneapolis, the subject of "hygge" came up. "What's that?"...
    opinion/columnsJanuary 5, 2018 - 8:00am
    December 24, 2017
    The Cracker Barrel: Room in the inn
    Fifty years ago, in the waning days of 1967, I was a young G.I. stationed in southern Germany. Thanksgiving had come and gone and now Christmas loomed ahead. It promised to be a singularly unmerry event. I was homesick as heck and most of the people I held dear lived on the far side...
    opinion/columnsDecember 24, 2017 - 10:30am
    December 8, 2017
    The trains afforded endless hours of winter delight. We fashioned a mountain with a tunnel out of papier-mache, constructed little cardboard and balsa wood buildings, strung telephone and power lines of thread between Tinkertoy poles, and stacked piles of Lincoln Logs adjacent to the railroad siding. PineandLakes.com Illustration
    The Cracker Barrel: Enchanting place
    The basement of the house I spent my boyhood in was not a large one. Since Mom and Dad had added onto what had been a summer cottage, only the...
    opinion/columnsDecember 8, 2017 - 8:00am
    November 22, 2017
    The Cracker Barrel: Gratitude list
    As we stand on the threshold of Thanksgiving and prepare to celebrate the bounty of another year, I herewith offer a list of things for which I'm grateful and urge you, dear reader, to compile a list of your own. 1. I am grateful to be alive. 2. I'm grateful to be in good health....
    opinion/columnsNovember 22, 2017 - 4:30am
    October 29, 2017
    The Cracker Barrel: Just plain lucky
    While talking with an old friend last week, we came to the shared conclusion that those of us who came of age in the aftermath of World War II...
    opinion/columnsOctober 29, 2017 - 9:30am
    October 14, 2017
    Photo by garethwiscombe [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
    Cracker Barrel: Legacy in stone
    For many centuries people the world over have been fascinated with the great rock ruins called Stonehenge. Built of mammoth slabs of sarsen,...
    opinion/columnsOctober 14, 2017 - 8:00am
    October 6, 2017
    Looking Back - Oct. 6, 2017
    40 years ago - Oct. 6, 1977 (Photo) Father Foster, current pastor of the Church of the Immaculate Heart in Crosslake, welcomes Father John Dolsina, founding pastor, to the church's 20th anniversary celebration on September 25th. Sharon Ricks, a senior at Pequot Lakes High School,...
    lifestyleOctober 6, 2017 - 3:30am
    September 30, 2017
    The Cracker Barrel: A collection of quotes
    Some folks collect Vikings paraphernalia. Others gather old oil cans or vintage recipes or movie posters. I have a fondness for quotes and would like to share some with you, dear reader. I hope you'll find them interesting. "Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what...
    opinion/columnsSeptember 30, 2017 - 9:00am
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