"My Crazy Kids"

By Allan Olson Most days I feel truly lucky to live in the area that I do, in good old Northern Minnesota. Now, where I reside is nowhere near the Canadian border – that’s where I grew up. However, family ties often take me back home, and I take advantage of as many photo opportunities as I can. My occupation has provided me with many opportunities to photograph the majestic animals that make their appearances in this special place we call home, along with shimmering sunrises or sunsets that glow over the area’s many lakes. My recent move back to a rural setting has only added to those opportunities. Many times during the day when I’m at home, I look out the windows overlooking my backyard, watching for any animals that might make an appearance around my yard. In the year that we’ve lived at our new home, I’ve been able to capture many images of geese and deer that have come to visit. But one day last year, I had another critter cross my yard. I honestly wasn’t certain what i...

By Allan Olson With the click of button, or for many these days, the touch of a screen, an instant memory is created. Whether it’s a simple point-and-shoot camera, a cell phone or a photo session at a photographer’s studio, memories are created, and to some extent, preserved forever. My first camera was a Kodak 110 with a flash bulb on top of the camera. I remember shooting many photos with that camera; how many really turned out would be near impossible to say. Like a fellow columnist described in a hometown paper, sending the film off to the REX Film Company in Duluth and waiting for its return to see the finished product always provided a bit of excitement. My love of photography, similar to hers, also pushed me along on my current career path. From the instamatic I graduated (literally), and purchased my first 35mm film camera (with some of those graduation funds) for just over $100. The camera featured auto-rewind and advance, and even had a built-in flash;...

Easter Weekend at home By Allan Olson For the first time, we stayed home on Easter Weekend. In all my life, I’ve celebrated Easter with my family and, after I got married, with my wife’s family as well. This year, we decided to stay home. We had no visitors of any kind over the weekend, but we still managed to have fun. All by ourselves. While the weather could have been nicer, it wasn’t snowing or raining, so we managed to enjoy the outdoors most of the weekend. Friday evening was spent not doing much of anything. We went for a walk and not much more. On Saturday, I decided to break out the old mower and try to clean up some tall, brown, grassy weeds outside the normal mowed area. After checking the oil and putting in some gas (I didn’t fill it up because I wasn’t sure if the mower would start or if it would be effective at the job), I set to work. While I knew it wasn’t going to be easy, it was at least as difficult, even more than I thought it would be. The mower worked, even though...

A Proud Parent By Allan Olson Once in a while, a child does something a parent is really proud of instead of truly frustrated by. Last month when we attended my parent’s church back home, I noticed something I hadn’t seen before. When church was over, the few members of this small (in size, not spirit) community church gathered downstairs for the monthly pot-luck dinner, and I noticed Nikolai and Marcus both running around trying to help set the tables and whatever else they were asked to do. Not thinking much of it, I resumed visiting and helping keep an eye on our girls, who were busy as always in their own little worlds. Soon, the meal was over. Nikolai took care of his plate and soon was removing others as well. My wife and I started looking at some older candid pictures hanging on the walls from times gone by. We were and watching and listening for the three youngest, and when it was time to go, I went looking for Nikolai. Since the church isn’t that big, it didn’t take long to f...