Campfire in the Basement: Reflections from a Northwoods Lake is a captivating
memoir of childhood stories supported by previous generations’ values, hard work, and life’s lessons.
Told through the eyes of “the little dickens” with authentic descriptive detail, this journey is woven with love throughout generations of family, community, and the world.
Readers will relate to the simplicity of growing up in the 50’s on Eire Lake in rural northern Minnesota along with stoic Scandinavian immigrant relatives. These reflections truly embrace recurring themes throughout the author’s predecessors’ lives, his own life, and the lives of his grandchildren: learn from disappointments or consequences (e.g., ruined cherished cowboy boots, poked holes in a screen door, or leaving the class goldfish over a holiday break). “Get an education,” and care for the critters and our natural world.
After laughing out loud and tearing up reading these stories, I found myself wanting to say, “Tell me another story!”
Patsy Ophaug
Special Education Teacher, Northfield Elementary School, Retired
When you have a good friend, you know what makes him tick, and why. CAMPFIRE IN THE BASEMENT contains all the “whats” and the “whys:
Darrell Pedersen’s Campfire in the Basement takes us to a place in our midwestern soul where a bowl of steaming tomato soup is being served
I’m fortunate to have had a ringside seat as Campfire in the Basement came into being over the past fifteen years. I initially met Darrell