The Blaisdell Blog

  Back in the early 70’s the “Born Again” movement was coming on strong and I was teaching in a Bible Belt school district.   Before class one day I suddenly found myself in earnest conversation with a fellow teacher who felt the need to “witness” to me about being born again.   She was a sweet lady and clearly following her heart, but I finally had to tell her, “Barbara, when you are born Minnesota, Norwegian Lutheran you don’t need to be born again.   Once is more than enough.”               I found myself thinking of that early religious training when I heard someone on the news quoting Dietrich Bonhoeffer.   I was surprised at this reference to a 20 th century Lutheran theologian.   I assumed most people had never heard of Bonhoeffer unless you were seminary trained or, like me back in 1961, had been in Pastor Nervig’s Confirmation classes.   He spent an entire hour telling us of Bonh...

  It was my first year as a principal, and my moment of truth had come early.   This was a year before Columbine.   A year before everything changed for schools and children and people like me.   But the problem was there.   Looking out the window of my office I saw a young man loitering in the area where the school buses would soon be lining up at the end of the day.   I knew this kid.   He had been escorted off our property and off a school bus more than once.   He was a junior high student with a long line of trouble with the district and the law.   A quick call to the junior high principal let me know the student had been suspended the day before.   I should call the police.   My secretary already had them on the line.   I also told her to hold the students in their classrooms.   No one was to be released until I gave the word.   Knowing his record, the police asked if he was carrying a weapon.   I said...

  Have you ever had to untangle a skein of yarn after the cat, the toddler or something else has made a mess of it?   It is hours of mess that must be meticulously sorted one small knot at a time.   The task is frustratingly slow. You tug on one string, only to see a mass of yarn move, tighten and bunch on the other side of the pile.   Where was the connection?   Points “X” and “Z” seem to be on opposite sides of the ball of yarn.   Yet they are reacting.             But we can make this concept even more perplexing.   What if, instead of two opposite ends of the yarn reacting, they act in concert?   What if pushing a free end through a loop, also pushes another end through a loop?   What if you watch this happen and then find out that the two strands of yarn aren’t even connected?             Well, now we have three knew Nobel ...