Steve Fernlund and The Long Way Home

It’s that time of year. The stress of the holidays and winter when I shuffle like an old man (I am an old man) to avoid a broken hip while pushing a wheelbarrow full of firewood. And my computer is acting weird again, interrupting my stream of consciousness. My family has thought I was a descendant of the late Ebenezer Scrooge for many years because my holiday spirit is sometimes quite dark. Some have told me I could get the lead role if they ever make another movie of The Christmas Carol. This morning, after complaining about something my ancient body was doing, I apologized to the Bohunk. “I’m just Grumpy this morning,” I said, followed shortly after with, “Sometimes I’m also Sleepy and Dopey.” Not to let an opportunity pass, she chuckled and said, “But you’re never Bashful.” My good friend in Las Vegas, Ed Fishman, is a big fan of Festivus, the holiday favorite of Seinfeld fans. He’s also a fan of the Philadelphia Eagles, but more on football later. Festivus is celebrated on Decembe...

If you ask ten people on the streets in Two Harbors where the airport is, one or two are likely to respond, "We have an airport?" But they all may know Jerry "Engine" Anderson, who has lived in Lake County for over four decades. Miss Rooby He's an approachable, creative, seventy-something aviation devotee who lives on a lake with no public access and a couple dozen cabins deep in the Superior National Forest. He seems to enjoy all parts of his life, but you can tell it wouldn't be complete without his two self-built airplanes, "Miss Chaos," which he finished in 2002, and "Rooby," which he completed in 2020. His nickname, "Engine," has been around as long as he can remember. "I was an inquisitive kid," Anderson said. He gives his dad credit for the moniker that has stuck with him all these years and for his love of aviation. "My dad flew almost every day in the 1930s to build flight hours to earn his certificate,...

The media--social and otherwise--lit up lately with stories about how the American people are upset about what passes for health insurance. The tone makes it seem like they’re surprised that folks are pissed off. Many of these crack editors and reporters always seem to be living under a rock.  All this has come about because the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, Minnesotan Brian Thompson, was gunned down in gangland fashion on the street in New York City.  The so-called mainstream media went wild with reports of people in the online world expressing delight that an insurance executive bit the dust. All commenters had tales of insurers gumming up the works of healthcare for themselves or their families. Accusations that insurers themselves were murderers, especially when they denied claims, spread on the web like wildfire. I’ve despised the health insurance racket for most of my adult life. Some say it’s an absolute necessity, but it isn’t. I disapprove of vigilantism, but what purpose ...

You may not know this about me, but I'm passionate about small businesses. Small businesses and those who build and operate them play a vital role in our country. My favorite features to write for publication are about the entrepreneurs who do the tedious, often aggravating, but always satisfying work of operating a small business. As I found myself in the quiet days of late November, I couldn't help but reflect on the countless individuals I’ve known over my five decades of business experience. They were all great mentors, although I never labeled them as such. To me, they were just friends or someone I knew. This informal mentorship, often undervalued, holds a profound value. The word “mentor,” like “networking,”  is overused in the business press today. It's a term that's lost its true meaning in the sea of articles and online resources. The notion of mentoring has been formalized online and in print, and I can't help but feel that this has diluted its value. Eag...

“The important thing is the obvious thing that nobody is saying” --Charles Bukowski. The obvious, the important thing, often threatens reputations, feelings, and identity. Who else grew up hearing, “We don’t say that here.” When it comes to politics, our tendency to not say the obvious thing is apparent from city council and county commissioner meetings to the White House. I visited my favorite library to understand what happened with the election last month. I checked out The Populist Explosion: How the Great Recession Transformed American and European Politics , published in October 2016.  Its author,  John B. Judis, defines populism as a political ideology pitting "the people" against "the elite." Populist leaders mobilize a broad base of support by appealing to the frustrations and anxieties of ordinary people against a perceived corrupt and self-serving establishment. Ironically, over the last couple hundred years, those populist leaders were themselves part of...