The Locals

Bemidji is my mother-in-law, Calhoun's mom. Bemidji is from North Dakota but has been in Minnesota, doing many Minnesota things, since college.


Blueberry is my niece, the daughter of Nokomis and Eveleth. She's four months old, and is now bigger than a blueberry!


Calhoun is my loving husband. He grew up in the flood plains of northwest Minnesota and is the inspiration for a lot of my Minnesotan activities and is along on almost all of my adventures. He is a full-time graduate student at the University of Minnesota, which explains how he has time for some of his adventures.

Catalina is a friend from college and a great sailor. She's married to the D.D.S. and they live in the neighborhood!

Cedar is a newer friend, who we've known for years but just moved to St. Paul after finishing graduate school. Cedar writes an excellent food blog, Greens and Chocolate.

D.D.S. is another friend from college, married to Catalina. And yes, you guessed it, is the local go-to guy when you have questions about your teeth!

Eveleth is my sister-in-law, Nokomis' wife. She is from the Iron Range and is generally awesome.

Gunflins is my little brother, who attended the same (unnamed) liberal arts college as I did (and almost everyone else in the blog).

Hale is another college friend, who I didn't really get to know until she moved in with Calhoun and a handful of other characters in a post-college house. She's a boxer.

Kenyon is my father-in-law, Calhoun's dad. Kenyon and his family are the base in northwest Minnesota and they are bee keepers.

Menogyn is another college friend and is with Calhoun on many of his long rides.  Menogyn is a true Minneapolis kid, and is very enthusiastic!

Minnehaha, another college classmate, who Calhoun has known since they were freshmen. Minnehaha and Calhoun were roommates for years until they grew up and got married - to Snelling and myself.

Minneopa is our resident musician and our faithful Vespers leader. Minneopa is also a great friend, so thoughtful and caring, and always ready with a glass of red wine.

Nokomis is my brother-in-law, Calhoun's older brother. He lives on the other side of the river encourages our adventures.

Red another college friend and a former roommate of Calhoun's. Red plays the mandolin and just got engaged to Swan!

Snelling is a great friend who I've known since college. She's married to Minnehaha and is currently living in Chicago (sadness) but she makes it back a lot and blogs about her life there - so she doesn't seem so far away.


Sogn is the real star of this blog. He's a 19 month old golden retriever who loves to swim, lay in the mud and run and run and run!


Swan is not a friend from college! But she is a great friend, has already been along on some great adventures and is marrying Red in mid October!

Uptown is a law school friend, not Minnesotan but she's here for good now and I love having her around!