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Summer Shorts

One of the things I notice lately is that when I wake up full-tank-ready for the day, by three or so, I need to refuel. Yesterday, I stretched out on the couch, put on a podcast, and zonked out immediately. I never used to take naps. ​I was just about to take one the other day when it started to rain. At first it seemed I could let the windows stay open, but it was a deluge. After I scurried through the house to shut them all, I followed up with rags to wipe the wet sills dry. By then I wasn’t sleepy anymore. Throughout the night, rain came and went. Pound. Quiet. Pound some more. Quiet. In between downpours, the wind took over and I listened. This morning, as I waited for my tea, I opened the door, stood on the stoop and looked straight up through the trees. Then, with a start, walked to check the garden.  ​When our small vegetable patch started to wake up early this spring, we found 13 or so volunteer tomato plants. I transplanted them by sinking them deeply into the ground. Afte...
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Sunday News

  The Palmville Globe Volume 2 Number 26 Man Finds Missing Chair Joe McDonnell, 79 and a resident of Palmville Twp, Minnesota, recently found a chair he thought he had left in a parking lot. "My wife and I recently volunteered to sit at a booth at our county fair to provide information about an organization we support. The booth had a table with information and we sat behind the table. The chairs at the booth were those slouchy beach chairs and were too low so we loaned the booth two folding chair from home. Someone else brought a folding chair so I took one of our chairs home. When I got home the chair was gone from the back seat. I thought I must have left the chair in the parking lot and pictured it being run over. I was about to drive 16 miles back to the fair when I thought to check the trunk and was relieved to see the chair lying there." In a later communication, McDonnell says a friend brought their other chair to them after the last shift at the booth. "The chai...

Funnel Cakes & Fireballs

Hello and welcome to a post-county-fair Saturday here at the Wannaskan Almanac. Today is July 25th. Next Saturday is already August, but let's not talk about that. This morning, folks are either sleeping in after a week of adventures at the Roseau County Fair, OR are up and at 'em cleaning up. From Tuesday to Friday, I worked both a booth and a few 4-H shifts, so got to see the fair from all the angles. From the 4-H side, it looked like project submissions were up, all of which received appreciative oohs and aahs by the onlookers strolling through the rows. A dad lamented that his girl's best-selling chocolate chip cookies only got a first-place ribbon instead of a grand champion. "She sells out every week!" I, myself, a self-proclaimed chocolate chip cookie-baking expert, offered to do my own assessment. I noted the browned edges, recalled my own second-place ribbon experience (because, really, even though the blue ribbon is called first place, we all know grand ...

My World Cup

     When I heard a few years ago that the World Cup Tournament would be in North America in 2026 and that several of the games would be in Boston, I realized this would be my best chance to attend a World Cup game. A year and a half before the tournament, I checked ticket prices. The first tickets I found were for $1,000 each, but as I dug deeper I found tickets for as little as the cost of a Taylor Swift concert. Still a rip-off, but it would be a once in a lifetime experience. Of course I did nothing. I'm just a casual soccer fan. I don't really get "the beautiful game".    I take an interest in soccer every four years during the World Cup. I root for the underdog until they're knocked out, then I follow the next underdog, especially if they upset a kingpin team. Of course I want the US to do well, also Sweden because we have relatives in Sweden. Cousin Tobias in Stockholm gives me the true fan's point of view.    My first underdog to root for was t...

Thursday July 23, 2026 The Natural Shape of Things

(RIP Jerry Solom August 23, 1945- July 23, 2026 )   The Natural Shape of Things      "Ugh, I’m getting too old for this. I took a good kick to the chin--and then he ground me into a tree. ... I think all my teeth are loosened.   "I know what you’re saying. My ribs and hips hurt. They ain’t been right since the last moose we took down. At our age, we’ve got to find smaller slower food to eat. Let them pups find out what food really costs.       "I’m fed up with having to do all the work, take all the punishment, trot miles back to the den site just to regurgitate all the best stuff for those lazy bastards. All they do is lay around the den all day on their bones. By their age we were running with the pack, doing our share ...   "Yeah but, back in the day, there were more reliable food sources. We didn’t have to hunt so hard. We were protected ...    "Protected? From who? Only those who wouldn’t have shot at us any...

Word-Wednesday for July 22, 2026

And here is the Wannaskan Almanac with Word-Wednesday for July 22, 2026, the twenty-ninth Wednesday of the year, the fifth Wednesday of summer, the fourth Wednesday of July, and the two-hundred third day of the year, with one-hundred sixty-two days remaining. Sponsored by Bead Gypsy Studio and Scandinavian Shoppe , donating 50% of jewelry sales to our local ALS Fund now through July 25, 101 Main Avenue North, Roseau. Wannaska Phenology Update for July 22, 2026 Lluebead Bily As a phenological and safety notice, Clintonia borealis — godotaagaans, in Anishinaabe — is now bearing its blue fruits in Wannaskaland. The term "bluebead" refers to the plant's quite toxic small blue spherical fruits, a quite striking feature. If you're inviting friends up here in the middle of nowhere to pick blueberries, please show them the difference between blueberries and godotaagaans. Fortunately, the taste of bluebead lily fruit is unpleasant. Other parts of the plant have medicinal val...

Wannaskan Almanac for Tuesday, July 21, 2026 When It Rains It Pours

What a rough 24 hours.  The date was June 11.  I remember it like it was today, mainly because it is today.  So yeah, I write my blogs in advance.  Please don't think any less of me!  Or any more.  Just think of me like you always have! It started out the day before.  I was flossing before going to bed.  For that I blame my wife.  She started me on flossing a couple days after we got married.  As I was flossing one of my crowns popped off and shot across the room.  I found it, but at the time I was 1000 miles away from my dentist.  This meant I was going to have to wait a couple of weeks before I could get it repaired.  So I spent the night a little less toothy and a lot more disillusioned.   The next morening I was thinking of going fishing but the weather was calling for rain.  I have heard that fish bite better in the rain but I am so sweet...like sugar...and I am afraid that I might melt.  So I deci...