The Family *roll

Everything You’ve Read Is True

I can’t believe I am finally here, in fabled Northfield of Family *roll fame. It’s like getting to go to Disneyland, and almost as improbably picture-perfect. At this moment, Northfield’s wide, tree-lined streets are paved with gold — piles of fallen leaves. (Emily and Daniel have been raking vigorously and contributing to the golden piles, one of the joys of being new homeowners). Main Street is like a movie set, with turn-of-the-last-century shop fronts interspersed with hip coffee shops and a mix of upscale and down-home restaurants. The Cannon River runs through it, racing past the restored original mill. The delicious aroma of toasting malt from the Malt-o-Meal cereal factory periodically fills the air and all I can think of is “Waffles, now!” It is a storybook, pretty-how town.

Along with exploring the town, I have been happily living some of Emily and Dan’s blog posts. I have eaten a tasty hot dog at Tiny’s and met Tiny’s Tim himself. I have encountered Nordic brusqueness bordering on rudeness at the Quality Bakery – Northfield’s version of the Soup Nazi – and meekly paid for my scrumptious apricot kolachy buns. I have hiked the river trail at Wilderness Park and admired the views of birch trees against blue, blue sky. I have listened to Dan drum with a band at the Contented Cow pub and shared a pint with the*rolls’ new friends, blog photos come to life.

I have toured the Carleton campus, the very model of a leafy, liberal-arts college, and visited Dan in his impressive new office. But don’t think it’s all form and no substance here – Emily and I also attended an intellectually stimulating guest lecture by a Washington-insider journalist.

Northfield is definitely all it’s cracked up to be in the *roll blog. But the star attraction for me is and always will be the divine Miss Ellie D. What a stunner! That winning smile! That infectious chortle! An arched eyebrow here, a crooked grin there — she is a baby of a thousand faces, inexhaustibly entertaining. Talented writers and besotted parents they may be, but even Emily and Dan can’t begin to adequately describe how delightful this little girl is.

Of course, a grandmother can be completely objective.

I can hardly wait to get back for Christmas, to the cozy house on Washington Street that is the new home of Mom, Dad and Baby Ellie (and fuzzy sister Belly, too). Northfield has given a whole new meaning to heartland for me.