My brother and I drove from Frazee, Minnesota to Gray Eagle, Minnesota, another town off the beaten path. We drove across lovely verdant farm fields the road curved up and down gentle hills. The corn was green and tall, the soybean fields often had corn that had come from last years crop. We arrived in … Continue reading Finding Mother’s Gravestone
Author: Barefootbuell
Chasing the Past – Frazee, MN
My brother and I drove from 510 to Frazee, Minnesota. For one year we lived there, my mother, two brothers, and I. Mother worked as a housekeeper for the widower Dick. Dick had one young son, Hank, a little bit younger than me and another who had just gone off to college. We lived in … Continue reading Chasing the Past – Frazee, MN
510
Places hold such powerful memories. It used to bother me to go back there. But now I relish the experience, having made peace with the past. 510 brings alive memories of family joys, struggles, betrayals and bonding. My younger brother moved back to 510 and has an apartment and guest room on the third floor, two blocks … Continue reading 510
Researching at the Minnesota State Fair
I'm researching the second book. I'm at the Minnesota State Fair searching for my past. Every year until I moved away from Minnesota I went to the fair. This time I wore my T-shirt from the last trip in 2008. On the back in ALL CAPS purple letters is this quote from Garrison Keillor: THE … Continue reading Researching at the Minnesota State Fair
Home
The old cliches are: "Home is where you heart is"; "There is no place like home"; "Home is where you belong." My home is now in three places, my heart is in all three. There is where I belong, yet there isn't three of me. Since I can't clone myself I will divide the year … Continue reading Home
Tower Hill and the Grampians
My cousins promised me we would see Emus up close and personal at Tower Hill. Indeed they greeted me in the parking lot, eyeing me right in the car. When I got out of the car I was amazed to find a bird almost a large as myself: The amazing creature walked along the path … Continue reading Tower Hill and the Grampians
Great Ocean Road
Down the coast from Melbourne is one of the most beautiful seaside roads in the world. Curves, ocean surf, and rocks greet a driver at every turn. Luckily I had a very experienced local driver. Signs remind tourists to stay to the left. It was wonderful to stop, watch and listen to the surf pounding … Continue reading Great Ocean Road
A Rain Forest Sanctuary
One morning my cousin whisked me out of the city. We drove east for an hour to the Dandenong Range where we came to William Ricketts created a space to honor native Australian flora, fauna and people. His fired clay sculptures mounted in the rain forest are a wonder to behold. Wandering through the sculptures … Continue reading A Rain Forest Sanctuary
Melbourne and suburbs
Melbourne was the first place my grandparents and my aunt stopped at on their journey to Australia in 1912. In my book Visions from Two Continents I published my Aunt Lucille's diary entries about that arrival. While in Melbourne I wanted to find those places. They entered the harbor via the Yarra River and came up … Continue reading Melbourne and suburbs
Bowral, Mittegong and Canberra
My uncle who wrote the letters featured in my book Visions from two Continents had four children and their children had many more who spread throughout Australia. On this trip I have been very fortunate to meet many of his grandchildren and their children. After I left Townsville, I flew back to Sydney and then … Continue reading Bowral, Mittegong and Canberra
