Chapter 1
The Land of Everlasting Sky
I stood there waiting in the gravel driveway, kicking dirt into dust clouds, surrounded by flat open fields six miles south of the Canadian border. Summer vacation with Mom’s side of the family felt like an escape from the heat and tension at home at the end of June 1968.
Grandma Kling came out Aunt Audrey’s back door with both hands full, carrying a tray of sweet rolls. She elbowed the front seat of her Buick forward and leaned into the back, where she slid the tray onto the rear window ledge. After we piled in her car, she looked over the seat and backed out onto Highway 313. Grandma tuned in KRWB-AM and pushed the lighter on the dashboard. Out of her purse she pulled a tube of primrose pink and her pack of Salems—same brand Mom smoked. Grandma applied a fresh coat of lipstick while glancing in the rearview mirror. She hummed along, tapping the beat on the steering wheel, and then lit a cigarette from the glowing red-hot coil. She turned onto Highway 11 past the Marvin Windows factory.
On the side of the road, I saw the sign: WELCOME TO WARROAD. WORLD CAPITOL OF WALLEYE, WINDOWS, AND HOCKEY. POPULATION 1,173.