{"id":5200,"date":"2024-03-21T11:19:24","date_gmt":"2024-03-21T16:19:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/douglaswood.com\/?p=5200"},"modified":"2024-03-25T11:22:09","modified_gmt":"2024-03-25T16:22:09","slug":"i-spent-the-last-few-days","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/douglaswood.com\/i-spent-the-last-few-days\/","title":{"rendered":"I SPENT THE LAST FEW DAYS"},"content":{"rendered":"

I SPENT THE LAST FEW DAYS traipsing across the Minnesota prairie. Visiting some nice folks in Austin at the Sweet Reads Bookstore and Hormel Nature Center, then on to the little community of Arlington to see the kids at St. Paul\u2019s School. North of town on Mcleod County Highway #1 I came upon perhaps the smallest pioneer cemetery I\u2019ve ever seen. A total of 18 headstones in a beautifully kept plot, all dating between the 1840s and early 20th century, they told tales of hardship and privation, grit and fortitude, when homesteading and farming in a prairie wilderness was more harsh and often cruel than anything we can imagine. My own ancestors homesteaded in Olmstead County in the Rochester area beginning in 1852.
\nI like cemeteries. I like the peace and quiet and the sense of perspective. I like imagining the past and its connections to the present. In this case I liked standing among the headstones, trying to keep my balance in a 45 mile-an-hour prairie wind as it whistled through the limbs of an old burr oak and sent tumbleweeds flying across a plowed field. It seemed to blow right out of the past. I couldn\u2019t decipher the lives etched in those stones, but I could imagine. And as the wind blew and I climbed back into the car, I carried such ponderings and imaginings with me.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I SPENT THE LAST FEW DAYS traipsing across the Minnesota prairie. Visiting some nice folks in Austin at the Sweet Reads Bookstore and Hormel Nature Center, then on to the little community of Arlington to see the kids at St. Paul\u2019s School. North of town on Mcleod County Highway #1 I came upon perhaps the smallest pioneer cemetery I\u2019ve ever<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":163,"featured_media":5203,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[197],"yoast_head":"\nI SPENT THE LAST FEW DAYS - Douglas Wood<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/douglaswood.com\/i-spent-the-last-few-days\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"I SPENT THE LAST FEW DAYS - Douglas Wood\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I SPENT THE LAST FEW DAYS traipsing across the Minnesota prairie. Visiting some nice folks in Austin at the Sweet Reads Bookstore and Hormel Nature Center, then on to the little community of Arlington to see the kids at St. Paul\u2019s School. North of town on Mcleod County Highway #1 I came upon perhaps the smallest pioneer cemetery I\u2019ve ever\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/douglaswood.com\/i-spent-the-last-few-days\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Douglas Wood\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-03-21T16:19:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-03-25T16:22:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/douglaswood.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/419736848_943584284441300_5761634989976822298_n.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2048\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1536\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"skadmin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"skadmin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/douglaswood.com\/i-spent-the-last-few-days\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/douglaswood.com\/i-spent-the-last-few-days\/\",\"name\":\"I SPENT THE LAST FEW DAYS - Douglas Wood\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/douglaswood.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/douglaswood.com\/i-spent-the-last-few-days\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/douglaswood.com\/i-spent-the-last-few-days\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/douglaswood.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/419736848_943584284441300_5761634989976822298_n.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-03-21T16:19:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-03-25T16:22:09+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/douglaswood.com\/#\/schema\/person\/c75fa70a05b1872ab255ffc371dc9c14\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/douglaswood.com\/i-spent-the-last-few-days\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/douglaswood.com\/i-spent-the-last-few-days\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/douglaswood.com\/i-spent-the-last-few-days\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/douglaswood.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/419736848_943584284441300_5761634989976822298_n.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/douglaswood.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/419736848_943584284441300_5761634989976822298_n.jpg\",\"width\":2048,\"height\":1536},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/douglaswood.com\/i-spent-the-last-few-days\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/douglaswood.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"I SPENT THE LAST FEW DAYS\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/douglaswood.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/douglaswood.com\/\",\"name\":\"Douglas Wood\",\"description\":\"Author | Speaker | Musician\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/douglaswood.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/douglaswood.com\/#\/schema\/person\/c75fa70a05b1872ab255ffc371dc9c14\",\"name\":\"skadmin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/douglaswood.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e9fa5aeac11cd852b6a67b3d2e211350?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e9fa5aeac11cd852b6a67b3d2e211350?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"skadmin\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/douglaswood.com\/author\/skadmin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"I SPENT THE LAST FEW DAYS - Douglas Wood","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/douglaswood.com\/i-spent-the-last-few-days\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"I SPENT THE LAST FEW DAYS - Douglas Wood","og_description":"I SPENT THE LAST FEW DAYS traipsing across the Minnesota prairie. Visiting some nice folks in Austin at the Sweet Reads Bookstore and Hormel Nature Center, then on to the little community of Arlington to see the kids at St. Paul\u2019s School. North of town on Mcleod County Highway #1 I came upon perhaps the smallest pioneer cemetery I\u2019ve ever","og_url":"https:\/\/douglaswood.com\/i-spent-the-last-few-days\/","og_site_name":"Douglas Wood","article_published_time":"2024-03-21T16:19:24+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-03-25T16:22:09+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2048,"height":1536,"url":"https:\/\/douglaswood.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/419736848_943584284441300_5761634989976822298_n.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"skadmin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"skadmin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/douglaswood.com\/i-spent-the-last-few-days\/","url":"https:\/\/douglaswood.com\/i-spent-the-last-few-days\/","name":"I SPENT THE LAST FEW DAYS - Douglas Wood","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/douglaswood.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/douglaswood.com\/i-spent-the-last-few-days\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/douglaswood.com\/i-spent-the-last-few-days\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/douglaswood.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/419736848_943584284441300_5761634989976822298_n.jpg","datePublished":"2024-03-21T16:19:24+00:00","dateModified":"2024-03-25T16:22:09+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/douglaswood.com\/#\/schema\/person\/c75fa70a05b1872ab255ffc371dc9c14"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/douglaswood.com\/i-spent-the-last-few-days\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/douglaswood.com\/i-spent-the-last-few-days\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/douglaswood.com\/i-spent-the-last-few-days\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/douglaswood.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/419736848_943584284441300_5761634989976822298_n.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/douglaswood.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/419736848_943584284441300_5761634989976822298_n.jpg","width":2048,"height":1536},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/douglaswood.com\/i-spent-the-last-few-days\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/douglaswood.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"I SPENT THE LAST FEW DAYS"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/douglaswood.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/douglaswood.com\/","name":"Douglas Wood","description":"Author | Speaker | Musician","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/douglaswood.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/douglaswood.com\/#\/schema\/person\/c75fa70a05b1872ab255ffc371dc9c14","name":"skadmin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/douglaswood.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e9fa5aeac11cd852b6a67b3d2e211350?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e9fa5aeac11cd852b6a67b3d2e211350?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"skadmin"},"url":"https:\/\/douglaswood.com\/author\/skadmin\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/douglaswood.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/419736848_943584284441300_5761634989976822298_n.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/douglaswood.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5200"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/douglaswood.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/douglaswood.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/douglaswood.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/163"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/douglaswood.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5200"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/douglaswood.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5200\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5204,"href":"https:\/\/douglaswood.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5200\/revisions\/5204"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/douglaswood.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5203"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/douglaswood.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5200"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/douglaswood.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5200"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/douglaswood.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}