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Here on Lake Hallie: In Praise of Barflies, Fix-It Guys, and Other Folks in Our Hometown
In these humorous and heartfelt essays, Patti See celebrates small-town life in Wisconsin’s Chippewa Valley. Featuring childhood memories of supper clubs, thrift sales, and cribbage games, as well as the midlife concerns that accompany having a son in the military, a parent with Alzheimer’s, and a private onsite septic system, See’s writing praises the quirky charm of her hometown and its people.
Growing up in the 1970s and 1980s as the youngest of eight children, Patti never imagined she’d stay in Chippewa Falls as an adult. Now, living on rural Lake Hallie just five miles from her childhood home, she has a new appreciation for all that comes with country living, from ice fishing and eagle sightings to pontoon rides and tavern dice. These brief essays—many of which were originally published in the Sawdust Stories column of the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram —establish that, above all else, it’s friends, family, and other folks in our hometown who provide us with a sense of belonging.
Growing up in the 1970s and 1980s as the youngest of eight children, Patti never imagined she’d stay in Chippewa Falls as an adult. Now, living on rural Lake Hallie just five miles from her childhood home, she has a new appreciation for all that comes with country living, from ice fishing and eagle sightings to pontoon rides and tavern dice. These brief essays—many of which were originally published in the Sawdust Stories column of the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram —establish that, above all else, it’s friends, family, and other folks in our hometown who provide us with a sense of belonging.
- GenresNonfictionMemoir
192 pages, Paperback
Published May 10, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
April 27, 2025
I don't read books of essays often, but when I do, I kind of love them.
I'd recommend this book of essays to anyone from Wisconsin or Minnesota. And anyone who's known lake communities, small town life, large families, or aging parents.
Patti See is also a military mom, kayaker, and nature noticer... these things made me relate a little extra.
I don't care for the subtitle. I think it does the book a disservice.
I didn't love the pandemic specificness of a couple of the essays, making them feel time stamped in a way that's still weird to me. But I enjoyed several. Really enjoyed Patti See's writing voice.
____________
Two people couldn't be together for seven decades without a little dysfunction. Nor could a family as large as ours not endure fallouts and feuds. I thought of Anne Lammott's "12 Truths I Learned from Life and Writing": "Families are hard, hard, hard, no matter how cherished and astonishing they may also be."
..bliss and devastation coexist in the world, as they always have.
Put away your watch when the sun is shining. Just live.
I'd recommend this book of essays to anyone from Wisconsin or Minnesota. And anyone who's known lake communities, small town life, large families, or aging parents.
Patti See is also a military mom, kayaker, and nature noticer... these things made me relate a little extra.
I don't care for the subtitle. I think it does the book a disservice.
I didn't love the pandemic specificness of a couple of the essays, making them feel time stamped in a way that's still weird to me. But I enjoyed several. Really enjoyed Patti See's writing voice.
____________
Two people couldn't be together for seven decades without a little dysfunction. Nor could a family as large as ours not endure fallouts and feuds. I thought of Anne Lammott's "12 Truths I Learned from Life and Writing": "Families are hard, hard, hard, no matter how cherished and astonishing they may also be."
..bliss and devastation coexist in the world, as they always have.
Put away your watch when the sun is shining. Just live.
Read
June 21, 202350: Here on Lake Hallie: In Praise of Barflies, Fix-It Guys, and Other Folks in Our Hometown by Patti See
I was on my way home--a wee bit reluctantly if being completely honest--from my first cottage visit of the season, about noon on the Tuesday after Memorial Day. It wasn't reluctance to return home but reluctance to leave my little paradise. I'd negotiated with the people at "home" for a longer stay, reasoning for safer travel Tuesday than departing Door County ON Memorial Day and at any time. Nobody absolutely needed me at home any sooner, the cottage was still available another night, and I'd been doing productive work, so I stayed one more night...all good.
(The beautiful and glorious story of the cottage and place will be told another time if you don't already know it, but as "they" say, IYKYK...and "Y" can understand why I was reluctant to leave.)
So earlier that day I had done my morning sunrise/tea/read/tea/write/tea/walk/write routine and cleaned up after myself, as well as for the next guest, while also moving out after a five-day stay. I got into my vehicle with some slow, deep sighs of goodbye for now to that place and space. And then I moved into radio service range just as WPR's Chapter a Day was beginning. That was exactly how and when I was first introduced to this book...through the essays entitled "Groundhog Wars," "Never Afraid," and "Man With Dog," as I recall...so maybe this was just the second day of the WPR reading of this book.
As soon as I got home from the cottage, then, and connected to the wifi, I put this book on hold at my local library. It became available for pickup just two days later, which was my last opportunity to check out books before flying out very early the following morning for a week of reading/scoring AP exam essays/reports...in Salt Lake City, Utah. I envisioned I would simply and enjoyably be reading this very book on the trip there, starting and finishing it in the two flights across country.
Indeed, I did pack it and had it ready to go, but it was not the first book I opened on the way, and I never moved beyond that other book the entire week, let alone any of the other five or so I'd packed, curating a sweet little to-read stack that I had packed, carted across country, and which then stood next to the "reading chair" in my hotel room all week awaiting my enjoying them all.
Then I was home again and already (June flies!) from the AP Reading, and I still hadn't finished the first book I'd opened on the trip there. But finishing that one, finally, I got to open this book this week. And I honestly didn't want to do much else the past couple of days but read, read, read...this book, in every single story or essay living a little with Patti See and her memories, her humor, her sweet storytelling. My little grandson, here each day, didn't exactly allow Grandma to just read her book while he did his own thing...except when that "thing" was taking good naps. And that he did...a couple of times.
I finished reading Here on Lake Hallie earlier this evening and in my happiest of situations: my husband and I each sitting outside on the deck, reading our individual books, silently but together, and enjoying the warm summer evening, birds singing, neighbor kids playing, life happening around us, but we two oblivious to it all, as we were individually enjoying our books. It was the perfect setting for finishing this lovely book. I wonder if See and her poet husband ever enjoy that same activity; I am inferring from what I did read that perhaps--both writers and I am presuming, then, readers, too--they do.
Here on Lake Hallie is wonderful. Its stories are relevant, relatable, accessible, engaging, thoughtful, and both heart- and memory-filled. The experiences conveyed come through vividly and clearly to me...and maybe because some seem so similar to ones I could tell, myself: parents and others teaching us to value other people's junk, recognize folks at local establishments and visit with them, maintain friendships, keep memories alive through storytelling and sharing, and more.
Patti See is a good writer. In all that she addresses here there is a lovely blend of description, humor, sincerity, memories and meaning, and all mixed well even when she's discussing the most difficult things, like her mother's Alzheimer's, then her mother's death, the writing of her father's obituary, and then her father's death. She brings a peace that has passed over all with understanding for her by reflecting on her past while bringing us through it to her present. This is simply a beautiful book.
Many of See's stories of growing up and rebuilding, through memories, her "home" place prompted me to easily ponder and connect, also, so many of my own. Feeling that we share several childhood experiences and that many of our memories match, it seemed we were simply in conversation, the two of us, while I read her book, about this shared past. See and I are just a year apart in age and so similar in some experiences and right down to a fondness for Tigger, of all Pooh characters, while different in others: she has seven siblings, and I have but one, for instance. It does not matter much that she grew up in Chippewa Falls, while I did in Green Bay. Though the book is about place as well as people and experiences, more is similar than is different.
This is a wonderful Wisconsin book...and also a really good book for anyone, anywhere. I think that everyone likely appreciates their home and family and all that makes them them. It causes one to pause and ponder, reflect upon their own experiences and favorably. I certainly enjoyed reading it.
I was on my way home--a wee bit reluctantly if being completely honest--from my first cottage visit of the season, about noon on the Tuesday after Memorial Day. It wasn't reluctance to return home but reluctance to leave my little paradise. I'd negotiated with the people at "home" for a longer stay, reasoning for safer travel Tuesday than departing Door County ON Memorial Day and at any time. Nobody absolutely needed me at home any sooner, the cottage was still available another night, and I'd been doing productive work, so I stayed one more night...all good.
(The beautiful and glorious story of the cottage and place will be told another time if you don't already know it, but as "they" say, IYKYK...and "Y" can understand why I was reluctant to leave.)
So earlier that day I had done my morning sunrise/tea/read/tea/write/tea/walk/write routine and cleaned up after myself, as well as for the next guest, while also moving out after a five-day stay. I got into my vehicle with some slow, deep sighs of goodbye for now to that place and space. And then I moved into radio service range just as WPR's Chapter a Day was beginning. That was exactly how and when I was first introduced to this book...through the essays entitled "Groundhog Wars," "Never Afraid," and "Man With Dog," as I recall...so maybe this was just the second day of the WPR reading of this book.
As soon as I got home from the cottage, then, and connected to the wifi, I put this book on hold at my local library. It became available for pickup just two days later, which was my last opportunity to check out books before flying out very early the following morning for a week of reading/scoring AP exam essays/reports...in Salt Lake City, Utah. I envisioned I would simply and enjoyably be reading this very book on the trip there, starting and finishing it in the two flights across country.
Indeed, I did pack it and had it ready to go, but it was not the first book I opened on the way, and I never moved beyond that other book the entire week, let alone any of the other five or so I'd packed, curating a sweet little to-read stack that I had packed, carted across country, and which then stood next to the "reading chair" in my hotel room all week awaiting my enjoying them all.
Then I was home again and already (June flies!) from the AP Reading, and I still hadn't finished the first book I'd opened on the trip there. But finishing that one, finally, I got to open this book this week. And I honestly didn't want to do much else the past couple of days but read, read, read...this book, in every single story or essay living a little with Patti See and her memories, her humor, her sweet storytelling. My little grandson, here each day, didn't exactly allow Grandma to just read her book while he did his own thing...except when that "thing" was taking good naps. And that he did...a couple of times.
I finished reading Here on Lake Hallie earlier this evening and in my happiest of situations: my husband and I each sitting outside on the deck, reading our individual books, silently but together, and enjoying the warm summer evening, birds singing, neighbor kids playing, life happening around us, but we two oblivious to it all, as we were individually enjoying our books. It was the perfect setting for finishing this lovely book. I wonder if See and her poet husband ever enjoy that same activity; I am inferring from what I did read that perhaps--both writers and I am presuming, then, readers, too--they do.
Here on Lake Hallie is wonderful. Its stories are relevant, relatable, accessible, engaging, thoughtful, and both heart- and memory-filled. The experiences conveyed come through vividly and clearly to me...and maybe because some seem so similar to ones I could tell, myself: parents and others teaching us to value other people's junk, recognize folks at local establishments and visit with them, maintain friendships, keep memories alive through storytelling and sharing, and more.
Patti See is a good writer. In all that she addresses here there is a lovely blend of description, humor, sincerity, memories and meaning, and all mixed well even when she's discussing the most difficult things, like her mother's Alzheimer's, then her mother's death, the writing of her father's obituary, and then her father's death. She brings a peace that has passed over all with understanding for her by reflecting on her past while bringing us through it to her present. This is simply a beautiful book.
Many of See's stories of growing up and rebuilding, through memories, her "home" place prompted me to easily ponder and connect, also, so many of my own. Feeling that we share several childhood experiences and that many of our memories match, it seemed we were simply in conversation, the two of us, while I read her book, about this shared past. See and I are just a year apart in age and so similar in some experiences and right down to a fondness for Tigger, of all Pooh characters, while different in others: she has seven siblings, and I have but one, for instance. It does not matter much that she grew up in Chippewa Falls, while I did in Green Bay. Though the book is about place as well as people and experiences, more is similar than is different.
This is a wonderful Wisconsin book...and also a really good book for anyone, anywhere. I think that everyone likely appreciates their home and family and all that makes them them. It causes one to pause and ponder, reflect upon their own experiences and favorably. I certainly enjoyed reading it.
July 25, 2023
Just the right amount of nostalgia for this Eau Claire native... It seems I could easily (and truthfully) tell many of the same stories subbing in my own family/acquaintances and a few different nearby place names. Thank you for the reminder that growing up in rural WI is something to celebrate and be proud of.
June 10, 2023
Listened to on chapter a day.
February 28, 2024
My favorite parts are about her family and various citizens and small town life. I was 0% interested in reading about COVID and the first few essays were a bit underwhelming. But the middle had some really touching, sweet essays, even though I think her obsessive need for conciseness rushes some of the stories too much. Still, all the stories about her folks were a delight.
January 6, 2024
Reading Here on Lake Hallie was an enjoyable return to the Eau Claire/Chippewa area of my youth and college days. The short vignettes were easy to enjoy a few at a time. Well written and touching in many aspects. It helps to know one of her stepsons. Whether from Eau Claire or elsewhere, her subjects of family, friends, loss of the same are universal and memorable. Highly recommend.
December 22, 2022
I had to renew this from the library. Some of the best memoir chapters (micro-stories) I ever read. Author Patti See returns to her home community on Lake Hallie in Chippewah County, WI. I savor just a few stories at a time, enjoying her humor one moment and then moved to near tears the next. Today, I read about her elderly father and her mother's funeral, her and her seven sibs and her father's dealing with all the feelings many of us also know by now too well. See's writings give me pause... I probably will have to renew it online one more time before I'm done. Meanwhile, a read about another novel, at the same time, once a week. This would be good for any book club. -- Finally finished this today, Dec. 21, 2022. Petty much read the whole last half today! The chapters/stories on her failing father as finally his passing are so tender. The one on all the siblings dealing with grief tigger fiercely at my heart. Think
I need a Linie's...
I need a Linie's...
May 18, 2022
See writes a charming collection of heartwarming and touching stories about growing up in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin and living along Lake Hallie. Her memories of her family are the most endearing. Her writing denotes a close knit community with good friends and an extended family. A regular town with good quality people.
Thanks to Edelweiss and the Wisconsin Historical Society Press.
Thanks to Edelweiss and the Wisconsin Historical Society Press.
April 7, 2023
How lucky for us Chippewans to have Patti to articulate the joy of growing up in a small town. When I know anyone tasked with writing an obituary, I refer them to Joseph See Chippewa Falls for inspiration. It was fun getting the inside skinny on the actual writing of it. Her HS creative writing teacher, Malcolm Mosing, would be so proud. Loved it. Love her.
September 27, 2023
Technically a collection of essays, but thematically a cohesive story that does not begin on page one and does not end on the final page. It is a log thrown on a long-burning fire somewhere on frozen Lake Hallie, a warm glow inviting you to sit down for a spell and enjoy a narrative that is generations old, and generations yet to come. Thoroughly enjoyed and recommend.
May 16, 2024
Captures the Wisconsin I Know
Having spent about 60 summer vacations in Northern Wisconsin, this book really captures the Wisconsin I know. I smiled and laughed often, and nodded in agreement. Pattie See is brutally honest about her life, and in her insights of those around her. A very pleasant read.
Having spent about 60 summer vacations in Northern Wisconsin, this book really captures the Wisconsin I know. I smiled and laughed often, and nodded in agreement. Pattie See is brutally honest about her life, and in her insights of those around her. A very pleasant read.
July 12, 2023
I really enjoyed seeing the Chippewa Falls area and Lake Hallie through the eyes of Patti See. and her take on her friends, family, and her community and learning some history along the way! Endearing.
September 4, 2022
I laughed. I cried. Then I laughed and cried some more. Loved this book!
November 11, 2022
Delightful!
January 25, 2023
Made me immediately go back in time to growing up in the 80s in another small town very close by . . .
March 29, 2023
I have always enjoyed Patti’s essays in the Leader Telegram. So reading her book was a good experience
August 18, 2024
Cute anecdotes with some nice wisdom thrown in.
March 15, 2025
Random vignettes about Wisconsin
June 27, 2024
What a lovely collection of witty, humorous, and heartfelt essays. There's beautiful friendships, fascinating history, the processing of death and grief, and a cast of diverse, enduring characters in settings that are all too familiar for this Wisconsinite. A true celebration of small town living!
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews