The Campfire

Sitting around a campfire is one of Summer's popular pastime.There is something mesmerizing about the flames as they take on a life of their own. The other evening, my husband, Brad and I decided to have a fire in our portable fire pit. It started out huge--each flame bursting from the logs, as if reaching up to break free from the pit in which it was imprisoned. My husband prefers to have the lid on the screen, but I asked him to remove it so the fire could dance at free will, and look more like a good ol' fashioned campfire. I'm a little nostalgic that way.

We opted to stay home Friday night instead of watching the fireworks in town. When we started the campfire, we had an hour to go before the fireworks were to start a mile down the road at the Middle School. In the meantime, my cozy campfire created its own sparkling firework display, and to my delight, fireflies put on quite the fireworks show as they flickered throughout the back yard. To make the evening all the more relaxing, the Minnesota state bird of prey (mosquito) hardly made a showing.

Campfires calm me...they allow my mind to wander as I gaze at the burst of flames and crackling sparks as they shoot from the fire, and gently fall to the ground where they slowly burn out in the dew covered grass.

Ah, but the best is yet to come as the flames ebb into a small dance among the red glowing logs. Everything becomes peaceful and I hold my husband's hand. I would trade an evening of a pyro-technic firework display for this moment, with my best friend, in front of a glowing fire and a glass of strawberry-lime margarita.

The plot thickens, though, when the city fireworks show begins, and the booming sound ignites to the north and then echoes seconds later to the west. To our delight, we are able to see most of the fire works above the tree tops....our "ooohs" and "ahhhs" begin between us.

This was an evening of entertainment for only the cost of a bottle of pre-mixed margarita mix that will last us several evenings around the campfire.

I love a good campfire that brings back memories of going to camp as a child and camping with my kids. Each campfire story is different, because the place and time are different with a new story to tell, or dream to talk about.

The smell of the campfire lingers on my clothes and memories awaken the following morning when I put yesterday's clothes in the washer. It's almost like a good cologne---so good I wish there were a way to package it and call it the "Woodsman." This is a light-hearted comment, but true to how I feel.

Most of us all have our own campfire store, or thought to share. I welcome your comments on this.


Jewel

Meeting with my Publisher/Editor

I met with my publisher and editor, Amy Quayle, yesterday at the WiseInk office in Minneapolis. It was an great meeting. We discussed items that will be given away with my book promotion, such as tattoos of characters in the book, and finger puppets. She also gave me ideas on how to fund raise to help support my project. We ended the meeting talking about the editorial process.

I will keep you posted as the publishing process progresses. In the meantime, I invite you to follow my blog and to sign up for email notifications of new posts.

Jewel

There's Something About the Train

There's something about the sound of a train's whistle that provokes me to reminisce about my childhood. It is a melancholy sound that momentarily transports me back to over 45 years ago, when Eagan, Minn., my hometown, was farmland and pastures. As a child, I would often sit on the back porch and listen to the sound of the train in the distant-just beyond the red barn on the eastern horizon. This is but one of many nostalgic memories I have of the sound of a train.

The train I hear today, as I stand outside my New Prague home, just blocks from the tracks, is more than a whistle or the rumbling and screeching noise as it comes to a stop along side the Minneapolis and St. Louis Railroad Depot at the west end of New Prague. The train is the live history of New Prague, as well as the here and now. Its low whistle announces that the birth of the town started here and it's still alive with commerce that affects countless people and businesses.

I hear the Union Pacific as it whistles and rolls to a stop over Hwys 19/13 around the 7:00 a.m. hour on a Monday morning. I'm sure this causes many commuters to grumble anxiously as they wait for the crossing bar, with its red blinking lights, to lift so they can get on with their morning commute to work.

The railroad has had a lasting influence on the growth of New Prague. It's a piece of the past that has shaped the future of this small town. According to the New Prague walking tour guide, "In the early 1930s, New Prague was served by ten regular freight trains and six passenger trains daily." Though passenger trains no longer stop in New Prague, freight trains, which stop at the local ConAgra Mill or Chart Industries, are still going strong with loads of freight to transport to towns around the country.

If the railroad was a catalyst for the growth of New Prague, then it's part of our heritage, so why not celebrate it at Dožínky Festival -perhaps a guided tour of the depot from a direct descendant of a railroad or mill worker who may still live in the New Prague area. Perhaps they have family stories to pass down to the next generation.

Times have changed since the railroad first came to town in 1877, but as long as the train continues to stop in New Prague, it will continue be a significant part of New Prague's live history.



Photo Photo of the New Prague Depot
photographer R.G. Smedley


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