Monica's sumac.

Episode 12 celebrates rural Minnesota and the beauty of farms. I take a trip to the Historic Swensson farm in Chippewa County at the west end of the Minnesota River Valley, which is rumored to be haunted.

I visit the family farm where I hear coyotes howling for the first time.  And we visit Jim's Apple Farm along Highway 169 where the "pies are baking when the lite is on."

Music by  Garrigan's Quarrel of Wabasha, Jerry Ostensoe of Sacred Heart, Edward Klamm of Minneapolis, and Rick Jensen, formerly of Wabasso, Minnesota.

Click here to listen.

I'd be hard pressed to tell you what my favorite experience was while visiting New Ulm in the Minnesota River Valley, but I know visiting Sven and Ole's Books was near the top. 

Hailing from Minnesota, my friend, Melanie, and I were fairly certain we were going to enjoy whatever Sven and Ole's had to offer.  For me, it was the discovery of two Anne Tyler books to add to my collection, and for Melanie, it was a copy of Wanda Gag's book, Million's of Cats, a classic for kids.  I think Captain Kangaroo read it on his TV show when I was little.  (Click here to hear his theme song.)

Now, are you ready for the really good part of this story?  Wanda Gag grew up just a few blocks away in a truly lovely house that you can tour. The Gag's charming house looks like the kind of place that would foster creativity. 

We had to visit it!  According to her biography, Wanda's life was not as fortunate as the architecture would imply.  There were bumps in the road.

Visiting hours are fairly limited and we missed them, so we walked around the outside and admired how impeccably the Wanda Gag house has been preserved. 

Now this is the way I like to experience history.  It was like a little bit of time-travel. 

Every once in a while Melanie and I will meet someone, on our travels, who makes us take stock of our lives to see if we're doing everything we can with what God gave us.  I would say the answer for me would be, "not yet."  Well, that's what we experienced when we wandered into New Ulm Art, a brand new business located near the New Ulm Visitor's Center in New Ulm, Minnesota

I was looking at the artwork near the front of the building and I said to Melanie, "That Curt Schultz is pretty good."  I had no idea Curt was the proprietor of New Ulm Art and creator of every intricate piece of art in there.  He does quite a variety of artwork, all of it in great detail.  Here's the inspiring part of Curt's story.  He's been paraplegic since he broke his neck in a car crash in 1984.  He is also a Vietnam Veteran and former musician.  Zowie.

Curt is just so darned humble about his accomplishments, you gotta love him.  He began studying the great masters after his accident and took his inspiration from them.  As I wandered around his studio trying to take in the variety of work he does, I found a display of cut-out buildings perfect for a Christmas village.

Curt has garnered awards for his artwork and some of it has been displayed  at the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in New York City.  New York City! 

New Ulm Art is open 11 A.M. till 7 P.M. Monday through Saturday. 

Eager to share my own creative endeavors with Curt, I brazenly marched behind his counter and added Minnesota Country Mouse Folk Blog to his "favorites" on the computer.  With the help of his sister, Curt will be launching a website.  That Curt.  You gotta love him.

During our visit along the east side of the Mississippi River, Melanie and I stopped at the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum in Pepin, Wisconsin where we were advised to dine at the Harbor View Restaurant which sits on the shore of the mighty Mississippi.  Our guide at the Laura Ingalls Wilder museum was none other than a Chinese princess named Kwomg Yem Han.  (This is the kind of surprise that puts the icing on the cake of our travels.)

We were pretty excited because the princess said this restaurant was even mentioned in the New York Times.  Well!

We started the meal with borscht, which is a cold beet soup.  Mel wasn't so sure about ordering it, but I had forged ahead with placing the order, so what was she going to do?  It was nicely seasoned with rosemary.  I like rosemary because it reminds me of the late love of my life who knew his food.  "Ed," I would say to him. "Talk food to me."

Then he would rattle off all sorts of culinary phrases and ingredients you don't normally hear out on the farm.  But I digress.  The Harbor View restaurant in Pepin, Wisconsin is noted for making all of their meals from scratch.  And you can taste it.  Yum-mee!

We left the restaurant happy as a couple of clams with plans for dessert somewhere down the road a piece.  We hate to put our entire meal in one basket.  We're always searching for the perfect bite to go with a stout cup of coffee.

I had the opportunity to meet Charlie and Michele Quast, co-owners of the Fieldstone Vineyards, in 2007 when they discovered they had an original Arnold Kramer painting in their possession, and hosted a well-attended art show featuring a collection of his paintings that September. 

Painting of the Quast Farmsite by Arnold Kramer aka "MN's Grandpa Moses"

Well, recently editor Edell Fielder and her sister, Ashley Quinn, paid their own visit to the vineyard and Edell shares their experience in a feature article published in the premiere issue of Midwest Mix Magazine.

Pick up a copy of Midwest Mix Magazine at newsstands in southern Minnesota communities.  I know this is going to sound strange, but you're going to love the way this magazine feels in your hands.It's published on the kind of top quality paper that is intended to stick around for a while.  It's one of the best free magazines I've come across.  You can also sign up for an online subscription at http://www.midwestmixmagazine.com/.

When Melanie and I were barreling down Highway 61 along the Mississippi River in southeastern Minnesota, we passed an odd stand of dead trees near the Frontenac State Park.  The sight made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. 

Those trees were dead in the best kind of weather-worn way.  Silvery and smooth.  It's all about the thrills people.  And clearly, there is no thrill too small for me.  Hmm. Oddities. I guess it takes one to know one.

Garrigan's Quarrel, Wabasha, MN