Rural Reflections

The loss of valuable soil now has a number attached to it and mirrors a history not worth repeating.

Antique, Collectible or just plain old? Grant finds an answer to this question that he never expected.

When buying batteries forces a change to white bread and bologna, Grant has to tell his brother Dave.

Is the art of thankfulness a victim of one of those cultural changes that always plays to the poorest of character?"

There isn't much better than watching high school hockey while two seventh grade annoucers describe it in a way they call, "talkin' hockey.

Do you get fired up for the Winter Olympics? Are they any more newsworthy than who plays the halftime show at the Super Bowl?

When is the farm shop more than just a shop? Maybe a better question is, "when isn't it?

It's winter whether you like it or not, why not try to approach it with a positive attitude?

Time for Rural Reflections to wrap up the Christmas season with a letter to brother Dave.

Christmas is a time to focus on the greatest gift and to end our focus on the things that get int he way of that gift

Grant does not really hibernate in winter however the solace he finds here is very real.

This week Grant celebrates the cats that he and Lisa love and their perspective which he greatly enjoys.

Grant enters the "Offensive Lineman" phase of hi life and feels a little lost, at least at first.

Personal revelations can be found anywhere; Grant found his in the barn.

As deer hunters take to the field, Grant watches and admires their deer stands.

This week, Grant is watching the birds and trying not to feed the raccoons during another season of Project Feederwatch.

Grain elevators have attracted public attention as storage of soybeans gained important this growing season. Rural Reflection remembers when it was all about the Orage Crush Soda-well, sort of.

The Light of Harvest in a Letter to Dave

Whether a veterinarian is fictional character or world-reknowned for their work, Grant has a great admiration for all of them.

Ending up at a playground may not be a bad end for Grant's memories of the pull-type combine.

The cat with nine lives fuels a passion for land-based flight. (just give a listen, you'll see what we mean)

This week Grant watches the installation of a weather station while he stays firmly on the widewalk and out of the way.

Junk fest and farming are just two of the highlights from Grant's letter to his brother, Dave Nelson in Carrington, North Dakota.

The need for paper books versus a Kindle and a choice of knobs and buttons over touch screens from the perspective of a kindly, old gentleman-or at least as close as Grant can try to appear as one.

Grant heads out for a pre-dawn adventure in his home territory of Viking, Minnesota.

When Grant looks back at the summer of 2025, it's a stream of good animal memories.

When Grant gets a little nostalgic for farm life from the ninteties, he connect with Dean Carlson from "So This is Farming.

Grant's letter to his brother Dave in Carrington, North Dakota this month has a special news report!

One of the final projects for 2025 at the Nelson farm, is something good for the local pollinators and pleasing to everyone's eye.

A few days at the county fair can give good insight into all of us

Sometimes active listening and active living are both found by taking the same off-ramp.

This week's Rural Reflecitons is about a missing dog and a group that exists to retrieve lost animals just like him. This is the Missing Meiko.

Grant declares his Declaration of Independence from summer in this week's letter to his brother, Dave.

That summer storm that made me think of times past and the high price of that little slice of nostalgia

Human mistakes and actions taken by people who wanted what they didn't need created, and then brought to a close, the Crookston Cattle Company.

Clifford the cat contemplates the day while Grant explains how he bends his own perspective on the passage of time in one letter to his brother, Dave.

When Grant takes the local pulse, he goes to the nearest bullentin board

How many apps do we need to simply say "Hello?

When considering a theme for summer 2025, Grant decides to go back to a favorite pastime.

A Town without its lake becomes a lake without its town.

Have you ever watched a memory fade? All structures have a shelf life but the emotions that make them important are timeless.

Boredom brought opportunity to the farm in the farm of creativity, such as creating an activity called "hitting rocks with sticks

Grant Nelson has written letters to his brother Dave for about half a century. This tradition is one they share with listeners at KFGO. Pear over their shoulders and see what Grant has to say this week!

Do you ever feel like more is never enough? So does Grant Nelson in this week's Rural Reflections

As spring arrives, it brings with it robins,  a new relationship to the land....and metaphors.

Is history important to you? This week Rural Reflections talks about the place history has in our lives.

When it comes to projects, Grant finds peace through the quiet medium of subtle change that requires only his work and focus to connect with memories.

This is a letter to Grant's brother who lives in Carrington, North Dakota. A family tradition between them which has existed in some form for five decades!

Does age give back more than it takes? Does it improve the sound of life's violin. There's only one way to find out-press play!

Some questions in life are simple, others take longer to understand.