In Northfield, Minnesota.

Unanticipated pleasure. Yesterday. In my first visit ever. To Northfield. A city of 20,000 population. In southern Minnesota. It’s a college town. With not one. But two colleges. Carlton College. And St. Olaf. Each with about 5,000 students. It’s a sedate little town. With a cozy downtown. Buildings that look like they came out of the late 19th century. Nice residential neighborhoods. Mostly with homes that look 1920ish.  Streets lined with bulky branched oak and maple trees. Pines, too. Northfield annually celebrates Jesse James Days. When Jesse’s gang tried to hold up the local bank. On September 7, 1876. Local citizens. Went for their guns. And thwarted the robbery. Ah, gun-toting America. It’s been the American way. Forever. Anyway, my Italian true love and her Italian friend Giovanna and I settled down in lawn chairs. Beneath shade trees. On the idyllic Carlton College campus.  And chatted away. About life. And pleasure.  In Northfield, Minnesota. –Jim Broede