Once upon a time, our family visited the great ball of twine in Darwin, Minnesota. On occasions we have returned to see it. The last time was approximately 17 years ago.
Today, my sibs and I returned to this astounding product of one man’s passion. It’s a unique and quirky part of Minnesota that draws people to this tiny town from all ends of the nation–as evidenced by the locations cited in the guest book. In the ten minutes we were there, two other groups stopped by to do the tourist thing and snap a pic.
Commemorating our own pilgrimage with a decent photo was not an easy thing to do with the noon sun overhead. Yet, despite the difficulties, we got an amazing and eerie image.
Our ghostly reflections below highlight just how easy it is to blur reality and just how frighteningly easy it is to forget.
As we left Darwin, we reminisced about that day, remembering the experiences leading up to the moment in front of the celebrated twine and those that followed. We shared laughter and a bit of sorrow.
Seventeen years ago, 16 people gathered in front of the twine ball. Of those, some have moved halfway across the country, others have grown up and moved out. Still others have simply moved on. Great aunt Toody is no longer with us.
This simple snapshot is rather profound. Without retelling stories and keeping them alive, we are in danger of losing a piece of who we are, where we came from, and where we need to go.
Seventeen years is but a microsecond blip on the vast and varied clock of our nation’s history. Yet the four of us remembered and forgot different things. As citizens of a global family, our collective memories are similarly complex. As such, we should strive for actively and accurately remembering.
The library is filled with resources to help you do this. We have a robust nonfiction collection and a genealogy section with local and regional histories. We have books that discuss multiple points of view on a wide array of topics. Further, we can help guide you through the internet and the tangled strands of digital information.
At the core of that giant ball of twine is a decades old story of one man. The end result draws people together in unexpected ways. In a way, this is our global story. We just have to own it.
The past is a part of who we are, and it most definitely continues to shape who we will become.
Get connected~ Jody
