Steve Fernlund and The Long Way Home

The Bohunk, along with our daughter Jess and granddaughter Chloe, joined 138,872 people for opening day at the Minnesota State Fair in St. Paul last week. Turnout set a record for opening day attendance, breaking the 2019 record by almost 5,000 souls--which is not far below the entire population of Cook County.  Although I wasn’t invited to join them, I would never agree to attend the “Great Minnesota Get Together” anyway. There are too many people and noise, and I get antsy when three or more people are in line with me at the grocery store.  The fair was central to my childhood summers living in suburban Minneapolis. It's a place where the ordinary transforms into the extraordinary, a magical escape before the harsh reality of 'back to school' sets in.  The neighborhood gang and I mowed lawns, peddled papers, saved allowances, and hit up friendly uncles for a buck or two to fund a full day of independence at the fair. We were filled with anticipation on the chosen day as o

I may have too much time on my hands, what with spending hours at boat landings with limited cell phone service and sometimes few watercraft to occupy my attention. My mind wanders to overused words that have multiple meanings and the effects those different meanings have on our society. While overused words may seem harmless, they actually have a significant impact on our perceptions of our neighbors.  One that bugs me is the word fun. “Let’s do something fun.” “Did you have fun?” “What did you do for fun, on your day off, vacation, weekend, whatever?”  Or when you’re injured or ill, “I bet that wasn’t fun.”  Fun is sometimes a helpful word, but it is overused. I hear it too much, even from my own mouth. I don’t have to do something fun to enjoy my day.  Another overused word is battle. “He lost his battle with cancer.” “They were battling the City Council to get a liquor license.” “Every day is an uphill battle.”  Diseases don’t always require a combative approach. The focus on battl

As I fall into my senior years in an ungainly way, my political addiction, not unlike the alcohol one I beat back years ago, still grabs hold of my thoughts. Today, I’ll try to be as non-partisan as possible and throw some shade on the media, the natural villain of elected officials at all levels of government. National political pundits and reporters were left reeling by the Joe Biden near abdication issue after the debate fiasco. They spent countless hours speculating when, not if, he would step aside. Yet, on July 21, Biden announced his decision to hand over the reins to his Vice President, catching the media elite off guard with a sight they rarely see: a well-organized Democratic party. The Biden campaign transitioned to the Harris campaign in just a couple of weeks. Harris named the Minnesota governor her Vice Presidential nominee. The Democratic National Committee went virtual to endorse the Harris/Walz ticket many days before the convention that will formalize its ticket. Nati

I’m here to tell you that comments on just one Facebook post can lead you down a never-ending rabbit hole.  Believing what’s good for the goose is good for the gander, I recently shared a meme juxtaposing student loans with the Payroll Protection Program (PPP) loans. The meme's punchline was, 'No one asked how we would pay for PPP loan forgiveness.'  A friend thinks student loans are different. They were a choice for the borrower.  The PPP loans were necessary because the borrower's survival was at stake. I’m pretty sure the evidence won’t support the idea that most PPP loans could not be repaid eventually by those employers who took advantage of free government money.  The COVID-inspired PPP loans ended on May 31, 2021, distributing $793 billion to 11.5 million applicants, 225,385 in Minnesota alone. As of March 13, 2024, about $762 billion, roughly 96% of the total, was forgiven entirely. As we ponder the future, historians and economists will debate whether PPP was a