Month: June 2011

You know L. Frank Baum as the author of “The Wizard of Oz.” You  may not know of Baum’s North Dakota connection. Here’s the story, as told to me by my friend Dorothy Howe (no relation to the Dorothy of “Oz” fame.) My Dorothy grew up in Edgeley, North Dakota, moved away to California, and … Continue reading Twinkle and Chubbins

ONE GOVERNMENT AGENCY GETS IT RIGHT Many of you saw the story in the Bismarck Tribune, reprinted from the Billings Gazette, about the record or near-record snowpack in the mountains in Montana this year. Statewide in Montana, snowpack stands at 257 per cent of average for this time of year. Snowpack above some of the … Continue reading Weekenders

As we were sandbagging at Fort Mandan Friday, on the bank of the Mighty Missouri River, my friend Clay looked over his shoulder at the river and said “Maybe we’ll see a house come floating by.” Which set us both to thinking immediately about Huckleberry Finn, and we were quiet for a good long while … Continue reading A Good Book For A Flood