On the Road Again
I recently traveled more in two days than I do in a typical year. The first trip was to deliver a few small attachments I had sold online.
The second was a trip to see my brother Dave in Carrington. I left Saturday morning about six and arrived about 9:30 near Wadena.
The buyer thanked me for delivery to which I replied that it was nice to visit the area because there were still some dairy farms. He told me there were now 6 dairy farms left in Wadena County and that number would most likely be reduced by half in 2024.
I liked seeing the small dairy farms on the side of small hills with buildings all gathered around Harvestore silos. Northwest Minnesota used to be home to lots of dairy farms however low prices and land more suited to crop farming, among other reasons, has reduced the number of dairies greatly. Old fence is historical evidence of cattle and I don’t typically see much old fence either. I used to see old, unemployed fence posts rotting away but those have been removed too. A farmer can’t plant crops “fencerow to fencerow” (Butz, Earl- Ag Secretary 1973) anymore because there’s no more fencerow, there’s not even barbed wire in the grass to wrap itself up in a brush mower.
Two days later, my nephew Jamie and I, were headed to Carrington, North Dakota to see my brother, Dave. The trip out west went by quickly as President’s day traffic was light. Once in Carrington, we had breakfast then headed out for a guided tour. We had to stop by Cows and Co Creamery to load up on gelato and cheese curds. We then took an engineering tour of a water pipeline from Lake Sakakawea to the Red River of the North. The six foot diameter pipe is planned to direct water from Lake Missouri to the Sheyenne River near Cooperstown then flow to the Red River. This pipeline passes close by Carrington so we had to put on some hard hats for a quick windshield inspection.
Once back in Carrington, we settled in for some good old stories about our family. Dave is older than me and so his tales dig deep into our family history. He had good stories about our parent’s siblings and our grandparents. He had even better stories about the tactics employed by him and my brother Steve, to avoid boredom around Viking in the late 50s and early 60s. What passed for entertainment back then would qualify as a reason to call the authorities, we were a rough bunch. The three of us shared memories as time stood still and the clock accelerated. It isn’t like me to log a highlight so early in 2024 however this was one. It was a memory-producing event that was truly worthy of a picture. The trip home led us through a beautiful gully that is the home to a nice little beef farm. I was surprised to find this was a favorite part of the journey for Jamie as it was for me. Always fun to find your perception of paradise is similar to close family members’.
I am safely home now. I will leave again sometime however this trip will be a hard act to follow.
Sue Knutson Dakota Gullikson Darcy Hestekind Sharon Bring Rachel Fredrickson Angie Steinhauer Ryan Bergeron Grant Nelson
Thank You!!
