Wannaskan Almanac

                                     The Gosling: Six years Old      Late night, June 3rd., 2020, my wife and I and four other people were gifted the birth of 'Virginia' in Minneapolis at a hospital we were not allowed to enter, during a time when protestors and looters stormed the streets setting fire to businesses; during the time the governor called in the Minnesota National Guard and more state-wide  law enforcement agencies than had ever been called to service at one time since World War II; I-35 and major routes were closed off surrounding the hospital; and a pandemic of mythical proportion stalked the most vulnerable people of the world.      My story could be exaggeration as I’ve been known to do on occasion, but as Mark Twain is to have said, “Truth ...

And here is the Wannaskan Almanac with Word-Wednesday for June 3, 2026, the twenty-second Wednesday of the year, the eleventh Wednesday of spring, the first Wednesday of June, and the one-hundred fifty-fourth day of the year, with two-hundred eleven days remaining. Brought to you by Bead Gypsy Studio , 101 Main Avenue North, Roseau, where you can get 50% off select Bead Gypsy bracelets through the month of June. Wannaska Phenology Update for June 3, 2026 Lilacs Abloom Syringa vulgaris — mamaandaamiinikaan in Anishinaabe — now flowers throughout Wannaskaland as another sure sign of spring and an herald of the coming summer season. Lilac stems from the olive family, Oleaceae , native to the Balkan Peninsula. Lilac branch ends can become fasciated: /FA-SHē-ā-dəd/ adj., showing abnormal fusion of parts or organs, resulting in a flattened ribbon-like structure. The flowers have a tubular base to the corolla — the collective term for all the petals on a lilac flower. June 3 Fickle Pickle ...

 Adulthood has a funny way of sneaking up on you. One day you’re a kid who thinks getting mail will be exciting, and the next you’re a full‑time crisis manager who pays for things you don’t want, maintains things you don’t use, and eats meals that haven’t been warm since sunrise. You wake up one morning and realize you’ve somehow become the designated responsible person in a world full of people who test your patience like it’s their spiritual gift. Half of adulthood is pretending you didn’t hear something ridiculous, the other half is deciding whether it’s worth correcting, and the rest is whispering “Lord, give me strength” into your coffee while someone asks you a question that could’ve been a Google search. Meanwhile, the bills never stop. They multiply. They evolve. They show up like jump scares in a horror movie. Electricity, water, insurance, subscriptions you swear you canceled—your mailbox becomes a haunted house you’re too scared to open. And while you’re juggling all tha...

She rinses black beans and pauses to watch them glisten in the strainer. Before opening the can, she had fished the tail end of a red onion off the fridge door, found it still firm, and, twack, enjoyed the crunch of her knife cutting the crisp pulp into a satisfying dice. Oil, a splash of lemon juice, a pinch of herbs, salt, pepper, a grabbed fork, whoosh, she settles into the soft chair by the window to eat her lunch. ​She never takes calm, clear moments like this for granted—times when she gets to savor the simple wonderfulness of life. In between bites of lemony bean salad, she looks around the room at clear, dust-free surfaces. But it’s not always like this. She’s just crawled out of a busy phase. This morning, she restored order to her house. Each tasty bite now feels like celebration. ​Yesterday, every surface — tables, bureaus, and counters — overflowed with debris. Weeks ago, mail piles had begun innocently enough - an envelope here, another stack over there. Weeks later, they’...

  The Palmville Globe Volume 2 Number 18 Man Becomes A Two Phone Operator  Joe McDonnell, 79 and a resident of Palmville Twp, Minnesota, recently acquired a new smartphone  which proved problematical. "A friend recently acquired a new phone which she disliked," McDonnell tells reporters. "The phone was offered to me at a low price and the money I payed was donated to a dog shelter. My friend loved dogs. I had my phone number switched to the new phone and that worked fine, but I couldn't move my apps, pictures, etc. to the new phone until I deleted my friend's apps and pictures from her phone. To do that  I needed her phone ID which   could not be located. Paperwork was sent to the phone's maker and while I wait for the ID to be sent, I'm operating with two phones, one as a phone and the other as everything else." McDonnell says he feels like one of those business tycoons who were always portrayed talking into two phones at once. "Or like a secre...

Hello and welcome to the last Saturday in May - and the start of summer vacation - here at the Wannaskan Almanac. Today is May 30th. This past week, we reflected on 2026 as our 20th anniversary living in Wannaskaland and 23 years since we returned to the U.S. Wannaska looks different than it did in 2006. The first thing I noticed is the absence of magpies. When we moved here, I remarked, "Magpies! Look at all the magpies!" This is especially memorable because magpies is one of a handful of bird species I can recall from my own sixth-grade science class with Mr. Hanson at Washington Middle School in Brainerd, MN. Mr. Hanson was diligent and patient in the pursuit of memorizing two things: our ornithological lexicon and timeless proverbs in the vein of "Good, better, best, never let it rest. Make your good be your better, and your better best." On the other hand, eagles seem abundant these days. Another memory I have is that of a warm spring. A very specific memory I ...