Dear Forum, Hard to believe, but I had some time on my hands (old truck battery needs some charging) so I read some forum questions. Found it interesting that currently "anyone from" did not contain a single posting about Minnesota. Is no one interested in our fine state or has Jesse scared you all off? Do not wish to discuss anything too extreme (our weather is extreme enough), but would enjoy a little conversation about this fine state.

-- Nancy Bakke-McGonigle Mn. Sunset (dmcgonig@smig.net), January 19, 2001

Answers

Hi Nancy!

I saw that thread you mentioned and was going to contribute to it but things got a little busy around here and I ended up promptly forgetting about it.

I'm a Minnesotan, too. I've lived here all my life (with the exception of year in California for my wife's job). And I see from your email addy that we don't live too far apart (I live between Winnebago and Fairmont) so hello neighbor! :-)

I'm relatively new to the Countryside forum (I've only been posting for a couple weeks now) but the people on this forum seem really nice so I think I'll hang around for a while.

As far as Jesse scaring me off all I can say is "not gonna happen". I'm about the same size and build as Jesse so I think I could give him a run for his money in the ring. ;-)

As for our Minnesota winter all I can say is that Spring can't come too soon for my benefit. Sure wish we had the mild weather of the last three winters as our heating bill sure reflects the change. :-(

I hope others add to this thread. It would be nice to see how many Minnesotans lurk or post on the Countryside forum.

Reading the seed catalogs and longing for Spring...

-- Jim Morris (prism@bevcomm.net), January 19, 2001.

Hi Nancy, I lived in Minnesota for awhile, and was tempted to stay, but we didn't. The land prices there are very reasonable, but work was hard to find. Home birthing was illegal(or so we were told, and threatened if we didn't go willingly to a hospital),and homeschooling can be a hassle. I liked it there, and have some countryside friends not too far from Duluth. But Idaho has laws that are more amenable to home birth and school.

-- Rebekah (daniel1@itss.net), January 19, 2001.

Rebekah,

Sorry you had some problems. They may be regional. Many of our friends have home births. Many years ago we opted for a hospital only because of possible complications on my part. Home schooling is also popular but we prefered a private school more in line with our life style. My daughter was an only child and was happy to be with the other chidren. Probably would have home schooled if we had more children.

Good luck, too bad we lost you.

-- Nancy Bakke-McGonigle Mn. Sunset (dmcgonig@smig.net), January 19, 2001.

Hi Nancy, I'm in Minnesota also. Lived here all my life. But we are in the NW part, near the ND border. Cold and windy in the winter and full of mosquitoes in the summer but thats OK.

We are only pseudo homesteaders with both of us working off the farm (the land is rented out) but we do have a a lot of animals so I guess that counts for something.

-- Trisha-MN (tank@Linkup.net), January 19, 2001.

I'm proud to be a Minnesotan and afraid that Jesse is what we deserve after electing Gutenik. We have lived near Rochester for 25 years and have a countryside mentality even if we do prefer to make enough money for season tickets to the Guthrie and occassional trips to England and Stratford Ontario. The garden has many more flowers than veggies and the animals are only canine, feline, or galose. My wife wouldn't live anywhere else although a climate that I can bicycle in more without frostbite would be nice.

-- kirby johnson (kirbyj@deskmedia.com), January 19, 2001.

Hey, we are just SW of Minneapolis on a little acreage. We home school and have found the district quite agreeable. We have 5 children and are having a blast with the horses, cow, etc. I am just getting ready to send in my spring chick order. Oh, I did go to the grocery store today to buy my non-alc wine for the celebration tomorrow. Just think, today is the last day of Clinton!

-- m. kisch (zedanka@aol.com), January 19, 2001.

Yep, I'm here in Minnesota too. I live about 20 minute's north of Mpls by car, an hour by Metro Transit bus. I work in Mpls, but hopefully not forever. My house is definitely within the sidewalks, but I'm learning everyday to live a little more self-sufficiently. This forum has been a big help....

-- punky (mayfaire@netzero.net), January 24, 2001.

Alas, I prefer my temps at 80º ABOVE zero, not below!

-- ~Rogo (rogo2020@yahoo.com), January 25, 2001.

Hey, its only -12 this morning. Of course we are in southern Minnesota , it only gets to -80 with a wind chill.

-- Nancy Bakke-McGonigle Mn. Sunset (dmcgonig@smig.net), January 25, 2001.

Hi Nancy! I live on an 80 acre farm near Milaca. Commute to Mpls every day. Can retire in June, but will probably stay another 2 years to kill my mortgage. May stay even longer to acquire some toys I want badly - shredder, small solar system, small tractor.

-- Sandy in MN (jpevans_56353@yahoo.com), January 25, 2001.

This is great! I'm new to this forum and love all the encouraging and helpful info. I've found. We are seriously considering moving our family to northern MN, in the area between Baudette and BWCA. We would appreciate hearing from anyone who lives in that area or knows anything about it. Looking for rural/remote property with or without a house. Mostly wooded with some meadow for the house and gardens. This area seems like it would be a little bit of heaven! As far as homeschooling, it sounds like things vary from county to county. Is that so? What are Lake of the Woods, Koochiching and Lake counties like? I've found the MACHE website but it appears to have only state info. available. Looking forward to learning more about MN! Please share anything you would want to know about this area if you were moving there.

-- Penny Lane Bange in south central PA (drewbange@pa.net), October 26, 2001.