Author: Mark Peacock

I spent an enjoyable several hours last Friday at the Kenneth Larson shop in downtown Luck to do some book signing and conversation. It went well. It was good to meet and visit again with people I knew and to meet and get to know people new to me. Yes, we sold books and I signed them. The Larson shop is what I call a “destination” store. It boasts high quality items from around the world and from varied eras. Included are Kenneth Larson’s creations, some of which are exquisitely carved furniture items. I am honored to have my books included in the shop’s inventory; they reside–and not for long before needing restocking–on a special glass bookcase shelf. Kenneth Larson and Bibi are good people and interesting to visit with, while Bailey is the official greeter, welcoming everyone with woofs and yips and a wagging tail. It was fun!

Yes, I’ve had several phone calls and a number of in-person queries about how my first week of retirement went. Some of it consisted of the mechanics of ordinary life: fixing a small leak in the bathroom sink drain, getting the golf cart up into the yard with the help of neighbor Mike Huppert, signing books at the Polk County Information Center, monitoring the air in the car’s left rear tire (that meant a new wheel; it came yesterday), doing a couple of loads of laundry, mowing grass down at the beach, searching and searching some more for the suddenly missing key to the pontoon boat, planting a hedge at the Luck house, and enjoying a meaningful lunch with our District Superintendent, Peace Kim.

Tonight’s WPCA-FM story broadcast was a story called Betsy. Betsy turned out to be the rifle our paranoid/narcissistic narrator bought for protection. Listening, I like the way the story builds a web of suspense (or at least concern) around the narrator and, of course, the surprise ending is fun and a true surprise–or so people have told me. Betsy is available in The First Gathering of The Break Time Stories and online in More Break Time Stories.

I will be signing books and visiting about storytelling at downtown Luck’s Kenneth Larson shop on Friday, July 19th from 2-4 p.m. I’ve described the shop as a “destination” store. Its high quality merchandise and craftsmanship set it apart and I am honored to have all four of my books featured there. Perhaps I’ll be lucky and I’ll see you there?

Look for me to be reading a story or two for the Luck Seniors sometime in August. I’ll let you know. The program is being arranged by the Luck Public Library’s Jill Glover.

Retirement?  Marina’s first Seeing Eye Dog, Gretel, says in her book about life as a Seeing Eye Dog, that retirement means being replaced. I don’t quite feel that way and I was hoping to get through last Sunday’s church service without crying but I failed. I was good until the end when I saw several people in tears. I ended up screeching, “God be with you ’till we meet again!” As part of our farewell, the congregation gave me a gorgeous quilt made by the new quilting group ministry, as well as some beautiful flowers, specially made jam and many cards with messages I am grateful to hear prior to my funeral. Talented Mike Mishler gifted me with a bowl that he crafted from a chunk of southern yellow pine. Mike has a real talent for creating beauty out of what appears to be worthless wood.

Tonight is a bit chilly and damp, so the wood stove is going for the first time in weeks. We are back to the cycle of rain we’ve had day after day. One challenge in the coming days is to somehow get the dead golf cart up the hill from the beach and into the yard so I can try to diagnose its problem. And then the pontoon seems to have re-sprung the leak that was welded two years ago, so we list a bit to port in the stern. Today I ordered a new wheel for the car. It appears that as the wheel rusts, the rust also gets to the inside of the rim so the wheel has trouble with a strong seal and the tire loses air. No fun to get into the car and wonder if I can make it to the closest gas station and its air pump! Ah, yes; the stuff of life!

Here’s a reaction to my reading at the Old Settlers Picnic: “A BIG THANK YOU FOR YESTERDAY! Thank you for a great program yesterday. Too bad there weren’t more folks there to enjoy it. The group keeps getting smaller. Life!” – Lyle and Marlyene Jahn

My comment: A group of between 30-40 people (I didn’t count) is more than writers usually draw for a reading, so I’m delighted that more people had exposure to my stories.And, of course, I appreciate the Jahns’ kind comments.

So yesterday I read Snow Job And The Four Dwarfs at the Old Settlers annual picnic in Cushing. It’s an event that has been going on since 1939. I prefaced the reading with a reminder that I’d spoken there a few years ago and warned that we had time here to plan for our future and what the places we love here should look like. That was before a proposed hog factory blindsided our vulnerable and unprepared townships. How do you say “I told you so!” in a nice way?

The program had been billed as a talk by me about my years in ministry, followed by a story reading. I’m reluctant to focus on myself and ministry, so I briefly talked about how I didn’t want to do the work and was “dragged” into it. But there were unexpected positives. I talked briefly about those. I am grateful to God for the entire  experience of ministry on God’s behalf.

The story reading went over well and I sold books and personalized my autographing of them. That was in contrast to the Chisago  Lakes Library reading, where good weather counter-acted good publicity and attendance was sparse. It doesn’t help that I’m an unknown author. I enjoyed book signing and story talking at Amery’s Bowman Collective two weeks ago. It’s an interesting store and I was able to admire Rene Tebdrup’s (Shiloh Arts) fine pottery and stained glass. She had a pop-up store next to my book table.

So next Sunday is it: final retirement (my third). The Wolf Creek rascals have ads in the local papers inviting people to my last service and cake and coffee following. It’s an 8:15 a.m. service, so we’ll see if anyone shows. The way things have been going lately, it’s bound to rain. Yesterday I got soaked just a I uncovered the lawn tractor to mow grass that’s encroaching on “as high as an elephant’s eye”. If one is going to have a good final appointment in ministry, it could not have been better than these past six years at Wolf Creek United Methodist Church. I will miss the people very much.

June has several things that turn my crank. First, daughter Alice and granddaughter Samantha blow into town enroute to Kooch, the camp up on Rainy Lake. While here, Alice will be doing some recording with her friend John Gorka over in Minneapolis. The camp dates from 1924 and is on Grass Island on Rainy Lake. There is a girls’ camp there now, too and Alice finds she really enjoys serving as staff there and shepherding groups of eight twelve-year old girls out for two weeks of wilderness canoe camping. They also do music together. One year each girl left camp with a CD with music the girls had composed and performed.

Second, I’m returning this coming Sunday, June 9th, as guest preacher at St.Luke’s United Methodist Church in Frederic, Wisconsin. Service time there is 10:30 a.m. It’s a very beautiful building with exceptional stained  glass windows. I’ve preached there a number of times over the past 30 years.

Third is my coming reading at the Chisago Lakes Area Library. I’ll do two stories, one of which will be a “mangled” fairy tale. Cross the river? I don’t mind it a bit! I’m hoping to return soon to the White Bear Lake Library. It has been a few years since I read stories there. The Chisago Library date is Thursday, June 13th at 6:30 p.m.

Fourth, I’m doing a book signing and a bit of discussing storytelling on Saturday, June 15th from 2 to 4 p.m. at Bowman Collective in downtown Amery, Wisconsin.  And fifth, as I noted on this site previously, I’ve been invited to read a story at the Old Settlers Picnic on Sunday, June 23rd in Cushing, Wisconsin. The program begins at 1:30 following a potluck lunch for the large group that usually attends. I’ll read one of my “mangled” fairy tales.

And sixth, I’ve been asked to return to the Polk County Information Center to autograph copies of my four books that they carry now. Years ago I was secretary of the Polk County Tourism Council when we built the building housing the Information Center and the offices of St.Croix Falls and its police department. The Information Center works to direct people to the locations in Polk County that carry my books, but it’s nice that they have some for people in search of cabin-time reading. (The St.Paul Pioneer Press’ Mary Ann Grossman said my Six Short Stories are good summer reading. She has not seen the other three books.)

And, finally, June 30th marks my third retirement. That means I’m finished as pastor of the Wolf Creek United Methodist congregation. I will miss the people; they are some of our world’s very good people. I will not miss things like statistical reports, charge conferences, finding musicians, selecting hymns, the Christian year, and the weekly grind of working to have something to say on the coming Sunday that might be worth a listen. I don’t have a file of old sermons that I can dig into to find a old message I can update and I don’t work from a written sermon or even, sometimes, notes to myself. That makes each week a challenge. I use the Lectionary, which forces me to grapple with things other than my favorite topics, but that also saves the congregation I serve from hearing the same-old, same-old thing week after week. (The late Charlie Zeigler suggested once that I could use the sermon I preached the week before because “We don’t remember what you said anyway.” I thought that was pretty funny.)

A final note: Marina’s book, Gretel and Andy, God’s Gift, is about ready for purchase. I have a proof coming. The next thing will be to insert photos of the dogs and of Marina working with them. The story about what it’s like to be a Seeing Eye Dog is told in Gretel and Andy’s voices. It’s very cute!

I have been asked to return to read at the annual Old Settlers Picnic that is held nowadays at the Cushing Activity Center in Cushing, Wisconsin. This time they’ve asked me to read one of my stories, which, given the commemorative aspect of the area’s history and of people long gone, to me calls for some lightening up. That means a “mangled” fairy tale.

I spoke at this event several years ago. Describing myself as “a recovering city slicker”, I told the group that when I left southern California fifty years ago the municipalities were buying up vacant lots in the San Fernando Valley to create parks. They would be small parks but at least they could be green. Development had pushed so quickly–a phenomenon of greed and money–that parks has been passed over. They were an afterthought. I said that we had the comparative luxury of planning how we wanted our area to grow and develop as the Twin Cities pushed eastward. We needed to think about the legacy we wanted to leave and to plan for it. Since then, of course, we’ve had the proposed hog factory fight that still has to be resolved. At any rate, as I teeter on the edge of my third retirement, it’s nice to be asked. When I asked which story the group wanted me to read, the response was: “You pick; they’re all good!” Well now, how nice and flattering! I’d like every reader to feel the same way.

Tonight’s WPCA-FM story broadcast was a story for fourth grade boys called Freddie And The Giant’s Blocks,  a tale about a misplaced geometry assignment that spawned three distinctly different additions to a family’s lakeside cabin. Thinking about the origins of what is a very fanciful tale prompted me to remember my first reactions to large rolls of hay dotting fields of green. They reminded me of game pieces a giant may have left behind in some farmer’s field. Back when we had Molly, our Shetland pony, I did not have the machinery to handle such massive gatherings of hay and the traditional rectangular hay bales were becoming hard to find. But those large rolls of hay have made life easier for any farmer with livestock in the field and I see them used regularly at a horse farm just up the road from us. Freddie is one of my shortest stories and clocks in at just over 12 minutes, which met my goal of writing a story that could be read completely during one’s break. A reader could take a break, read, and still get back to work on time.

This past weekend saw a large funeral for Rick Stage, a multi-talented man of God who shed life as a rock musician to become a much-loved family man and a sincere, determined Christian. The family had planned the service; it featured recorded music by Rick and his son, Ben, which prompted someone to remark that Rick was one of the few guys who was able to sing at his own funeral. In addition to Wolf Creek’s usual Sunday service, I did the eulogy at Naomi McLean’s memorial service that was held on her birthday. She was a remarkable woman, warm, welcoming and smart, as well as a crack shot with a rifle. Naomi was one of those women who made sure that when you visited you didn’t leave hungry. Marina and Naomi really enjoyed each other. Wolf Creek also celebrated the 90th and 95th birthdays of two of its members.

My successor (for the next year at least) at Wolf Creek will be Jack Starr, pastor of the Osceola United Methodist Church. Jack all share the pulpit with two (probably) other volunteer lay people from around the Northwest District. Jack is fortunate in that Wolf Creek is not a needy congregation and has no negative undercurrents. They have more money in the checking account that they’ve ever had (since 1882), people work together easily on projects, there are no fights about who controls the kitchen (it’s everybody’s) and there is a new quilting/walking ministry that has drawn together some of the women in the church. Several new “friends” have been attending regularly and some of them have been so involved they are as good as “official” members. For a church in the middle of nowhere and with an 8:15 a.m. service, they are doing very well! I will miss the people very much. I will not miss Statistical Reports, the relentless push each week to come up with something that might be worth listening to each Sunday(I don’t use notes so I have no file of old sermons I can dip into and pull out something to update and use), the ever-spinning church year (didn’t we just DO Christmas?), and the too-often platitudes of church leaders.

Our weather has been chilly at night still and rainy (still) but the dock will go in this Saturday with the help of my son-in-law, Mark and my grandson, Hans. Help with the dock is a new concession to age for me. Hans graduates this year and will head off to train with Youth With A Mission this Fall. He gave his pitch for financial help to Wolf Creek last week and pulled it off well. (One woman called him”Adorable and admirable”)–not a bad impression to make.

Today featured replacing a light switch in the Luck house and noting the level of water in the basement. Luck is built on a swamp and very few houses have dry basements. I picked up some waders for Saturday’s dock work because the water still will be COLD. My last waders featured interesting holes gnawed in them by chipmunks enjoying the comforts of the large shed in our yard. I didn’t enjoy the results of their feasting.

Kenneth Larson, “Purveyors of Fine Merchandise” now handles my books. Kenneth is a superb craftsman, so good that I hesitate to call him by his first name but feel compelled out of respect to call him “Mr. Larson”. His shop in downtown Luck is a feast for the eyeballs. Look up and you find ancient tapestries. Look around and you find wood and leather goods, unusual knives of high quality, hats, jewelry, and apparel. He has bags made from various materials and interesting collections of coins. There are books in addition to my own and of special note are STEM toys and puzzles, perfect for those who want to stimulate a kid’s brain. Pay special attention to Mr. Larson’s signature furniture, including a custom crafted boat table topped by a massive slab of glass. That item won’t be in the shop for long; the owner will pick it up when we’ve thawed out enough for him to flee his warm Winter lair.

I am honored to have Kenneth Larson feature my books. In Polk County he joins Amery’s Bowman Collective, the Polk County Information Center, Pure & Simple, and the pharmacy/gift shops of St.Croix Health as places you can find my four paperbacks–or you can mug me on the street.

Please mark your calendar for Thursday, June 13th at 6:30 p.m. when I’ll be reading from Six Short Stories.  St.Paul Pioneer Press/Mary Ann Grossman, the paper’s book critic/editor, recommended it as well written good summer reading. The place? The Chisago Lakes Public Library. Kerstin Finsness,  Chisago’s Librarian, is handling the arrangements and has been making things easy.

Also, all four books now are available through your favorite bookstore, as well as the “big guys”, Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble Booksellers. I find it interesting that foreign outlets are advertising my books, too.