Ellen Anderson Penno was 24 in 1986 when her first love and Carleton College classmate Ian Kraabel died in an avalanche while guiding a party of climbers on Mount Baker in the Cascade Range in Washington. His body was found in a crevice just before Penno was scheduled to begin medical school. Should she take time to grieve or begin rigorous medical studies? She chose medicine.

Ellen Anderson Penno and Ian Kraabel in an undated black and white photo taken before he died in an avalanche in 1986. (Courtesy of Ellen Anderson Penno)

Penno tells her story for the first time in her memoir “Counting Bones: Anatomy of Love Lost and Found,”  which she’ll introduce in her hometown of Stillwater at 5 p.m. Thursday, May 23, at the Lowell Inn, 102 N. Second St., presented by Valley Bookseller.

Now an ophthalmologist in Calgary, Penno structures her sometimes-funny story through the lens of the classical medical text “Gray’s Anatomy.” In this celebration of Kraabel’s life, she shows readers what becomes of those who must rebuild their lives after a tragedy. Minnesota plays a role in her book since she earned degrees from the University of Minnesota and did an internship at Hennepin County Medical Center and a residency at the Mayo Clinic. She also holds graduate certificates in creative writing from Humber College in Canada and narrative medicine from Columbia University.

Penno’s Thursday program is free, but attendees are asked to sign up using the Get Ticket option so Valley Bookseller staff can make seating arrangements. The registration link, as well as book purchase option, can be accessed at Valleybookseller.com.

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Without a doubt, the brightest star in the summer night sky is Arcturus. It’s the second-brightest star in our night skies throughout the year. Only Sirius, the brightest star in the constellation Canis Major, the Big Dog, is more brilliant. Arcturus has actually been visible in the evening sky since February when it was barely above the horizon in the early evening. I love it when Arcturus starts appearing because it’s a promise that summer’s coming. Once again, the promise has been kept. Earth has moved far enough in its orbit around the sun to give us a more direct view of Arcturus. That’s why it’s so much higher in the evening sky. As twilight fades Arcturus pops into view very high in the southern sky. You can’t miss it. It’s the brightest star in the sky! If you want even more confirmation you’re seeing Arcturus, use the old, reliable stargazing tool, “Arc to Arcturus.” Find the arc of the handle of the Big Dipper, and with your mind’s eye extend that arc beyond the end of the Dipper’s handle. You’ll run right into Arcturus, guaranteed!

(Mike Lynch)

Not only is Arcturus the brightest star in the summer night sky, but it’s also the brightest star in the constellation Bootes the Farmer or Herdsman. Rather than a hunter, though, Bootes looks much more like a giant kite with Arturus beaming at the tail. You also can’t help but notice that Arcturus has an orange-reddish glow. It’s considered by astronomers to be a red giant star, way larger than our sun, with a diameter of 22 million miles. Our sun isn’t even a million miles across! Its Arcturus is 37 light-years from Earth, with just one light-year equaling nearly 6 trillion miles. It’s so far away that the light we see from it now left that star shortly after Ronald Reagan became president.

The cool thing about the night sky is that when we look up at the constellations, we see the same star patterns our ancestors saw thousands of years ago. They’re also the same patterns our descendants will see thousands of years from now. Stars are often referred to as fixed, but strictly speaking, they’re not. They’re constantly on the move, tearing along at incredible speeds. Like our sun, most of them are obediently orbiting around the center of our Milky Way galaxy. Some mavericks travel in different directions. We can’t easily detect the changing positions of the stars among each other because of their incredible distances. That’s why they seem fixed in place.

There are some exceptions, though, and Arcturus is one of them. About 300 years ago, Sir Edmund Halley, the same guy after whom the famous comet is named, detected changes in Arcturus’ position relative to nearby stars in the sky by comparing ancient star charts with what he was observing. Since then, it’s been determined that Arcturus is moving over 75 miles a second relative to our solar system. And it’s coming in our direction!  Many astronomers believe that it’s about as close to us as it’s going to be. Turning the clock backward as little as half a million years ago, it’s believed that Arcturus was so far away that it wasn’t even visible to the naked eye. And, in about another half million years, it will fade from our view, never to be seen again. So, enjoy Arcturus for now.

Don’t take this coming summer for granted, and don’t take the brightest star of summer for granted, although there are still quite a few summers to go!

Mike Lynch is an amateur astronomer and retired broadcast meteorologist for WCCO Radio in Minneapolis/St. Paul. He is the author of “Stars: a Month by Month Tour of the Constellations,” published by Adventure Publications and available at bookstores and adventurepublications.net. Mike is available for private star parties. You can contact him at mikewlynch@comcast.net.

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Joe Biden and Donald Trump agree on at least one thing. I know what you’re probably thinking: a little more consensus might be good for the country.

But when we’re talking about both major presidential candidates calling to limit the flow of goods to U.S. consumers, shouldn’t we be worried? Each has been touting trade policies that could lead to even higher prices, another challenge to an already stressed Federal Reserve, and slower growth for the country.

Couched broadly in terms of countering China’s aggressive efforts to stimulate its industrial economy, Biden and Trump want wide-ranging higher tariffs on that nation’s electric vehicles and other products. Relatedly, both express concerns about maintaining American manufacturing muscle for national security purposes and gaining a more favorable outcome from the ongoing leadership struggle among the world’s great powers.

The fact that we’re now hearing essentially the same protectionist appeals from the presumed candidates from both major political parties is new and worrisome.

That’s not to say that calls from one candidate or another to pull up the gang plank, raise prices and reduce the movement of goods and people from elsewhere to our shores are unfamiliar. It’s especially common during “crazy season,” when aspiring political candidates try to outdo each other before an election. When it comes to where goods and services will be produced, union workers and most other people generally prefer less competition from abroad.

Here’s where economics and politics diverge.

Nationalism may attract a meaningful political following, but higher tariffs mean higher prices for the directly affected goods and even more widespread price effects later. A substantial, conclusive body of research tells us as much.

Along with the higher prices on imported goods, we should be aware that tariffs are shown to lead to slower economic growth. This is the last thing we should want for an economy that’s been skirting a recession.

So, what about ordinary consumers? Don’t they matter?

Somehow the voices of inflation-weary American consumers no longer seem to be heard when Chinese goods enter the picture. Moreover, lots of people who lack economics degrees understandably don’t realize what protectionism does to their pocketbooks. Neither major political party apparently cares about telling them, or protecting the ability of these individuals to, unencumbered by a Big Brother government, make real marketplace choices about which cars to buy, which shoes to wear or which services to obtain.

Instead, our politicians speak as though the decisions we make while shopping for ourselves and our families are mostly about favoring one country or another. Even after years of supply-chain interruptions, high inflation and resulting high interest rates stretching millions of budgets, they strangely refuse to recognize that international competition helps the American voter and consumer, or that there is something American about being free to choose.

Yes, there are global issues to worry about, and some consumers may willingly show a preference for the national origin of the goods they buy. More often than not, though, they are choosing between products and prices. If, then, there is to be a major political debate regarding whether to discourage the movement of goods and services across national boundaries by artificially raising those prices, consumers need to hear all of the facts and have a voice in the matter.

At one time, in a program I coordinated as its executive director, the Federal Trade Commission actively intervened in proceedings before other federal regulatory agencies to advocate for consumers. Where is the FTC now, when their voice is needed?

An analysis of consumer wellbeing — yours and mine — should also accompany any White House effort to mandate price increases. After all, the Fed’s constantly discussed, ongoing effort to put a squeeze on inflation, which has been aptly described as a tightrope walker’s challenge, is far from over.

Any further emergence of higher prices becoming embedded in the Consumer Price Index could send a troubled signal to the Fed and cause it to renew its commitment to higher interest rates. This and any tariff-induced slowdown could finally tip the scales toward recession.

With the economy still in limbo, we consumers deserve a real choice about what happens next.

Bruce Yandle is a distinguished adjunct fellow with the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, dean emeritus of the Clemson University College of Business & Behavioral Science, and a former executive director of the Federal Trade Commission. This column was distributed by Tribune News Service.

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At the fourth annual Kickoff to Summer at the Fair, visitors will be able to buy houseplants as well as cheese curds and beer.

The supply of greenery is courtesy of Marc Eaton and “Roots, Shoots & Leaves,” a mobile plant shop that stands out among the usual food trucks; the green truck will roll in as one of the new vendors at the Minnesota State Fair sampler when it kicks off on Thursday, May 23.

During the four-day event, customers can get free advice while browsing the shop’s tropical plants, succulents, specialty potting soil and offbeat accessories: One of the company’s goals is to help people become good “plant parents.”

To achieve this goal, Eaton recently quit his day job to hop on the truck full time. That his former side gig is already blooming in such a big way is fun for this St. Paul green thumb.

“This truck began as a hobby that got out of control,” Eaton said.

Roots

Marc Eaton of “Roots, Shoots & Leaves,” with his mobile plant truck at his storage site in White Bear Lake on Wednesday, April 24, 2024. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

Houseplants are trending these days, but Eaton’s roots in the natural world were planted during his childhood in Missouri.

“I’d collect seeds out in the woods and bring them back home, sprouting them on toilet paper and then growing them in plastic cups,” Eaton, 54, remembers.

His first gifted plant was memorable.

“When I was 4 or 5, a lady from church gave me a green prayer plant,” he said. “The way its leaves would gently fold up at night and relax during the day, that plant fascinated me. My next plant was a purple inch plant, or Purple Tradescantia, which is easy to grow at 6.

“Since then, it’s been a hobby,” he said. “Animals and plants, I had them all in the house.”

After moving to Minnesota for college, Eaton went on to work as a research entomologist for a chemical company. He and his husband, David Gray, settled down in Dayton’s Bluff, where they raised their son, Joseph Gray, 24. During those growing years, there wasn’t as much time for Eaton to focus on houseplants.

Then came the pandemic.

Pandemic plants

Marc Eaton of “Roots, Shoots & Leaves,” a mobile plant truck, gets his truck ready for an upcoming event at its storage site in White Bear Lake on Wednesday, April 24, 2024. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

Some people learned how to create a sourdough starter during the lockdown. Others took up crocheting. For Eaton, it was a time to get back to puttering with plants.

“During the pandemic, when I was working from home for two or three years, I had more time to focus on plants as well as my work as part of my daily routine,” he said. “It just kept getting bigger and bigger.”

He found himself chatting online with other houseplant hobbyists; he had a lot of help to offer.

“I just had so many plants that it got to a point where people started asking me questions,” he said. “Being able to help somebody with a plant, whether they are a hobbyist or someone new to it, I find that rewarding. Helping people troubleshoot, I find that fun.”

Eaton began to consider opening up a shop.

A mobile business

Marc Eaton of “Roots, Shoots & Leaves,” a mobile plant truck, talks about how he got into the business at the site where he stores the truck in White Bear Lake on Wednesday, April 24, 2024. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

The west metro has a variety of specialty shops dedicated to houseplants, Eaton says, but the east metro …

“I felt like I could fill a niche on this side of town,” Eaton said. “But I couldn’t decide the best place to have a shop. I didn’t want to make the investment of time and money, set it up and it didn’t work out for some reason, and be stuck in a lease or a mortgage and be in financial trouble. So I began researching mobile shops.

“Mobile houseplant shops are a thing outside of Minnesota,” he said. “One individual was getting a lot of press at the time in Los Angeles. I reached out to that guy and asked him questions about his mobile shop, how he designed it and what he would and wouldn’t do again.”

His research rolled on to include checking out other trucks and interviewing more owners.

“I decided it could be done,” Eaton said. “I started shopping around for small-business funding, which was quite a chore. I did work with SCORE – it’s a mentorship program for new small-business owners; they helped me with the business side of things.”

Once he had the small-business funding in place, Eaton began shopping around for a truck. He found a used one, a former FedEx truck, in Kansas City, Mo.

“I flew down and drove it back,” he said. “That was different. I’d never driven such a big truck — for nine hours.”

Using what he learned from other truck owners, he added fans for air circulation but went with an opaque roof for light instead of glass, which would make the truck feel like a preheated oven. His brother created the art for the vinyl wrap that provides his truck’s signature motto: “Helping you be the best plant parent you can be.” The truck is also wired for power with a generator; it has grow lights as well as interior and exterior lights for evening events.

A business sprouts

While Eaton’s business officially sprouted in 2022, the truck first hit the road during the growing season of 2023.

On Eaton’s website, Roots, Shoots & Leaves is billed as “Your mobile houseplant shop” and a “mobile garden center” stocked with “healthy plants, sage advice and fun accessories to help you become the best Plant Parent you can be!”

Although Eaton is based on the East Side of St. Paul, his truck travels around the Twin Cities metro for both private events and appearances at fairs and festivals and more.

(Check out where the truck will be at rsleaves.com.)

The green truck, with its unique premise, stands out everywhere it goes.

“Our state fair staff had originally seen Roots, Shoots & Leaves a year ago at the Friends Plant Sale which is held on the fairgrounds,” said Maria Hayden, State Fair spokesperson, in an email to the Pioneer Press. “We felt the innovative and visually appealing display of products would make a great addition to the fair, so it was added as a new vendor in 2023. Asking them to participate in the Kickoff to Summer at the Fair was another perfect fit — aligning perfectly with an event that celebrates summer.”

The State Fair itself was a big event for a new business, but Eaton, his husband and their son worked together to serve the crowds.

“I’ll be honest with you, plants aren’t really my thing, but I’ve learned a lot about caring for them and we try to help out as much as possible because it’s a family business,” said Joseph Gray, who is known as the company’s best salesperson while also juggling his college studies.

This time, Eaton and son will staff the truck and are ready to talk about plants with this pre-summer crowd.

“Although we specialize in indoor and not outdoor plants, it’s still nice that we’ll be at the Fair at the beginning of the growing season this time,” Eaton said.

Crocheted chickens, lavender soaps and Venus flytraps

It was still snowing when Eaton and his son took the plants to a craft fair in April.

On that Saturday morning, a light overnight snow had yet to melt and new flakes were falling, pellet-like. It was still too chilly in the season to store the plants in the mobile truck, but they were warm inside the 7th Annual Spring Madness Craft & Gift Expo at the Eagan Civic Arena.

The plants of Roots, Shoots & Leaves bloomed amid the sellers of crocheted chickens, lavender soaps and Pokémon wallets. In this corner, you could smell the soil of the potted Venus flytraps, examine the needles of the cacti or laugh at the unusual diorama kits designed as houseplant accessories.

As they shopped, many customers asked if the plants were pet-friendly (look for the animal icon next to the price) and how to take care of the plants (both father and son gave mini tutorials). Questions are always welcome here, because each plant sold comes with emotional support.

“I bought an Anthurium and a Monstera and they gave me lots of good advice,” said Brittany Hauser of St. Paul.

Hauser welcomed the advice: Now that she’s working from home, she has started to fill her home with plants to keep her company. They even have names, like Robert Plant and Keanu Leaves.

“I’m starting to become a plant person,” Hauser said.

Some shoppers were here specifically for Roots, Shoots & Leaves; that includes Gabby Wollmuth. The Farmington High School junior follows the shop on Instagram and was here to stock up.

The teenager became a plant lady after discovering the charm of Air Plants while visiting Florida. She’s expanded her hobby since then.

“I like cactuses and Monsteras,” she said.

At home, Wollmuth added shelving for more plants and is considering taking a botany class as an elective.

Other shoppers were new to the hobby, like 6-year-old Carter Pulczinski.

He got to pick one thing to buy at the craft fair; he skipped the Pokémon merchandise and went for a cactus instead.

Has he been interested in plants for awhile, or was he just getting started?

“I think I’m just starting,” Carter said as he looked down at the cactus.

The smell of dirt

Marc Eaton of “Roots, Shoots & Leaves,” a mobile plant truck, gets his truck ready for an upcoming event at its storage site in White Bear Lake on Wednesday, April 24, 2024. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

A month after that craft fair, the air smelled like summer and the sun was shining as Eaton puttered with plants outside of the truck the week before Memorial Day.

This gated storage facility and parking lot in White Bear Lake is the truck’s home when it’s not at an event.

There were a couple of food trucks parked here, some RVs and lots of boats, including the covered pontoon next to Eaton’s truck.

“That boat will probably be gone for the summer by next weekend,” Eaton said.

The plant truck won’t be around much, either, especially during the Kickoff to Summer at the Fair. But on this afternoon in May, he was focused on getting ready for other events, including a stop at a school in Golden Valley. There, they’ll help kids pot their own plants.

Plants keep you in the moment, though, so Eaton was focused on replanting the ferns he had set out on a table.

“For me, it’s relaxing,” he said of spending time here. “To get up in the morning and go out to the truck when it’s full of plants; opening the doors and windows; to be surrounded by green while I work … there’s just something about plants.”

Kickoff to Summer at the Fair

When: 4 to 9 p.m. on Thursday, May 23, and Friday, May 24; 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday, May 25, and Sunday, May 26.

Tickets: Tickets, sold for specific days, are $13 each when purchased in advance online (fees and tax included) and $16 each at the gate (via QR code, credit/debit only; fees and tax included).

Details: An event created during the pandemic, this kickoff event is now an annual tradition in its fourth year. It’s held rain or shine and includes food, brews, music, shopping, free parking and family fun at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds in Falcon Heights. Attendance is limited each day so guests can have space to stroll and savor the experience.

More info/link to purchase tickets: mnstatefair.org/kickoff-to-summer

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