Minnesotans love the 4th of July. It's a BIG, NOISY summer celebration of our freedom from England. On this day, we pull out all the traditions: flying the flag, getting together with family, grilling food, shooting off loud fireworks, etc. The day has a quaint, homey feel. And nowhere is it more quaint than in small-town Minnesota.
Right in the center of Minnesota is a tiny town called Burtrum, population about 140.
Burtrum is surrounded by fields of corn, soybeans, and wheat, turkey farms, grazing cows, and lakes. The town's business district covers only a a few blocks, and it includes a Post Office, saloon, car sales lot, beauty shop, two churches, and several houses. There used to be a gas station and a small grocery store. They're gone now. And yet, there is still a celebratory atmosphere in this little empty town.
I think another reason we love the 4th of July is because it marks the best part of summer, when nature simply freaks out after being frozen solid all winter. This year, we saw eagles soaring overhead and pelicans floating along the shore of the lake.
(Pelican photo courtesy of Cousin Brian.)
We caught enough sunfish for dinner. (We threw this one back.)
And the CORN!!! The corn that should be knee-high by the 4th of July is well over my head.
1 comment:
The fish dinner was fantastic! They were respectable sized fish, too! There's nothing in the world like freshly caught sunnies!
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