What's in a name?

So, what’s with the blog name, you might ask.  Or you might not.  But either way, since I’m doing the typing here, you’re going to get an answer. 

To be honest, I was trying to come up with a good name for my blog that involved the word “run” or “running,” and that was also, best case, something of a play on words.  I even flirted briefly with trying to make the name snazzy, but quickly abandoned that idea.  I’m not that clever.

So, when the ol’ creative juices ran a bit dry, I turned the ‘r’ section in the great big Webster’s dictionary in my school’s library to see what turns of phrase might be listed there.  I came across several that would have been fine, but then I saw “run-of-mine.”  It immediately made me think of my grandfather, who used that expression frequently.  It means, basically, run-of-the-mill, or ordinary and plain.

My grandpa grew up in northern Minnesota, on the Iron Range, and many of his friends ended up working in the taconite mines and other related industries on “the Range.” *  Although he was, by most accounts, a run-of-mine person – he lived a quiet but strong and purposeful life, as most members of the “Greatest Generation” did – served in World War II, raised a large and happy family, with a ton of eventual grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

So, in part, the name is a small homage to my grandpa, who really taught me a lot about how to be a good person and live a good life.  It also works quite well, thank you very much, as homage to the manner in which I run, which is, well, very run-of-the-mill.

* Probably the other most famous person, apart form my grandpa, to be from the Iron Range is Robert Zimmerman, better known as Bob Dylan.  He’s from Hibbing, Minnesota.