It has been a very busy and rewarding spring, so again no time to update the blog. I’ll try to catch up a bit now 🙂
Last year was my first year as a grant application evaluator for a state-level arts board. It was a wonderful experience so I did it again this year. There is a great deal of amazing stuff happening, and it is fun to be a part of this process.
This year I participated in an entirely new-to-me thing, too: a friend shared a plea from another state (not even neighboring MN but one I have some connections to). Their junior- and senior-high-school history students compete with history projects to get from their school to the Regionals, then from Regionals to State, then on to Nationals. I was assigned to the junior high set, which honestly made me a bit nervous. Full disclosure: I am and always have been totally cowed by this age group. Probably tied to some event back in my own junior high era, but still… I was nervous. There was no need to be.Â
For all the hand-wringers out there about “kids today,” I’ll say this again: THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT.
I was blown away by the quality of these projects, the level of research, the analysis by the students, and the way they put their projects together. Myself and my team member recommended four different projects to move from Regionals to State, and two backup projects. Of those six, five have moved forward to Nationals. That’s how good these projects were! I’ll have to keep an eye on the final results. I wrote special notes to three of the students, because their projects were so far above and beyond.
Again…the kids are alright!
In late May, the Laura Ingalls Wilder Memorial Society in De Smet held an unveiling event for a recently-donated original Harvey Dunn painting. Next time you are in De Smet, ask about it.Â
The tour season has begun for me at the Stockman House in Mason City (I participate from May through October, but not winter due to driving distance and distrust of the weather). This marks my fifth season already.
May 28, 2026 was the State Historical Society of Iowa’s 2026 Loren Horton Excellence in History Awards. The Story of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Stockman House, my third book, received a Certificate of Honor (2nd place in the category of Community History). A reader of the book (active at Cedar Rock, Iowa’s other open-to-the-public Wright house, and a professor at University of Northern Iowa) nominated the book last fall. I was surprised and honored when the email came in. Thank you Rodney!
Since 2020, I’ve given hundreds of talks (either in person or via Zoom) about either The Beautiful Snow, We Suffered Much, or a combination of both books. This winter I developed a new talk, which focuses specifically on the experiences of railroad surveyor Charles Wood Irish and his crew once the October 1880 blizzard struck. They were nearly to the Black Hills, living in canvas tents and were trapped in camp for nearly a week. He tried to keep the work going until February, and his diaries and letters are quite enlightening as to what the men endured before finally calling the survey to a halt. Please let your local public library know about this new talk, or the others offered!
I’ve been deep into three other writing projects, one of which will be published within the next few weeks via the South Dakota Historical Society’s Summer 2026 edition of South Dakota History, their quarterly publication. I hope to have the second project completed by the end of 2026 or early 2027, and the third is still very much in the research and “sitting in a pile on the table marinating phase.” A fourth project was whispered in my ear by a research librarian at an event in April, and she and I need to circle back around to have further discussions about that.
So, as usual, no moss is growing under my feet. With temperatures finally warm enough for me to do most of my writing on the back deck in my “outdoor office,” I should make more progress than in the spring months, when I often develop a bit of malaise and spend more time napping instead.
Daily hikes (sometimes twice a day) round out things, along with continued cello lessons and occasional sewing projects. So while I’ve been quieter for the blog and social media, work is continuing!
I’ll be in De Smet the middle Pageant weekend (events are July 17, 18 and 19 though I won’t be there for the 19th). I’ll do book signings at both the Memorial Society (where the Surveyor’s House is) and out at the Ingalls Homestead. I may also do book signings at the Pageant site on Friday night.
The fun and best part is that on Saturday July 18, Dr. Barb Boustead—author of Wilder Weather—and myself will be at the First School building (at the Memorial Society). As the tours come through, the guide usually tells the group about the building itself and some of its history. On July 18, however, Barb and I will talk specifically about the Hard Winter of 1880-81. which Wilder wrote about in The Long Winter. I’ll have large foamboard-mounted photos taken in March and April of 1881 that show what the railroads were up against in terms of snow, and we will answer questions people have about the winter.
For readers of The Long Winter, think about the chapter when the blizzards hit the school building, and the teacher and children are nearly lost as they made their way back to town. This is the very building where that event took place. It’s always fun to watch people’s faces as they realize where they are standing.
Have a good summer, and hope to see you in July!