Kindergarten or some form of first-school-experience is almost universal on the planet in 2023. I had the pleasure of talking to my great nieces, twins Halia and Kaya Dalager in Las Cruces, New Mexico after a February day of kindergarten at Hillrise Elementary. In the room were also their grandmother, great grandmother, and their great aunt. Suffice it to say I had some help with follow-up questions. I went to Kindergarten 54 years ago, and most of it sounds pretty familiar, except maybe not the Go-gurt. See what you think?

Meet April Deale-Thomas, Navajo mother, wife, entrepeneur, juvenile advocate, grandmother, and all-around resilient woman of our times. I knew her as a stand-out student in my Honors 9 English class in 1986 at Shiprock High in Shiprock, New Mexico. We reconnected after 37 years in Las Cruces, New Mexico, where she lives now. As she describes it, she's living in reverse. Part of that reverse is a side gig she and her husband Shane call Desert Mountain Trinkets, which you can find online or on Saturdays at the Las Cruces Farmer's Market. She tells her story in three acts. Check it out.

"Slettens Abroad" is the final installment of a series of conversations between siblings Phyllis Dalager 88 and Wayne Sletten 90, Wayne's wife Karen Sletten 87, and I guess me 58, that took place in Rapid City, South Dakota in October of 2022. Here, the group reminisces about their travels through the years. While not exhaustive of all of their travels, we get a good sense of how the children of Philip and Anna Sletten were not exactly home-bodies. It's also interesting to note what is remembered of such experiences from this distance. It's the moments of high anxiety that are etched most deeply into the grey matter, it seems. The sibling's younger sister Joanne, her husband Fred and their children spent Fred's sabbatical abroad in 1980-81, so naturally Phyllis and her mother, Anna, hit the road. We begin on our way to Damascus.

"Faribault to Winthrop" continues the conversation between siblings Phyllis Dalager and Wayne Sletten, and Wayne's wife, Karen, that took place in Rapid City, South Dakota in October of 2022. Here, the focus is primarily on the Faribault and Winthrop periods, hitting some major high points in their lives and fondly remembering their younger sister, Joanne, who died too young. Philip and Anna, their parents and my grandparents, attempted both farming and ranching during the depression, but finally brought the young family eastward to the greener pastures of Minnesota.

Recorded in October of 2022, "Sows to Cows" features siblings Phyllis Dalager 88 and Wayne Sletten 90, discussing the old days. Karen Sletten, Wayne's wife, contributes mightily as well. My cousin Amy also makes a cameo. Because of distance and illness, it had been a number of years since the siblings had seen each other. We start off with some of their earliest memories.