Gazette

There’s a particular kind of patience that comes with living in a small town. Not the restless kind of patience of someone waiting for something to happen, but rather the quiet acceptance that things will happen when they’re meant to, and rushing won’t change the timeline. You see this most clearly on Jefferson Street on … Read more

If you’ve spent any time in Minnesota, you’ve noticed something about how we name our lakes. We’re not particularly creative about it. Someone looked at the water and said, “Well, that’s a big lake,” and Big Lake got its name. A few counties over, a similar conversation was had. One person threw out a suggestion. … Read more

Sometime in May, they come back. You won’t see them at first, they’ll be out on the lake, too far away to make out clearly. But you’ll hear them. That call, the one that sounds like someone laughing in the dark, like joy and loneliness mixed together in a way only a loon can manage. … Read more

One of a Midwesterner’s favorite topics is the weather. If you’ve spent more than a few minutes in Minnesota, you’ve probably realized the weather can change on a dime. There’s an old saying, “If you don’t like the weather, wait fifteen minutes.” Whether the saying is true is open for debate, but it certainly gives … Read more

There’s a bait vending machine outside the gas station on State Highway 23, on the corner where you turn off to come into Flat Rock. It’s been there longer than anyone can remember, which in a town like ours means at least fifteen years, maybe more. No one’s entirely sure when it arrived or who … Read more