Librarian Small Adventures: There is art everywhere!

So much art! Plus: some other stuff. Mostly art.

The Mighty Mississippi River - only partially ice-covered!

I’m back out on the road, looking for interesting things all around me! One of the things I’ve definitely discovered in my years of travel is that there are so many cool things that are just sitting there, quietly. And people just cruise by every day without noticing. But I want to notice things. So I’m working on my skills as a small adventure tourist. I’m not going to the Grand Canyon this year, or to Glacier National Park; but I can always go look at some small and interesting things that I wouldn’t otherwise have noticed.

I hit the websites Roadside America and Atlas Obscura, and identified a few interesting things that I could go look at. When you are in larger, more urban areas, there are a LOT of things available to see; but even in very rural areas there are all kinds of interesting things to see. And the thing that I really like about the little locations to see on these sites is that they are out in the open - but I know I’ve driven past at last one of these several times without really noticing it. Discovering all these small, very cool things makes me feel like I understand more about the area I’m visiting. (I love to learn new things!)

The first place I visited with the Soldier’s Shrine.

The Soldier's Shrine

Pro tip that I keep forgetting: when there is snow on the ground, even though it is warm, wear boots! I, of course, was dashing around in my Hoka tennis shoes - trying to avoid getting frozen or soaked feet. (Sigh.) And I was being responsible, so had JUST brought a spare pair of boots inside after leaving them in the car for a few days. I’m calling this not my finest planning moment. Oh well - my feet and I survived.

This is the Holdingford Soldiers Shrine of World War II Memorial. Here is the description from the National War Memorial Registry:

“Dedicated in 1942 as the nation’s first shrine built to honor those who served in the United States Armed Forces, WWII, both abroad and at home.

Plaques with names of over one hundred soldiers were at one time embedded into the walls of the shrine, but today are no longer visible.

Four crosses on the shrine are in memory of four young men from Holdingford who died during the war:
*Elmer Kerestes, Pearl Harbor (Remains DNA identified in 2017 and returned for local burial);
*Walter R. Mattson, St. Lo, France;
*Walter Krystosek, Anzio Beach, Italy;
*Joseph Troxil, U.S. Navy who died at sea.”

If you click on that link, you will see the memorial during the summer, and all the lovely things growing here. This is officially designated as a War Memorial Garden type of memorial, so I’m not getting the full impact in February’s snowy field. But it was still very nice, and I like the kind of old-fashioned vibe it had as a memorial. And how interesting that this was the first national shrine to WWII! The war officially ended in 1945, so this was three years before it was over.

• May 7, 1945 was V-E Day (Victory in Europe Day)

• September 2, 1945 was V-J Day (Victory over Japan Day)

I always feel conflicted about veteran memorials. On the one hand, of course it’s great to see people being supportive of veterans and their sacrifices (and I’ll add also their families sacrifices) - full stop. That’s an absolute requirement. Obviously, it shouldn’t end here; as a country we owe survivors (and their families) support forever after this. A nice memorial to the dead is not nearly enough. And also: I can’t help but grieve the staggering waste of people’s lives and potentials - too often to serve the interests of the wealthy and powerful people who need war to feed their bloated egos or their wallets. Did all these people need to die? Did all the others need to have their lives shortened or made worse? Maybe. But I’m too aware that war is often a tool of small, weak men who can’t find other ways to solve problems.

(I’m trying not to think about what our current bloated fool leading the administration is planning for the military. Chicken hawk sacks of shit politicians - the ones too cowardly to join the military but want to pretend to puff their little chest and be a faux tough guy - have a special place in my utter contempt. But for the moment: moving past that, because my personal rage is not helping. Give to Donors Choose to support schools, make microloans to people through Kiva, write to your Congress people.)

In my Lincoln Highway trip last summer, I developed a strong love of wall murals painted all over downtown areas. So I did a quick U-turn to grab a picture of this one as I was cruising past it.

Ah: rich white guys. (Sigh.) Randolph Holding bought the land around this area in 1868, because this is where the South Two River had a shallow spot where horses could cross. And all the roads and trains came to this area. The sign doesn’t say how he made money off this, but potentially a toll charge could have happened, or just putting up commerce here (stores, restaurants, bars, hotels). I’m confident money was made. The area was know as Holding’s Ford - the location owned by Randolph where you could safely cross the river. Eventually all of that merged, and in 1903 the official town name became Holdingford.

There is also a trailhead for the Lake Wobegon Trail a couple of blocks away. “The Lake Wobegon Regional Trail is Minnesota’s above-average trail.
It’s 65 miles long, 10 feet wide and paved end to end, waiting for you to explore on foot, by bike, rollerblade or snowmobile.”

This is what I was looking for! And since there isn’t an address, it took a little effort to find it. But: how cool! This artwork is kind of behind a large commercial facility, so you have to drive down a little alley. There is a small parking area, and this is the Lake Wobegon Trail. (If you look very closely at the covered bridge in the fourth photo, just past the shadow, you can see a cat who was strolling across the trail. So cute!)

This is a view of the city, with all kinds of snapshots of daily life. And the man looking over it all is not identified. Is it the artist? Is it Randolph Holding? The small sign next to it doesn’t say, so we can just use our own imagination to decide.

The aluminum used to construct this city view was donated by Polar Tank Trailer. “Polar Tank Trailer is a proven manufacturer of trailers for the chemical, food, petroleum and bulk transport industries. Since 1946, we have been the smart choice in tank trailers that deliver lasting durability, safety and exceptional return on investment.” And the art was funded by state and local funds - excellent!

Next stop: more metal art!

The Freeport smiley face water tower! If you have driven along I-94 through Central Minnesota, you may have seen it. I first saw this tower many years ago, when The Husband was riding his bike across the country. I was trundling along as the support car, off having my own adventures during the day. We were SO HAPPY to get to Minnesota! After moving East from Glacier National Park, across the very open areas of Eastern Montana and the entirety of North Dakota, we felt so much more at home when we hit the Minnesota border. Suddenly things were green! There was water everywhere! The highways were…weirdly bumpy and unpleasant. But! Green things and water! It was great.

And I was very surprised to see this tower, smiling back at me as I zoomed past, on that long-ago day. When I was a kid, we used to drive to see my grandparents for weekend visits. And we drove past a big smiley face water tower. It was always cause for celebration; so when I saw this one, I was ready to enjoy it. I immediately jumped off at the next exit, and took some pictures.

And now, as a Minnesota resident, I see it on a regular basis. But I never bothered to go further than thinking how cute it was after I drove by. So this trip, specifically to see interesting things, learning a little more about this art was definitely in order.

From Minnesota Public Radio: “The smiling tower was built after the first one, a wooden water tower, burned down in 1920. At the time, the community raised $12,000 to build the metal tower on donated land. Its smile is a piece of local legend. Some claim a local clambered up and painted the smile one night.

“But a Melrose Beacon story of an unknown date cites former city maintenance man Mark Middendorf, who hired high school student Jim Marthaler to work part-time during the summer of 1976. According to the article, it was Marthaler who suggested the smiley face be added when the tower was already being painted, then cut up a refrigerator box as a stencil for the men painting the tower.”

And in 2020, while some other exciting things were happening around the world, Freeport organized the funds to have the tower repaired! It’s such an iconic site on the highway, I’m very pleased that it’s still here to give everyone a smile.

The next stop was a little strange.

This is the Oakdale Cemetery, in Sauk Center, MN. I always enjoy visiting cemeteries; it’s such a good way to see pieces of history from an area. And I like seeing the way people chose to announce themselves, to remind the future that they were here.

Again: I’m wearing completely the wrong shoes for this trip. Even though the snow wasn’t deep over in the actual cemetery, wading through all the snow piled up by snowplows on the highway edge would have ensured wet, cold feet. So I stood out on the highway and took these pictures. (Apologies, as always, for my lack of photography skill - exacerbated on this visit by sheer physical distance.)

In the first picture above, you can see a longer shot of the cemetery. It’s not a big place, but nicely kept. I thought the second picture is what I came to see: the glowing tombstone. From Roadside America: “The tombstone is large and it only has the name BOSS on it. According to Chad Lewis and Terry Fisk in their Haunted Locations Minnesota guide, the tombstone glows at night -- although they concede it could be just light reflected from the nearby town.”

As you can see in the picture (though I couldn’t tell when I was there) this was the wrong tombstone. I didn’t see another one that made sense, standing outside the place; but reading this blog, from a better visitor, made me feel better about not seeing anything glowing. (Summary: didn’t see anything glowing.)

So I guess I can’t say that I didn’t see a glowing tombstone. It wasn’t night, and I wasn’t even looking at the actual stone! Feel free to check it out yourself, under better circumstances.

But there is more fun art, very close by.

Look how cute they are! I don’t want to say this was my favorite thing I saw on this adventure - I love them all equally (even the ones that are clearly fakes - I wave my hands at the last stop). But: so cute! They are in West Union, MN, and kind of sitting in someone’s yard. (Never stroll into someone’s yard! Politely take pictures from the street.) The description from Roadside America is short and to the point: “Random art along the road -- a handful of barnyard critters fashioned from tanks, milk cans, and other spare metal.” I love these little pig statues; you can just tell that these are happy cows and happy pigs, having lovely outdoor adventures.

I didn’t find any other information about these adorable artworks, but did find a video from CBS Evening News about Martin County, MN and the painted concrete pig statues they have around town:

This will clearly be a future place to visit! These themed statues are all over the place in Minnesota and Wisconsin, and I’m already getting excited about taking the time to look at them carefully, to enjoy the artistic fun.

Continuing on the art theme of this trip, check out a surprising roadside art advertisement!

Again: If you have been on I-94 in Central Minnesota, you have probably seen these cars. I’ve seen these cars. And I’ve thought several times: WTF? What’s with the cars? But I never went any further with thinking about it. So this was a good day to explore!

This is the famous stretch limo, doing a nosedive (actually, a trunk-first dive) into the ground! There is a little information about it from ten years ago in this article. But the idea is that it is advertising, and a way to have fun. I was on the little back road, coming up behind the display, so I drove right by Nick’s Repair and Exhaust business. I was pretty far away, and didn’t want to climb over the fence and trespass to get closer. (In general, when zipping around rural Minnesota I tend to be cautious about not wanting to get shot for being an annoying libtard librarian by locals in assorted areas. So: never do things that look like you are trespassing!) I could have driven out on the highway, and probably would have landed closer to the cars. But it would have been a lot of circling back, and I thought this was enough fun to have.

I love the idea of this kind of advertising! And I like having something fun to look at, on the side of the highway as you are zipping along in an area that doesn’t have a ton of interesting other things to see.

And then I was off to a different kind of artist’s house:

I stopped by the house where Sinclair Lewis grew up! From Atlas Obscura: “This is the boyhood home of Sinclair Lewis, who became the first American winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1930.” I’ve been by the house twice, and it’s been closed both times. It seems to be only a few hours during the day, and only in the summer. So, definitely check the hours before you stop by, if you have the urge to see inside. I knew it wasn’t going to be open that day, but it was still nice to see.

This is where I make my embarrassing librarian confession: I’ve never read a Sinclair Lewis book. I’m not a book fanatic that needs to be read every “good” book or “good” author out there. Read what you like! There are no book police out there to judge you, and if someone tries: you tell them from me that you can read whatever brings you happiness. But I do like to be sure I’m supporting Minnesota authors! And of course, he is a well respected author; I don’t want to miss out on something that is going to be interesting.

I now have the book “It Can’t Happen Here” downloaded on my Overdrive Libby app, so I’m making the public commitment here: I’m going to read that one, at least. It seems like the right time for it. From Wikipedia: “Set in a fictionalized version of the 1930s United States, it follows an American politician, Berzelius "Buzz" Windrip, who quickly rises to power to become the country's first outright dictator (in allusion to Adolf Hitler's rise to power in Nazi Germany), and Doremus Jessup, a newspaper editor who sees Windrip's fascist policies for what they are ahead of time and who becomes Windrip's most ardent critic.”

Is it funny, or sad, or the kind of crying that makes you laugh, that there is a section on the Wikipedia page for the book called “Presidency of Donald Trump”? Sigh. The most currently unrealistic part of this is having a crusading newspaper editor who criticizes the fascist dictator. The billionaires who hate being criticized have basically eliminated all of them. We are certainly living in interesting times.

The fourth photo, the Little Free Library, is actually across the street in a big open area. I’m just including it, because I’m delighted that a writer’s house has books available to anyone who stops by! (You could be critical of the content, which was basically junk I’d throw away. The “Internet Start Kit” complete with floppy disks? An interesting museum piece, I guess. Otherwise: it’s fine to throw away books that are old/outdated/moldy/uninteresting/poorly written. )

Lewis’s first book, Main Street, was very critically acclaimed - and became a play and a movie. But it was not well received in his home town. As I’ve said: I haven’t read it - though I’m on hold for it at Overdrive, and I’m going to make the effort that I should have already made. Because it’s about a female librarian! Who moves to small town Minnesota! And is irritated by the small minds who resist new ideas! Wow! How…totally realistic! (Look, I’m just going to stand off to the side here, and try not to mutter “small towns = small minds” constantly. I’m trying to be more tolerant, and I’m getting better at it. But I still need to improve this, because that’s not a useful mindset.)

And I can see that when your most famous former resident writes a book that essentially shits all over your town - anyone would be miffed about it. But it sounds like people shook that off pretty quickly, and dived right into the next stage: capitalizing on the reflected fame. And more power to them on that! If I had a famous person from my hometown, I’d talk about it too! (Clearing my throat significantly, and waving toward my discussion of Abraham Lincoln sites here.)

And then I went home, filled with the fun of all the cool artistic things that Minnesota had to offer on this very nice day of adventure!

It really is neat to have the chance to go out and explore a little more thoroughly in your area. There are always interesting things to see that are new to you, or that need to be explored a little more thoroughly.

Maybe this is your weekend! Time to go look for something cool, admire it, have a snack, listen to books (Sinclair Lewis maybe? Up to you!), and just enjoy it. This is how you expand time to feel so much larger than if you just stay home and are bored - for the 503rd consecutive day.

We’re here to enjoy this life, so get out there and have some fun and adventure!