Wannaskan Almanac

  Wedding Tree Trail         Seventeen years ago yesterday, December 31st, 2025, Jackie and I got married outdoors in the woods north of our house, in the company of several hardy friends. The photo captured our joy, our smiling faces, our rosy cheeks, and our breath in suspension on that unique afternoon when our many friends dressed in various layers of down parkas, wool bibs, canvas coats and jackets, stocking caps, choppers (mittens), and warm insulated boots to attend our somewhat crazy outdoor wedding. All but two of the guests dressed appropriately, having chosen to ignore the bold plea on the wedding invitation that said, “OUTDOOR WEDDING PLEASE DRESS ACCORDINGLY,” and so arrived wearing clothes only suitable for a traditional indoors church/hall wedding and an evening of exuberant dancing to a polka band. They were understandably optimistic as the day had started out at around eighteen below and had warmed up appreciably to minus five with a twenty...

And here is the Wannaskan Almanac with Word-Wednesday for December 31, 2025, the twenty-ninth Wednesday of the year, the second Wednesday of winter, the fifth Wednesday of December, and the three-hundred sixty-fifth day of the year, with zero days remaining.   Wannaska Phenology Update for December 31, 2025 Otawage-gookooko'oo It's that time of year — the great horned owls, Bubo virginianus  — now begin their duets as mated pairs set up nesting territories in forest areas. Beware all non-hibernating mammals, including smaller pets. The great horned owl is one of the earliest nesting birds in North America, often laying eggs weeks or even months before other raptorial birds. This species' eyebrow-like "horns" are tufts of feathers, called plumicorns . The great horned owl's song is normally a low-pitched but loud ho-ho-hoo hoo hoo (or also transcribed as bu-bubu booh , who-hoo-ho-oo or who-ho-o-o , whoo-hoo-o-o, whoo ) and can last for four or five syllable...

Wrapping Up the Year at The Wannaskan Almanac! Well, here we are at the end of another year! As the days get shorter and the cocoa gets hotter, it’s a great time to pause and look back at everything that's happened at The Wannaskan Almanac. First off, a huge, heartfelt thank you to all our amazing writers and, just as importantly, our dedicated readers. You’re the reason this strange little corner of the internet keeps spinning. We wish you all a truly wonderful, peaceful close to your year, and an even better, brighter start to the next one. May your eggnog be spiced and your winter socks be warm! The Big Questions of The Wannaskan Almanac This year, as every year, has been filled with the kind of content only we seem to offer. It always makes me wonder: How long can the Wannaskan Almanac continue? Seriously, how many more bizarre tidbits and non-rhyming couplets can we all handle? We hope for many more years, as long as you keep clicking! Why do people read the weird things that ...

I'd hit a milestone as a kid when I realized that holidays existed. It was marvelous. I would repeat the festive names to myself and tick them off on my fingers: Valentine's, Easter, Fourth of July, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Candy - how much of it, and the type - topped the criteria for which one was the best. On Christmas afternoon, we'd inhale our annual box of Whitman's. Little, squared-off, milk-chocolate-covered caramels and domed coconut balls were my favorites. Over time, certain candies became holiday fixtures. Somehow, ribbon candy always seemed to nudge its way into the house, most likely a gift from neighbors. Pretty, yes, but those hardened, stripy, fragile folds of shimmery sugar failed to win me over. Despite their flash and dazzle, they broke up too easily. Worse, they had sharp edges that hurt to eat. I always steered clear of the gross, purply-red, liquid-filled hard candies that fused together in my grandmother's cut-glass candy dish...

  The Palmville Globe Volume 1 Number 48 Man Finds Tradesman Joe McDonnell ,  78 and residing in Palmville Twp, Minnesota, was recently able to persuade a plumber to come to his home to do a minor repair. "Tradesmen are always busy building houses or replacing whole-house    electrical    and plumbing systems" McDonnell tells the press, "and understandably don't want to be running off for small jobs. My toilet was leaking at the base. Thirty years ago I would have tackled the job myself. I now have enough money to pay whatever a pro wants. The first guy on my list did not return my two voicemails. I called his emergency furnace-not-working number and he said he was too busy. The second guy said he could come sometime next Tuesday. I cleared my calendar. I thought the problem was with the wax seal between the toilet and the floor. The plumber diagnosed it as the seal between the toilet and the tank. He had an assortment of seals in his truck and an hour late...

Hello and welcome to the last Saturday of 2025 here at the Wannaskan Almanac by way of the ski slopes. Today is December 27th. The time has finally come for the annual Hruby ski trip. This year we are at Giant's Ridge ski resort. Today is our second day skiing here, and we have (including today) two more full days of skiing left. Oftentimes, we start planning the trip a few months in advance, always debating the following things: Where should we go skiing? Where should we stay? When should we go? How long should we go for? Should we do anything different?  To start off, the first question is always a debate between two places (besides Whitefish, where we went once): Lutsen Mountains Ski Resort or Giants Ridge Ski Resort. Both have their positives and negatives, and we usually compromise SOME aspect of our experience by going to either one. Lutsen objectively has better skiing because it has bigger hills and longer trails giving you a more traditional 'mountain' type ski exp...