Steve Fernlund and The Long Way Home

Photo by David Johnson, Grand Marais, MN We all know the phrase "Finders keepers, losers weepers." It is commonly used in children's speech as a declaration of possession. As adults, it describes a situation where one person benefits greatly from another's misfortune, mistake, or oversight. Growing up, my best buddy was Rand Jensen, who lived one street over from our house on 17th Avenue. We were inseparable, playing ball and riding bikes, and walking to school. Our parents were also good friends, and our families often took lake vacations together.  One thing Rand had that I never quite matched was his ability to find coins and currency that were just lying on the ground. It didn’t matter where we were, he’d see money that people lost ten times more often than I did. He personified “Finder Keepers.” It was always a surprise to see his luck in action. In a decade of living near the end of the road in the woods of rural Cook County, we had no trick-or-treaters at Hallo...

In the spirit of today,  All Hallows' Eve, I bring you the following scary story. Last week, the Bohunk left me. On Monday, she went with our daughter, Jess, and granddaughter Chloe to Fargo to celebrate our grandson, Connor’s, birthday. Three nights and four days is the longest separation we’ve had since joining the “trailer trasherati” in July. I’ve come to understand that the work the Bohunk does around the house is important, and I’ve picked up the necessary skills to get the essentials done when she’s not around. I didn’t vacuum or make the bed until the last day, but I did take care of the animals daily. Each of the two dogs has a different menu for their two-a-day meals. Winthrop is simpler: just fill his cat food bowl with kibbles when he starts following me around and meowing his unhappiness. The Bohunk always feeds the dogs, so she left two pages of precisely written instructions--neither of us trusts my memory anymore. Routine is essential for old men like me and adult c...

I started this column on the day of the nationwide “No Kings” rally, October 18. This movement, which advocates for a more democratic and equitable society, has gained significant momentum. There were more than 2,700 peaceful gatherings in cities and small towns across the country. Some estimate that this is the largest organized “protest” rally, more than 7 million people strong, in the history of our country. Similar rallies protesting the authoritarian policies of President Trump's administration took place in multiple foreign countries.  I’ve heard from several friends who stepped out to join the peaceful, almost joyful rallies around the country. My last home, the sparsely populated Cook County (about 5,500 people), had a rally in its capital (only city) with about 500 people attending. For those who don’t know, Cook County is larger in square miles than the states of Rhode Island and Delaware.  Watching videos of the 'No Kings' rallies, it was evident that the crowds ...

During the last years of my active involvement in party politics in Nevada, I found myself tarred with the label “racist” by a group of my fellow Democrats.  The event that led to this labeling occurred at a county central committee meeting sometime in the 2000s. These are often raucous and disorganized events. When attending these types of meetings, I spent much time in sidebars with a few people at a time while the body considered resolutions. As a candidate to chair the state party, I found these sidebars necessary. During one of them, I missed the chance to vote on a resolution introduced by one of the caucus leaders. And for that sin of not voting, I earned the racist label. I was reminded of that minor irritation when I ventured a comment on a Facebook post by a popular local FB poster. Following a recent high school football game between long-time rivals Duluth East and Denfeld, a video surfaced on social media showing an East student directing a racial slur at a Denfeld pla...