And here is the Wannaskan Almanac with Word-Wednesday for May 13, 2026, the nineteenth Wednesday of the year, the eighth Wednesday of spring, the second Wednesday of May, and the one-hundred-thirty-third day of the year, with two-hundred thirty-two days remaining. Wannaska Phenology Update for May 13, 2026 rhubarb Of species and hybrids (culinary rhubarb) of Rheum rhabarbarum in the family Polygonaceae — zhiiwibag in Anishinaabe — have just sprouted this week at Word-Wednesday headquarters. This is a happy moment, not only because the sprouts are a sign of spring, but because it has been such a dry spring. Even the marsh marigolds have been reticent this year. The word rhubarb is likely to have derived in the 14th century from the Old French rubarbe , which came from the Latin rheubarbarum and Greek rha barbaron , meaning "foreign rhubarb". The Greek physician Dioscorides used the Greek word ῥᾶ ( rha ), whereas Galen later used ῥῆον ( rhÄ“on ), Latin rheum. These in turn d...
I paid a lot of taxes this year. It would not surprise me to see the patriots lining up in Boston...not to play football but rather to dump some tea into the harbor. My home state has been particularly demanding this year. I have paid them an awful lot this past year, but in the words of Mr. Burns...they would trade it all for a little more. For once we did our taxes without cheating...just felt like saying that. We really have never intentionally cheated on our taxes. All of you good readers who we claim as dependents can trust my word on that! But...mistakes have been made. Transgressions of ignorance I like to call them. Just like I like to call tax workers ignorant transgressors. I think that might even be biblical. Our state's favorite Bible quote During Spring Break we took our usual vacation to the tax preparers office and were rapidly dispossesed of our nest egg. As a matter of fact, I believe th...