Earth Quaker
My name is Irv Kroeker, pronounced Erv Kraker. I was at a noisy party back in California, being introduced to someone.
“What?” the stranger asked. “Earth Quaker?”
Hence the name of this website (and later book).
Stories
When Northern Lights drift close to you They’re after your spirit. Bid your adieux! They’ll carry you off to other souls …
We come from a town Where we were all cousins Mennonite parents Kids by the dozens All were Mennonite Through and …
I celebrate Easter in my old age with memories of music and memories of my daughters in pretty yellow outfits. I …
Years ago I wrote this story about getting a loaf of paska from my favourite cousin Katherine Penner. It was, in …
When I was just a boy of ten I walked to school each day A mile the path but hundreds then That …
One spring Diane Kroeker made the pigs of Deerbank Farm famous by getting their picture onto ABC’s Good Morning America show. She …
This morning I had a profound spiritual experience at Mass in the Roman Catholic church next door. I went to church with young …
Once when our children were young, I took them on a wildlife hunt through Whiteshell Provincial Park. We played a discovery …
There are many deer species in the world. They range from the familiar white-tailed deer which came to Manitoba a century …
It arrives like a ghost. You may be sitting beside your campfire dozing through a lazy summer afternoon when everything is …
We were driving along Falcon Lake’s south shore last year when suddenly Diane spotted a bird standing on the gravel shoulder. …
It’s quiet. You’ve walked through a garage to the back. Moments ago, even from the freshly shoveled front walk, you heard dozens …
One more year, the Day of the Dead Gone the woman who shared my bed Drifted away in November mist Gone the …
This dinner gathering was the first time Chloe, my great granddaughter, was with my extended family. She kept us entertained with her …
Today Anne-Shirley brought me to St. Boniface Hospital for yet another medical appointment, this time a lung scan with a Gamma Camera. …
Diane was hostess of “Follow Me”, a children’s TV show grown out of Trinity Television’s “It’s A New Day”. It was telecast …
An outstanding period in our family was the time when we had two bearded collies. The beardie is a great family …
Non-resistance is the distinguishing aspect of Menno Simons’ teachings. All Christian denominations have a way of finding God through Jesus …
Being a Mennonite in Manitoba is living in a microcosm of Mennonites worldwide. Around the world there are Mennonites in almost …
I have associated with Hutterites all my life. Although I never considered becoming one, I admired their communal life. I like …
The story of this famous dog found life in our family at bedtime. There’s a statue of Greyfriars Bobby in Edinborough, …
It’s a myth. Hummingbirds do not migrate under the wings of geese. I don’t know how the myth got started, but …
We were on another of our many trips to California, travelling across the southwest states along Route 66. We always visited …
Farmyard rules never bending Barnyard work never ending Do the chores ever tending Chickens and sheep, ever mending Fences to keep the …
The towering Alps reach high to the sky, Too tall for me, busy pursuer of life, to climb But my gaze …
Here on a hillside, quiet and serene I sit and wonder at the places I’ve seen And none compare to this solitary …
Here on the shore of Highwind Lake I dream away, hardly awake I sit and wait for a call from the loon …
She sits by the water and thinks of her daughters Jesus and John in the water you see keeping a date with …
My morning song is a song sung along The edge of a canyon rim. Starlight dreams become, it seems, My morning requiem. …
A loon will soon in June Send shivers up our spines Long lonesome wail, speckled tail Hysteric cackle in pines Calm lake …
At age of four you learned the way how not to stray When you were two …
In my search for church I heard the voice of God, Whispering in the pines. It took a while, I drove …
A mist on the moor is magic, brings tales of old that are tragic; tales that are fresh tales …
With the world the birds awake Tweety songs at dawn’s daybreak Birds flit by, slept the night through Owl finds a daytime …
Together that day, you and I Country cathedral, holy high Country cathedral Sunday morning Spell came on us quick without warning Needed …
I stand in the Alps, breathtaking view My restless eyes want something new I look up the Maypole, sky quite odd. Beyond …
It’s called a paradigm shift Our daily view of truth From mountaintop to valley below Questions from our youth We dance …
We were lost, me and my two cousins Paul and Harvey, they with guns and me with a camera. We were hunting …
I composed little songs for special occasions as they came up in life, from the birth of little people to Psalms I …
The United Nations Assembly has declared October 1 as the day to recognize older people. The theme is to help them adapt …
One of our favourite drives is along River Road from where it veers off Main Street north of Winnipeg to follow the …
In celebration of the 25th wedding anniversary of Helena (Wiens Kroeker) Dyck and Peter Dyck, a quilt cover measuring 7 feet wide …
My favourite recipe is Rice and Curry. I learned how to make it from my mother. She learned how to make it …
A significant phenomenon in retirement was Cousins Breakfast – CB for short. Started about 30 years ago by Margaret Kroeker and Ruth …
My interest in family history began with a lunch with my Dad, Peter A Kroeker, my aunt, Nettie Kroeker, and my uncle, …
This story is about the puppet show that never happened.. My two youngest grandchildren call her Grandma Angel. Once, not long ago, …
Grandma Angel in heaven was walking away from the Throne Room down Gold Street. She was looking for her friend Gabriel, who …
My favourite movie is “The Bucket List” starring Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson. Soon both will die, so Jack, who is rich, …
This afternoon I’m visiting my sister Mary. She lives in Donwood Manor in Winnipeg. She’s celebrating her 92nd birthday this month, September …
After Diane died, my friend Godfrey Mawejje said I should go to Uganda to teach kids in his Kalagala school how to …
When I moved to Winnipeg from Nebraska to become editor of Manitoba Moods, my cousins Willard and Betty Thiessen launched the It’s …
I financed my way through college working as a pizza cook at Del Monico’s in San Jose, California. The restaurant was popular …
We were on tour in Guatemala with 30 passengers in tow. A few of them were parents of students in the Outtatown …
I always said during my 38 years being married to Diane Dowling life would have been boring without her. She brought fun …
We went to Vita the second time on the spur of the moment. Chris was going to be away for an extended …
Being a reporter for the Brandon Sun was my first real newspaper job. I had been a night police reporter at the …
On the job I rubbed shoulders with smart clergymen. I have often mused that evangelical preachers find satisfaction in giving people their …
The horns I played, the French horn and the tenor sax, were a welcome extension of me everywhere I went. I brought …
Like Grandma Moses, I began painting at age 80. I started by enrolling in an Art Circle in the St. Matthew’s-Maryland Drop-in …
My father was a Gypsy, a nomad never happy with where he lived, so he moved from place to place. The one …
I’m a better writer than musician, but I got the job as Executive Director of the Winnipeg Music Festival. The president called …
I was editor of The Whiteshell Echo four years. During that time I had the privilege of driving often through the PreCambrian …
When I tell people about myself, I often say writing is my profession, but music is my passion. Theroughout my life I …
I played the French horn in Ben Horch’s Mennonite Community Orchestra every time he scheduled a performance, which was annually for about …
When I was five years old, I had rheumatic fever and had to stay home from school all winter. During that time …
I was visiting my friend Marguerite Manning in her Assiniboine Avenue office. She was telling me about a good time on one …
Nebraskaland Magazine was published by the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission. I was appointed its editor after working for several years on …
My singularly favourite professional project that I am most proud of is Manitoba Moods Magazine. It was published for three years under …
The last big health scare happened 100 years ago. It was the Spanish flu of 1918, the year my parents got married. …
My profession takes many forms from news reporting to writing in a diary. The image of a journalist has changed from a …
It was a special Saturday afternoon, October 5, 2013, when a guest speaker came to present the life of Johnny Cash on …
It’s the season of Autumn when the legendary Harvest Moon turns and burns bright orange in the southern sky – September 19 …
It is a glorious winter morning in Manitoba. The sun rose far south of where it comes up in summer. The wind …
My Easter journey this year followed a pattern of expansion in relationship. It started Maundy Thursday, continued Good Friday, and came to …
One spring I travelled by bus from Los Angeles, California, where I was finishing high school, to Amarillo, Texas. It was Easter …
I vowed long ago that I would never, in old age, bore friends with talk of my aches and pains and doctor …
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