home improvement 2012

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2 • October 6, 2012 Wadena Pioneer JournalHome Improvement

Avoidthesehomeimprovementmistakes

Mistakes in any task can be costly; they can be especially destructive when it comes to home improvement. Not only can you end up spending more money, you could damage your home or even put yourself in danger. Here are some of the most common home improvement mistakes and how you can avoid them:

Going with the lowest bid While this idea may seem smart, it

may cost you in the long run. A low bid can mean you are working with an inex-perienced contractor who may cut cor-ners. Carefully evaluate the quotes and make sure that you’re comparing apples to apples.

Are both contractors using the same type of materials? What type of war-ranty do they offer on their work? Are they insured?

It’s important to know that if your

contractor is not adequately insured and one of their employees gets hurt while working on your property, you can be held liable for their injuries. Beware of a contractor who will not freely offer up a copy of their insurance policy upon request.

Taking on a project beyond your scope of expertise

In an attempt to save money, do-it-yourselfers believe that watching a You-Tube video on how to complete a project makes them an expert. Certain repairs such as roofing, plumbing or electrical can result in serious injury or death.

Unless you have adequate profes-sional training, leave it to the profes-sionals.

Buying cheap materialsBuying cheap materials may seem

like a good way to save money, but it will likely cost you more in the long

run. Purchasing a kitchen sink made by a manufacturer you’ve never heard of probably won’t last as long as one installed by a plumber who will stand behind their product and warranty it if something goes wrong after installation.

Following trendsKnow how funny avocado green

toilets and shag carpeting seem now? While they were trendy at the time, they are both expensive things to fix that date a home.

Beware of similar trends today and stick with traditional looks that will have a longer shelf life.

Neglecting to get a permitWhile homeowners can view permits

as a pointless expense, not getting one for a project that requires it and run-ning into an emergency could result in the accident not being covered by your homeowner’s insurance.

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Wadena Pioneer Journal October 6, 2012 • 3Home Improvement

‘A whole new building’ with energy-efficient doors and windows

With energy efficient changes in mind, a home furniture store in Wadena re-cently took on some building improvements of its own.

Smith Furniture, owned by Dick and Sue Wirta of Wade-na, kept many of its original old windows and doors built in the 1890s with the rest of the building – until recently.

“When snow comes in through the windows, it’s time to make a change,” Dick said.

Eight windows and two doors were replaced in late September.

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See SMITH FURNITURE on PAGE 4 Photo by Rachelle Klemme Sue Wirta shows some of the new windows at Smith Furniture on Sept. 26. Windows and doors were replaced for energy efficiency.

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Additionally, the higher level windows at the front of the store were replaced about a month ago.

Some side windows higher up are painted over and blocked off with future renovations in mind.

Sue said people have no-ticed a difference in the win-dow renovations.

“We’ve received a lot of positive feedback from the remodeling,” she said.

Employee Josh Snyder also said Smith Furniture has received many compliments on the new windows and doors.

“They’ve been a great improvement,” he said. “It seems like a whole new building now.”

Snyder, along with Tyler Mueller, did the bulk of the painting between deliver-ies and other tasks at Smith

Furniture.“We painted the windows

after they installed them all,” Snyder said.

They also worked on the tagboard on the wall, door frames, frames around the office and other areas.

Paint was chosen to match with the existing building de-sign, Snyder said.

Sue said other homes or businesses looking to take on remodeling projects would have their own unique needs.

“Every situation is differ-ent,” Sue said.

The Smith Furniture building combines new im-provements with aspects of its original history, when it was both a furniture store and a funeral home in Wadena’s 19th Century early days.

While some of the large front windows are still origi-nal, Sue said, some of them

cracked or were broken over the years and had to be re-placed.

Although some of the over-century-old sections are

no longer in use, they are not all discarded: the Wirtas kept a piece of the original door as a souvenir of the building’s history.

SMITH FURNITURE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3

Photo by Rachelle KlemmeSue Wirta shows an old door piece that was kept as part of the Smith Furniture building’s history.


Alookatfallhomeimprovementoptions

There are a number of proj-ects homeowners can delve into this fall, many of which can be quarterbacked by area professionals.

“It’s everything and any-thing this time of year,” said Stan Ament, owner of Ament Construction in Sebeka.

Ament said he is working mostly with farmers on putting up buildings before winter hits, and homeowners have tasks they want to finish during the fall.

“Homeowners are getting in a big hurry to get little addi-tions done,” he said.

What should most home-owners be doing this time of year?

“Make sure your windows are caulked,” he said.

While Ament is busy with farm buildings and miscel-laneous home projects, Gordy Macklem, sales representative at Ace Hardware in Wadena, is helping people out with their yards.

“This is the time of the year they take care of their yards if they’re going to be doing any seeding,” Macklem said, adding that if a lawn is given proper care in the fall, it will look better in the spring.

Macklem also said many people choose to remodel dur-ing the fall, mostly because they’ve put certain projects on the back burner. He said more worthy fall home improvement projects involve upgrading windows, siding and roofing.

Some people are using met-al roofing these days, he said. It may cost a little more, but Macklem said it’s worth it.

St. Ann’s Church recently added metal roofing, and it’s paid off and “looks very nice,” he added.

Macklem also said metal roofing offers better protection to a home, and snow slides off it a lot easier than shingles.

Fall is also a popular time of year to give windows proper protection, Macklem said. He added that October is a good time for people to protect their windows with plastic storm covers.

Also, putting Sea Foam in lawn mowers and other out-door equipment is a good idea, he said.

RV Antifreeze is a hot item this time a year “because a lot of people go south for the win-ter,” he said, adding that the product is used a lot for lake homes.

A relatively new product

homeowners are turning to is a septic tank blanket, which keeps septic pipes from freez-ing over by attracting the sun’s rays, Macklem said. He added that the blankets are especially beneficial for people who live out in the country.

Also preparing for freezing temps is Judy Malone. She is the co-owner of Lakes Hearth and Home Center in New York Mills.

Fall is a busy time for Malone because people are putting in wood and gas fire places, she said. But which is better: gas or wood fireplaces?

“Not everybody has access to wood all the time,” she said, “and if you have to go out and buy it, it’s not a lot more cost effective.”

She added that some people

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don’t know how to properly burn wood, and agreed that a house could fill up with smoke if flames aren’t handled cor-rectly.

Malone also said the chim-ney portion of a wood fire-place costs more than that of a gas fireplace.

The benefit of choosing a fireplace instead of central heat is that a fireplace will still run if the power goes out, she said.

Fall is also a time of year when people are having out-door stone work done to their home, Malone said.

As far as other outdoor projects go, Scott Anderson prefers working in the fall.

Anderson owns Scott’s Paint and Tile Works in Wade-na.

“When it’s cooler and not scorching hot, it’s good to paint,” he said.

But before the weather gets

too cool, Tara Weber said it’s necessary to take proper steps with plumbing.

Weber, marketing special-ist for Esser Plumbing and Heating in Perham, said peo-ple should make sure to un-hook their outdoor hoses “to prevent freezing pipes.” She added that it’s usual practice for seasonal homes to be kept at least 55 degrees when no one is around.

Other sensible actions to add to the fall to-do list for these people include opening cabinet doors to help circulate warm air and work to make sure future snow won’t restrict water drainage, which can re-sult in ice buildup, she said.

Area professionals agree that fall is a great time to get these projects done. With their insight, Wadena and surround-ing area residents can get a lot accomplished this time of year.

FALL HOME CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5

Stan Ament, Ament Construction• Make sure your windows are caulked.

Gordy Macklem, Ace Hardware• Take care of fall seeding now so yards will look better in

the spring.• Add plastic covers to windows.• Keep insulation in mind when choosing new siding and

roofing.• Put Sea Foam in lawn mowers and other outdoor equip-

ment.• Use RV Antifreeze in winterized homes.

Judy Malone, Lakes Hearth and Home Center• Keep your home warm with either a wood or gas fireplace.If the power goes out, a fireplace will keep you warm.• Fall is the last chance to get stone work done before freez-

ing temperatures hit.

Tara Weber, Esser Plumbing and Heating• Unhook outdoor hoses to avoid freezing pipes.• Keep vacant homes at least 55 degrees.• Open cabinet doors to help circulate warm air.• Make sure future snows won’t restrict water drainage.

Local pros’ fall home improvement tips for good winter preparation

Five households from the Staples/Motley area opened their living space for the 11th

annual “Tour of Homes” on Sept. 23, offering members of the public a chance to see different aspects of home im-provement, future planning, lifestyles, heritage and decora-tion.

Two couples from the tour changed their living space with retirement needs in mind.

Rick and Karen Anderson of Staples used to live in the country, but in 2005 as they were about to retire, they de-cided to scale down to a small-er townhouse. However, the

yard still had enough space to add a shed for Rick, a former diesel mechanism instructor, to work on restoring a truck and other projects.

The couple also added a porch to the house, which fea-tures different tones of pastel walls from room to room.

“It’s a nice size retirement home,” Karen said.

Keith and Sandy Porter of Staples also planned for retire-ment years when they gave an extensive remodel to their 1972 ranch-style house in 2010.

Sandy said they first moved into their house in 1989, but they wanted to make it larger and on one level, so their needs could be met when they grew older down the road. The hall-

ways and doorways are wide for maximum accessibility.

Bathroom fixtures include open showers accessible to wheel in and wheel out, and a “river rock” stone texture on the floor to prevent slipping.

A walk-in pantry by the kitchen makes ingredients easier to find, Sandy said.

It wasn’t the first renova-tion for the Porters, who added a sunroom in 1995. Plants in-side make it “a jungle” in the winter, Sandy said.

Other homeowners on the tour had their houses built or decorated around a theme.

The Vikings game was on when Roger Randgaard showed his collection of me-dieval Norse Vikings, trolls,

Swedish Dala horses, rose-maling décor, plates and other international items – mostly re-lated to Norway and Sweden.

Randgaard, who shops eBay, said he has never been to Norway, even though it is his heritage.

“I’d like to. My nephew’s been over there,” Randgaard said.

Another item Randgaard is proud of is an autographed picture of Gene Autry and Roy Rogers.

Out in rural Motley, Bill and Florence Berndt have a house full of antiques and Americana décor.


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Photo by Rachelle KlemmeGreg Haglin of rural Staples built his family home with a deer hunting lodge theme.

Photo by Rachelle KlemmeA wood deck with matching chairs faces the afternoon sun at the Greg Haglin home.

Photo by Rachelle KlemmeGreg Haglin of rural Staples gives a tour of his home, which he built in 2010.

Photo by Rachelle KlemmeJudy Dahlin, left, helps her sister, Karen Anderson, get ready for “Tour of Homes” in Staples on Sept. 23.


Photo by Rachelle KlemmeRoger Randgaard of Staples takes pride his Scandinavian heri-tage with a Norwegian and Swedish collection.

Photo by Rachelle KlemmeA variety of Scandinavian memorabilia decorates the Roger Randgaard home.

Photo by Rachelle KlemmeA walk-in shower and wide spaces were part of a 2010 remodel of a 1972 house by Sandy Porter and her husband to accom-modate their needs as they grow older.

TOUR OF HOMES CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7Florence said they have lived there almost 20 years, and the original owners were Bill’s grandparents, who had it built in 1935.

Bill and Florence are the third generation living in the farm house, and they added onto it in 1993.

To match the look of the rest of the house, the 1990s ad-dition was built with a sliding glass door to harmonize with the 1930s sunroom.

The glass door and large windows also bring in natural light.

Greg Haglin of rural Staples took on his own project, with tradition and rural life in mind.

In 2010, he built a wood-furnished six-bedroom home he describes as a “boyhood dream to reality” and being in “executive hunting lodge” style.

His son, Jordan Haglin, said the land itself has been in the family for a long time, and hunting is a family tradition.

The house is built to look older than it really is.

To construct the floor, Greg said he used rough-sawn ash from a swamp by Leader, Minn., and milled it for floor-ing. He said the rugged look makes it appear worn down by cowboy boots and work boots, but it is brand new.

Photo by Rachelle KlemmeBill and Florence Berndt had a 1990s addition, at left, added to their 1930s home. Sliding glass doors help the addition blend in with the sunroom.

Photo by Rachelle KlemmeFlorence Berndt’s friend, Gayle Quinn, helps show a house, with its Americana décor.

Julia Palmer, one of the “Tour of Homes” organizers, said the event was an overall success, and it was a beautiful day to see what all the unique homeowners have been doing.

Proceeds were to go toward restoration of the Staples De-

pot.Palmer said the restoration

of Wadena’s own depot is a good example for the Staples depot project, and Wadena residents have also been sup-portive of them.


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AhomeimprovementprojectforwildlifeFor the last 10

years, I have been learning more and more about nature as I pursue an outdoor building project on our farm.

It began as a way of making the farm a better deer hunt-ing spot. My rela-tives near Henning do not have room for me anymore on their farmland because their own kids were hunting. One day my son suggested turning an old pasture into a wood lot. The more trees, the more deer was the reasoning we followed. From day 1, it was meant as a home improve-ment project for wildlife.

The 20-acre pasture we owned had white oak, elm, boxelder, green ash and iron-wood, but it was not a popular place for wildlife.

Over the last decade, sugar maple, black ash, black wal-nut, basswood, eastern red ce-dar, white spruce, silver maple and red oak have been added.

These are trans-plants or seed-lings. There has been some grass burning and a lot of mowing, both of which have encour-aged hundreds of new trees and plants to grow. Other trees have come down or been pruned. A wood lot is tak-

ing shape.There are many brush piles

around the pasture now that originally were to be burnt. They have become homes for hares and field mice. These animals, in turn, have brought hawks, owls, fox and coyotes.

Brush piles might be okay for the little guys, but deer are attracted by fruits and nuts, so it has seemed like a good idea to plant apple, crabapple and apricot trees along with hazel-nut, chokecherry and Nanking cherry bushes.

The pasture project has spawned other projects, like

planting a clover and chicory mix, and bird houses have brought in tree swallows, purple martins and bluebirds. Clearings and paths have been created for wildlife. Steel fence posts and barbed wire have been replaced with berry and nut bushes, which someday will form a living windbreak.

Has it worked? So far the answer has to be “yes” because we have shot five deer in the fall and I have taken pictures of many more with my wildlife camera. Two winters ago, we even had deer yarding up on the farm. Forty of them came out of a stand of white oak one February morning.

The tree and bush planting still goes on in the spring and the fall. Agonizing over what to order and plant goes on in the winter. Some experiments have worked, while others have failed.

I wish I could take credit for the attitude our neighbors have adopted. The retired farmer who owns the 160 acres to the south has put his land into a CRP program. The old couple that bought the farm to the east own CRP land also. A local fish and game club has built an impressive wildlife area across the highway. When you add all of these acres up, you realize they form an impressive lump of wildlife habitat. Traveling around the countryside, you can see other wildlife planting projects in the process of be-coming habitat.

Bagging a deer, a turkey or a pheasant has always been fun for guys like me. We enjoy the hunt. It is equally satisfying to create and build a home for wildlife. Long after your hunt-ing days are over, a home im-provement project for wildlife can still be paying dividends.

Brian HanselStaff Reporter

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ImprovingahomemilesawayLast week I had the

privilege of taking a short, whirlwind trip to Haiti. The purpose was to help with a feeding program that our church has sup-ported and also to get a firsthand look at the need and what still needs to be done.

We went to three orphanages that would hardly be receiving any food at all if it were not for the one or two meals a day we were helping to provide. I even had the honor of serving one of the meals to the children while I was there. These children were so needy.

One of the orphanages was trying to take care of 30 chil-dren before the earthquake. After the earthquake, the direc-tor took in 40 more because she could not say no. So, she has the same facility, same re-sources, same staff, but twice as many kids. She trusts the Lord to feed the children.

This was “home” to them. No matter where they came from biologically, each of them had 69 brothers and sisters of ages from infant to teen. Their home was a cement building with two bedrooms, one for the boys and one for the girls, all crammed together on di-

lapidated bunk beds without air conditioning in a very warm cli-mate. Their need was so great in so many areas. Yet, when our group came to the orphanage, it wasn’t more food that they wanted, or bet-ter clothes, or a new soccer ball

– what they most wanted and needed was a hug.

These children literally mulled us, each wanting us to pick them up and hold them. Some played with our hair or investigated our ears and noses, but some laid their heads on or shoulders and fell asleep. While we were holding two at a time, the other kids were jumping at us, also wanting to be held. These children were starved for attention. They were starved for a real home and loving parents.

We went to another orphan-age where the children were better taken care of because of more financial resources, but the response was much the same; they longed to be held.

The need for loving atten-tion is ingrained within each one of us. When my children were young, there were times

when all they wanted or needed was a hug, especially if they were hurt or sick. We really don’t grow out of that stage of our lives; we just express that need differently.

Many of these orphanage children – especially the girls – will be susceptible to sex traf-ficking and prostitution when they leave the orphanage. Some of the reason for this is that they are longing for love and connection – especially from adults. We have many vulner-able children even in America. It isn’t merely because they aren’t getting enough to eat or a new cell phone when they want one; it is because they are not receiving the love and attention they crave and need.

Amy Savin sings a con-temporary song called “Bigger

Houses” that goes like this: “He says ‘Goodbye, I’ll see you to-night. I’ll be home a little late.’ She waves and says, ‘That’s okay, I’ll be waiting for you, love.’ But she knows she will be lonely, the kids gone to bed and they haven’t seen daddy since they don’t know when. They live on the promise that they soon will have all they need – even though there is al-ready too many garage doors to clean.” Then the chorus goes: “Still we work, chasing wealth, and we count all our gold think-ing it’s not enough. Living life each his own, and we build bigger houses, but we’ve never been further from home.”

Home is where people inter-act, love and spend time togeth-er. Make sure you are making your house a home.

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Fall is a bittersweet time of beginnings and endings. Bright yellow school buses abound as children start a brand new school year, rose bushes burst with their last colorful blos-soms, tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers are plentiful, and my kitchen is filled with the mixed aromas of spaghetti sauce, drying tomatoes and salsa (Sometimes I feel like a squirrel readying my abode for the long winter ahead.).

After a long summer of gar-den chores, and a September of harvesting and preserving, I always look forward to putting my garden to bed for the win-ter. Some well-spent time in your garden this fall will save you time next spring. The fol-

lowing list of fall garden chores will focus your efforts this sea-son and give you some breath-ing room next spring.

Your first step is to clean out any beds that have finished pro-ducing. Removing dead plant material helps protect your garden from disease-causing pathogens that can overwinter in the soil. Dispose of spent plants by composting them (if healthy) or throwing them away (if diseased).

If you haven’t had a soil test done in a while, send that sam-ple in. Fall is the ideal time to add needed amendments based on soil test recommendations. If you are planning to start a new garden bed in the spring, get it ready now. A clean gar-den bed with tilled and amend-ed soil is ready to be planted in the spring.

Fall is the time to plant gar-

lic, tulips, daffodils and many other spring flowering bulbs. Choose the largest bulbs you can find. Remember that these bulbs are energy storage units, and the larger they are, the more robust your flowers will be. Be sure to plant bulbs ac-cording to package directions. The basic rule of thumb is that the hole should be at least three times as deep as the width of the bulb.

Lift tender bulbs like gladi-ola, dahlia and tuberous bego-nia. Carefully remove the bulbs from the ground, leaving any foliage attached. Let them dry in a well-ventilated area for a week or so. Remove any re-maining foliage and store in a cool, dry place in an onion bag, paper bag or peat moss.

Many tender perennials need some extra cover to help them survive the cold winter

months. Roses can be heavily mulched or tipped, strawberries need a mulch cover and newly planted or tender perennials will also benefit from a mulch cover. Wait until the ground has frozen, to avoid providing habi-tat for overwintering rodents that can damage your strawber-ries and perennials.

Autumn is the final oppor-tunity for many plants to repro-duce so they put one last effort into seed production. Weed your garden thoroughly, pay-ing particular attention to those plants that are going to seed.

Aerate, de-thatch, over-seed and fertilize your lawn to give it a green jumpstart next spring.

Here’s hoping that your fall harvest is abundant and your garden beds are clean and dis-ease-free.

Until next time, happy gar-dening!

PuttingyourgardentobedinthefallROBINTROTT

University of Minnesota Extension Educator

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RethinkingthemedicalhomeThe medical home model,

seen by many as a solution to what ails primary care, con-tinues to receive mixed re-views, suggesting it may not be living up to its promise.

The latest dose of reality comes from two new studies that found that primary care medical homes don’t neces-sarily save money and don’t increase patient satisfaction.

A little background is in order. The medical home – or, to be more complete, the patient-centered medical home – is a model developed by the National Committee for Quality Assurance to im-prove the delivery of primary care. Its principles are team-

based care that’s coordinated, makes effective use of infor-mation technology and tracks how the patient is doing over time.

When correctly imple-mented, it’s supposed to improve patient care – espe-cially for chronic conditions – by ensuring patients don’t fall through the cracks. The model also is designed to make better use of medical resources by assigning re-sponsibility for patient care to a team that includes nurses and mid-level practitioners as well as physicians.

At last count, about 4,000 medical practices in the U.S. have adopted this model.

In theory, the medical home sounds terrific – the patients win, the staff wins,

the practice wins. In reality, the picture is less clear.

Take a study that recently appeared in the Journal of the American Medical As-sociation, examining the relationship between quality of care and operating costs at patient-centered medical homes. Researchers at the University of Chicago found that medical homes with higher quality ratings also had higher operating costs – $2.26 more per patient per month, to be exact. This may not sound like much, but over the course of a year it could add up to half a million dol-lars or more.

A couple of caveats are in order. First, this study only involved federally funded health centers, so the results

might not apply to a privately owned medical clinic. Sec-ond, it focused primarily on cost, and may not have fully captured the relationship be-tween cost and value.

It provides a glimpse, however, of the fiscal dy-namics that may underlie the medical home model once it’s implemented. Among policymakers who support the medical home concept, much of the emphasis has been on the cost savings that will result with fewer vis-its to the emergency room, fewer hospital admissions and so on. While this may save money for the system as a whole, it might not nec-essarily save money for the primary care clinics that are doing much of the work.

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HolidaycactihavedifferentrequirementsThe Christmas

cactus (schlum-bergera bridgesii), T h a n k s g i v i n g cactus (schlum-bergera truncata) and Easter cactus ( rh ipsa l idops i s gaertneri) do not have the typical requirements of most succulents. Although, they are true cacti, epi-phytic in nature (a plant that derives moisture and nutrients from air and rain, but usually grows on another plant, but is not parasitic on it), grow-ing in the branches of trees in their native tropical rain forest habitats.

The need for high humidity, bright but filtered light and soil kept relatively moist most of the year sets these plants apart from the majority of cacti and succulents.

Many of you have Christ-mas cacti that you have had for many years, or some may have been passed on to you from one of your parents. It has been reported that these types of cactus can outlive their care-takers and produce hundreds of brilliant flowers every year if given the proper care. A large, mature Christmas cactus will develop what appears to be bark on its stem as it ages.

While these holiday cacti bloom at different times of the year, they all require short days and cool night temperatures to initiate flower buds. In the fall, these plants should be kept in a bright location where the temperature drops to 55-65 de-grees at night, and rising 5-10 degrees in the day.

If the night temperature is 55 degrees, they will bloom in five to six weeks. However, if the night temperature is 60- 65 degrees, these plants must have at least 12 hours of com-

plete darkness ev-ery night for about six weeks in order to bloom. At higher night temperatures, it is unlikely that they will bloom at all.

Holiday cacti like to be outdoors during the summer months, but should be kept in a shaded area that receives only an hour or so

of direct sunlight a day. When brought back inside in the fall, they should gradually be ac-climated to the indoor condi-tions by being brought in for a few hours each day, increas-ing the length of time each day. Once inside, they should have a permanent place that is cool and has indirect sunlight. When buds begin to set, the cactus should not be moved or disturbed. Drafts or sud-den changes in temperature or humidity or even the direction of the sunlight may cause the buds to weaken and drop off.

Holiday cacti should be potted in the regular cactus soil mix or a mixture of one part soil, two parts peat moss and one part sand, and watered thoroughly. The soil should feel dry on the surface before watering again. The pot must have a drain hole and a pot that is an appropriate size for the plant.

These plants prefer to be root-bound, and flower best when crowded in their pot. If they do need a new pot, they can be repotted any time they are not forming buds or blooming. This is usually in late winter or early spring. But repotting should be done only every three years, or even less for large plants. These plants do not adjust well to a new pot. If the plant is doing well, even if the pot seems small, do not

repot.Fertilize holiday cacti with

a houseplant-type fertilizer. Follow the directions on the label.

Fertilizing will keep the plant in good conditions. The joints of the cactus are fragile and can break if the plant de-scends into poor health. They only need fertilizer two to four times a year.

After a cactus has quit blooming, it should have a rest period of about a month, dur-ing which it receives even less water and no fertilizer. Around March, the cactus will begin to grow again. You will know this because new segments will be-gin to form. This is when you can begin to fertilize and give it more water. Fertilize until about a month before it begins

to form buds (this is usually about the end of October).

Propagating holiday cacti is done by cutting or breaking off three to four segments of the cactus. Allow the cuttings to air dry 24 hours so they seal over. Using a part peat moss and part perlite mixture, moisten the mixture and plant the cutting half the depth of the first segment. Set the cutting in a bright window and keep the mixture moist by misting. The cutting will wilt, but this is normal.

When it starts to come back to life, the roots should be growing. You may also see new grow as a sign that the cutting has taken root. At this point, you can begin to water. After it has grown one segment, you can begin to fertilize.

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HomeiswherethehighwayisI have always

loved road trips – from family va-cations as a kid, to high school bus trips, to col-lege spring break adventures, even weekend day trips to other areas of Minnesota.

People who love to really ex-plore the unique-ness of a place often lament that mass commercialization and the Interstate highway system are making everything look more and more the same.

But one thing that really makes a geographical region unique is its houses.

Growing up, I thought the

upper Midwestern look of houses and apartments was normal and boring and generic – but after three years of living in southern California, where there were a lot of arches and warm orange tones to blend in with the sunny, dry, desert-like landscape, I no-

ticed the tall spires of country churches and how Minnesota houses tended to be angular and tall with desaturated colors – fitting in with evergreen trees and the haunting gray skies of the spring and fall.

But one doesn’t have to go through a “reverse culture

shock” to notice how homes interact with landscape, culture and weather.

In Estes Park, Colo., a small town nestled in Rocky Mountain National Park, some houses and other build-ings look like little mountains themselves – with very steep shingled roofs that not only look cool, but probably serve a practical purpose in managing all the winter snow.

Meanwhile in the South-west, especially in some of the flat desert regions, flat roofs are the rule.

Here in Minnesota, we have three-season rooms, but in the Southeast – where it never gets very cold – open porches are a lot more frequent.

Beautiful ironwork fence

patterns are a common sight in New Orleans – and not just in the French Quarter.

The wide open spaces of Middle America and the Great Plains are distinct from the packed Colonial houses of the East Coast.

When you are still a kid and going on family vacations with your parents and siblings, you’re not really expected to think any further than your al-legedly glamorous college and twenty-something years.

But when I would see the retired couples at nearby campsites with their RVs and a color-coded map of the United States checking off which places they had seen, I’d think, “That’s how I want to live down the road.”

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Community,faithcanmakeahomeI came home

from North Da-kota State Uni-versity to help my folks move into their new Minnesota home nearly five years ago. Certainly, there was much work to be done around the house.

My parents’ garage was filled to the brim with boxes, bags and miscellaneous items. As a fam-ily, our minds were wrapped around the sole task of carry-ing all belongings inside to be placed in the proper areas.

For a couple of weekends when I was home from college, I helped my parents make the

house their own. My two younger brothers, dad and I did much of the heavy lifting, while my mom shuffled to and fro decorating the house and orga-nizing.

N e e d l e s s to say – like any family that moves into a new home – we were constantly preoc-

cupied with finishing the move as quickly as possible.

One day, as there were only a few more unopened boxes lying around the house, there was a ring at the doorbell. My parents answered it, and were met by friendly faces from

the new church they had been attending. A priest and two women parishioners stepped in from the cold and said they wanted to bless our home.

Faith means a lot to my family, and we escorted the small group around the house as they observed every room, saying short prayers and shar-ing friendly conversation with our family members.

When the group had seen the entire house, my parents offered them refreshments, which they accepted. I haven’t thought about it much until recently, but their visit meant the world to my family. Even though I was in college and my family members had liter-ally just moved into the house, these people made us feel like we were a part of the commu-

nity right away.What makes a home? Is it

stuff? Is it the amount of space you have? Does it depend on where you’re located?

If you ask me, a home is a place where a loving commu-nity greets you with open arms. It’s a place where you feel comfortable not only physical-ly and mentally, but spiritually.

A home is where you can find people who care about you, and you can improve a home by spending time with them and making them feel ap-preciated.

This fall, reach out to a neighbor or friend, even if they don’t necessarily ask you to. Sometimes, the smallest housewarming gift or friendly, impromptu gathering can do wonders for the soul.

Dain SullivanEditor/General Manager

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