ERIC BERGESON
An ode to the great air conditioner
Willis Haviland Carrier invented modern air conditioning in 1902. Although Mr. Carrier probably doesn’t deserve a national holiday, an occasional moment of silence in his honor wouldn’t hurt, especially after last week.By Eric Bergeson , August 27, 2010
I miss my old pickup truck
Last week, almost one year to the day after I purchased my latest vehicle, the odometer turned over to 30,000 miles. Well, it is a green display light that changed to 30,000 miles. Saying it “turned over” is no longer accurate. The car, a 2009 Ford Taurus, has done everything asked of it. It rides like a dream.By Eric Bergeson , August 20, 2010
Digging up the bones of Dr. Per 
Last month big machines rolled in to rip up the seven miles of the road that goes past the farm.
By Eric Bergeson , August 06, 2010
Southern forests have grown up
Midwesterners who assume that the East Coast is nothing but urban sprawl are often surprised by the endless dense forests which cover the most of the eastern seaboard from Maine to Georgia.
It wasn’t always so.
By Eric Bergeson , July 30, 2010
A short-lived equality in America
We northerners can be a bit smug about our record on racial equality. After all, we fought to free the slaves, did we not?
The historic record is more murky, as became obvious when our tour of 40 history teachers from Northwest Minnesota moved to Atlanta.
By Eric Bergeson , July 23, 2010
A monument to Confederate ‘glory’
Stone Mountain just east of Atlanta, Georgia is an enormous granite dome, five miles around at the base, circled by sheer gray cliffs, which rise out of the Georgia forest.
By Eric Bergeson , July 16, 2010
A broken bus in the deep south
As our tour group of 40 history teachers marched deep into Dixie, the temperature rose above 105 degrees. It was a relief to spend time in the air conditioned bus between stops at historic sites.
By Eric Bergeson , July 09, 2010
Historian makes Gettysburg spring to life
As I prepared last week for a tour of Civil War historic sites with 40 history teachers from northwestern Minnesota, I looked at the itinerary and wondered if I would get anything out of touring battlefields.
By Eric Bergeson , July 02, 2010
Wes Michaels — a local hero
In late fall of 1976, our little town of Fertile, Minn., escaped what could have been a major disaster.
A train rolled through town just after 11 p.m., pulling several propane tanker cars.
By Eric Bergeson , June 25, 2010
Long, busy days of June in the Northland
At five past nine a couple of evenings ago, a quick little thunderstorm passed and the sun peeked out from beneath the gray cloud to cast an eerie late-evening glow over the wet foliage.
By Eric Bergeson , June 11, 2010
The fine line between courage and crazy
There’s a fine line between courage and crazy.
If you try something crazy and fail, you’re still crazy. But if you succeed, even after many attempts, your craziness suddenly becomes courage.
By Eric Bergeson , May 21, 2010
Neat and clean Minnesota rest areas
On the way down to a Twins game a couple of weeks ago, I stopped at a rest area along U.S. Highway 10 just east of Detroit Lakes.
Tucked on a hillside in lake country, the place was neat as a pin.
By Eric Bergeson , May 07, 2010
Target Field is a magnificent ballpark
If everybody who said they were against tax money going for a new Twins stadium refused to attend a game, Target Field would be empty.
Instead, they’ve sold out nearly every seat for the entire year.
As happens with most publicly-funded projects, people hate the thought of taxes but love the toys tax money builds.
By Eric Bergeson , April 30, 2010
Bergeson column: Repercussions of a nickname
The recent decision to retire the University of North Dakota “Fighting Sioux” nickname has sent ripples across the national sports scene.
By Eric Bergeson , April 23, 2010
Wasting time more efficiently
It is the topic of somber conferences and alarming stories on public radio: the speed of internet service in our rural areas is falling way behind the rest of the world.
By Eric Bergeson , April 09, 2010
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