lori sorenson
By Lori Sorenson, editorMarch 19, 2019The expression on his face said it all. The high school junior was forced to try on a suit coat and matching slacks over the weekend as a step toward finding prom attire. In casual conversation with a friend last week, I mentioned prom, and she speculated that her son had a prom suit he’d be willing to sell. So, she brought it to me, and I brought it home, and the kid was required to try it on.…
By Lori Sorenson, editorJanuary 15, 2019My 22-year-old son spent last weekend ice fishing with buddies on some frozen lake in central Minnesota. He’s an experienced angler and has driven on many frozen Minnesota lakes to auger countless holes in ice to retrieve untold numbers and species of fish. Therefore, I told myself (again) I should not worry that my firstborn will fall through the ice surface and plunge to a frigid death. But I’m…
By Lori Sorenson, editorSeptember 26, 2017Siri is slowly doing away with recipe books, how-to manuals and other tried and true handy references. Our old backyard apple tree has been busy bearing fruit, and we’ve been busy harvesting. Since our McIntosh apples are somewhat “vintage” I consulted my 1950s-era community cookbooks for old-fashioned recipes. Apple dumplings, applesauce, baked whole apples, apple cobbler and others were printed…
By Lori Sorenson, editorSeptember 05, 2017My friend, Carrie, and I recently took advantage of cheap airfare and an invitation to stay in her family’s Las Vegas timeshare. I wouldn’t describe either of us as impulsive, but sometimes good deals are too good to pass up, and sometimes spur-of-the moment plans actually work. Within days of spotting the deal we chose our dates and booked our flights. A few weeks later the schoolteacher and…
By Lori Sorenson, editorOctober 31, 2016Several weeks ago, my sisters and I and my parents planned holiday dates for the Kroontje Thanksgiving and Christmas gatherings. While we were busy entering the dates into our smartphones, Mom made an off-hand remark that stopped us mid-text. “It’s a blessing to be able to plan for the future,” she said, returning her calendar to its nail in the kitchen wall. It took us awhile for the observation…
By Lori Sorenson, editorOctober 03, 2016We have another almost-licensed driver in our household, which is about to have a profound effect on the grownups in our family who currently chauffeur him to practice, social outings and other obligations. I say “almost” and “about to” because the kid is 15 and has passed his behind-the-wheel test to secure a farm permit — which allows him to travel for farm purposes only, and only for limited…
By Lori Sorenson, editorAugust 29, 2016The college kid is back on campus, and while he’s four hours from home, we’re only a text message apart (or cell phone call if there’s a real emergency). So heading back to college doesn’t carry the weight of “good-bye” that my college days did. I had a dorm phone on the wall that placed calls to Kenneth only when used with a prepaid calling card. There were letters home, written in pencil lead…
By Lori Sorenson, editorAugust 01, 2016Snag, the family cat, enjoys a relative life of leisure, existing both indoors and out, depending on her mood and the weather. Mostly, she’s been queen of the jungle, commanding respect of the local birds, bunnies and pocket gophers. But lately she’s been challenged by a stray Tom who travels from the neighbors but is anything but neighborly. We figure he’s a bully, given his embattled appearance…
By Lori Sorenson, editorJuly 05, 2016Good health is both a blessing and a choice. We can’t prevent all physical ailments, but we can certainly make choices that give us an edge toward better health. Rich DeSchepper and Verlyn Van Batavia are two 70-somethings in Luverne who are living proof that staying active allows for an active lifestyle. I interviewed them last week for a lighthearted feature about how they’re spending…
By Lori Sorenson, editorMay 09, 2016Dear neighbors, Hang in there, the kid will get his driver’s license next year Dear neighbors: This is an open letter to all of our neighbors, whether you are just up the road or across the section (or two or three sections away). Since we moved here nearly a year ago, we’ve really grown to love our new neighborhood and new surroundings. We especially like the rolling hills and endless miles of…
By Lori Sorenson, editorApril 19, 2016Growing older doesn’t necessarily mean growing up, and we’ll soon be reminded of this when the adult children return from college for the summer. At 18 they became legal adults eligible to vote, buy cigarettes, serve in the military, gamble at a casino and participate in other things reserved for adulthood. I’ve even said to the college kid on occasion, “You’re an adult now …” for dental work,…
By Lori Sorenson, editorMarch 28, 2016My college son spent some time over his Easter weekend volunteering for the Rock County Historical Society. It was an assignment for school, and he was grateful that Betty Mann had some work at the museum that he could help with. Somewhere in the process of clipping and filing information at the museum, he came across a 20-year-old newspaper page with an early photo of his mother. It was a column…
By Lori Sorenson, editorMarch 08, 2016We have a young driver in training in our family, and these are exciting and challenging times. For both the learner and the mentors. It’s exciting for the young driving student who can just about taste his freedom. And it’s exciting for the grown-up drivers who look forward to the kid driving himself to and from practice and other activities. It’s challenging for the learner to be so smart about…
By Lori Sorenson, editorFebruary 15, 2016For Christmas we gave Matt wireless headphones to listen to the TV without interference from, well, us, essentially. Carson can practice percussion or play the piano and I can be on the phone or clattering dishes and the xBox downstairs can play at full volume without interfering with Matt’s hockey game. It was the best gift ever. He can hear; we don’t have to “keep it down.” But I’ve also…
By Lori Sorenson, editorJanuary 25, 2016Newspaper offices were at one time fascinating places to visit — with noisy presses, oversized rolls of paper and ink by the barrel. In my time at the Star Herald, we’ve never printed on our own presses, but there were lots of other interesting things to see and do. Tourists were photographed at the door and then led to the darkroom to learn how film (remember film?) is developed and prints are…
By Lori SorensonJanuary 04, 2016I love snow. There I said it. (Pause here for boos and hisses from snow haters). Sure — it results in shoveling work, driving hazards and public expense for road clearing. But there’s a lot to love about snow. In a Minnesota winter, the landscape is pretty drab after grass goes dormant and trees are leafless, and snow brightens up the place. It’s clean, white and — when it’s not coming down…
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