Undone by Sudden Revelation

It all seemed so innocent.  Here at the door of an outdoor clothing store the greeter was a man likely in the early forties.

 

While my friend went to find a desired shirt I remained in conversation as the greeter seemed to want to talk about one thing or another in his life. No big deal. Some eye contact.

 

I went off to find my friend. He made a purchase. As he made his way to the door we met the greeter again. This time he addressed me directly with words and eye contact. Then in a moment of time he began to describe the recent funeral of his father and that he had spoken for about 20 minutes.

 

He then spoke the final words of his talk in a low and guttural voice. The words are lost in my mind. All I could feel was amazement. He created a sacred space at the store entry by laying bare his inner person. 

 

Both friend and I were both taken aback by the utter honesty of both word, emotion, and physical demeanor. This was a revelation and one should be wary of such surprise experiences. What will I do about this revelation in and of my self? What in me gave him permission to do this act of personal courage? That is the way it works. We each give others permission to say things to us by imperceptible signals.

 

I did courage to put into words a memorable. I believe such moments are part of building up the human experiment. More on that at a later time.

Learning Math at Khan Academy at Age 85

I never learned basic Math. I can blame it on District 16 one room school house in Redwood County with  teachers just out of high school but that it pointless. It all happened or did not happen about 80 years ago.  Now that I am alone while Joan is at Rakhma Group Home due to memory loss I need to be learning something new to improve myself in a way that would please her. Joan was an elementary school teacher and will be interested in my choice of subject matter.

 

I turned to the Khan Academy, an online school found at Khanacademy.com. This program offers education in all kinds of information fields. One can begin at the most elementary level and practice over and again as needed.  One can move onto advanced levels

 

I began with the first lessons in Math which was simple addition and subtraction. Then the program rather quickly moved me on to fractions. I began to stumble.  Perhaps this is where my math troubles began. The machine at Khan Academy has been learning about me and is now offerings basics for my level of expertise. 

 

I have been struggling with simple fractions. My learning has been labored and slow. Today the program said to itself:  "We are going to have to take this person back to the true beginnings of the mathematical mind."  It is now teaching me to always follow instructions on the page and every step. Along the way I am having to  learn basic terminology, symbols, and the order of elements in a formula. 

 

It is not likely that I would do this learning in a class where everyone else would be a child.  Although it has brought me into the open with grandson Benjamin who is a math whiz. This is my format for coming out of the closet.

 

Today the program took me back to counting objects and noting what is smaller and greater. This is not as easy as it sounds. 

 

Can I actually learn math?  Time and endurance will tell. I am feeling good about taking on a flaw in my knowledge store.  They say bringing into the open those monsters in the basement of life is healing. This is experimental aging. 

Bread on the Prairie

When the smell of baking bread is one of the earliest of childhood recollections it means that bread baking will have someone to carry on the baking tradition. And so it has come to be.

The Krueger  Dutch Charlie Creek Farm was graced with a traditional farm house featuring a large kitchen and a wood burning kitchen rang. Corncobs, twigs, straw and other miscellaneous combustibles provided additional fuel. Bread baking was one of the prime functions of that range. Mathilda Krueger was the master baker.

All this is called to mind by Bill Bryson in "At Home: A Short History of Private Life". In chapter IV on "The Kitchen" he points out that in nineteenth century England bread was 80% of the food used in a home. People spent 75% of their income on food and bread was central ." For a poorer family the daily diet was a few ounces of tea and sugar, some vegetables, a slice or two of cheese, and just occasionally a very little meant. All the rest was bread". Page 68 

The German tradition farm home in Minnesota had a more generous diet especially in the meat and vegetables category but bread was a central feature always. An especially vivid scene is that of the summer threshing ring. The threshing machine ("Separator" was the term usually used) was taken from farm to farm and neighbors would help each other bring in the wheat, oats, barley, or flax. Long days in the summer meant steady work for hours in the fields and at the farm house.

The wife and family of the hosting farm would prepare food for large noon meal and lunches to be taken to the field by the children. This means many loaves of bread which had to be freshly mixed, risen and baked. The kitchen range needed the right mix of fuel to keep the temperature steady and there really was no back up in case of a mistake. The housewife had to manage and do most of the heavy labor of food preparation and serving while also carrying on the tasks of raising children, caring for an elderly relative, and being a pleasant hostess. I do not recall men helping in the preparation of food.

Pies and cakes were also expected at the meals. In times of economic strains on all farm families one pleasure of life that lifted the spirits of hard working people were those Chocolate Cakes and Apple Pies, to mention two of the favorites. 

Bread made the world go round on those "threshing ring" days on the prairie. Today there is talk of Iron Chef contests. The farm home generated skilled women cooks who had no peers in the high society restaurants of the city. Formal contests were not necessary on the farm - every threshing season meal was a display of talent and no doubt judgments were made.

We of the Krueger family were honored to have one of the best of bread bakers in Mathilda Pooch Krueger. He traditional  recipe book has many pies and cakes. Bread was taken for granted.

Written by Delton

Rain Forest and Prairie Connection

The Olympic Peninsula of Washington State became part of us in the early 1980s. When our eldest daughter when "out west" to practice the profession of being a Forester we discovered a grand new part of America. The Temperate Rain Forest of the Olympic mountains remains a relatively undeveloped and rugged part of the American scene.

The Quinault and other Native groups have a long history of living with sea and forest along the north west coastal frontier with the Pacific Ocean. In Minnesota the Native cultures are primarily Ojibway and Dakota. The histories of Minnesota and Washington tribal interface with European new comers to America differs in some significant ways. In Minnesota the Sioux Uprising in the 1860s involved family members some of whom were killed in the Uprising. As a result of the violence of that time a reservation system was established. It is only in recent years with the coming of casino gaming that Native peoples have had an economic base of substance.

On the Olympic peninsula the remote situation worked to the benefit of the Native people in that Europeans had a long way to go to get there and the land was not seen as particularly valuable.  The Quinault and others have had a strong cultural life related to the overwhelming influence of natural forces - Rain - Sea - Rain Forests - Fog -  Mountainous Terrain - Wind - Aquatic Life. Their remoteness from major population centers has worked to their benefit.

Recent studies have shown that a site near the community of Forks is likely the most silent place in the States.The immense trees and steep hillsides of the Olympics keeps mass civilization at bay.

A good many Minnesotans went to Washington State in the 1900s when the Forest were diminished by the wholesale cutting of timber to supply national markets. Foresters trained and experienced in Minnesota went from the Pine and Fir of Minnesota to the abundant Western Hemlock, Sitka Spruce and Western Red Cedar of the Olympics.  In the 1980s our family took its place with that number. Our lives have been enriched.

Finding a Practical Route

When approaching a range of hills or mountains the traveler has to choose a route. Should it be up and over the highest ridges or along a valley and up over a pass. Lewis and Clark had that kind of decision to make as they approached the Rocky Mountains on their exploration trip to the West in the early history of America.

Even more daunting is dealing with a sheer cliff. Should the climber risk life and limb to ascend the rock face or compromise idealism with the practical and preserve his/her life for another adventure.

Today the issue is finding a practical route through the challenging mountains of digital communication on the Internet. The ever rising ridges of technological change means that any accomplishment will soon be faced by an even higher ridge of learning and experimentation. It is easy to be paralyzed by impossible challenges that are interesting but not doable.

The moral of the story is to find the digital mountain pass that allows the traveler to get on with it.

Family and the Civil War Weblog now on line

Today, April 12, 2011 begins a five year historical account of the involvement of my family of origin in the American Civil War 1861-1865.
The account is presented at http://prairietopotomac.blogspot.com
Brother Arlin and I are grandsons of Charles Ford Pooch who was in the Army of the Potomac from 1861-1865.  Details will appear over time. Arlin and I are in cooperation on the development of this family historical document. We welcome input from anyone who has relevant information.
Delton Krueger
dkrueger@visi.com

Civil War 150th Anniversary begins in 2011

The Civil War connects with this family in that Delton and Arlin Krueger's Grandfather, Charles Ford Pooch, was in the Army of the Potomac from 1861-1865. He and several brothers enlisted in the summer of 1861 when events apparently touched the passions of Wisconsin young men.  He was in the 7th Brigade that came to be known as the Black Hat Brigade. Company I, called the Northwestern Tigers. was his unit.

It is our intention to put online, perhaps in this weblog, the dates and stories of what we know about Grandfather's role in various movements of the army with special attention on the Battles since that is when the historical record is most available. We have no letters that were written home but we do have War Department records that track much of his career. Other records of Company I give us knowledge of where he would have been along the way. We do have clear records of the battles in which he was a participant.

When mustered out in 1865 Grandfather Charles returned to Wisconsin, was married to Charlotte Amalie Borsack, and early in the 1870s came to the Minnesota frontier settling in Germantown Township of Cottonwood County in central southwest Minnesota.