Wannaskan Almanac

And here is the Wannaskan Almanac with Word-Wednesday for March 11, 2026, the tenth Wednesday of the year, the twelfth Wednesday of winter, the second Wednesday of March, and the seventieth day of the year, with two-hundred ninety-five days remaining. Wannaska Phenology Update for March 11, 2026 Scurries On Their Way Tamiasciurus hudsonicus  — ajidamoo, in Anishinaabe — is one of three tree squirrels species classified in the genus Tamiasciurus , known as the pine squirrels, the others being the Douglas squirrel, T. douglasii , and the southwestern red squirrel, T. fremonti . Also known as the pine squirrel, piney squirrel, North American red squirrel, chickaree, or boomer, ajidamoo defends its territory all year round, feeding primarily on pine cone seeds, and this time of year bearing kits. The collective noun for red squirrels is scurry. March 11 Fickle Pickle Wednesday Menu Special : Potato Dumpling March 11 Nordhem Wednesday Lunch : Updated daily, occasionally. Earth/Moon A...

Story Two of a Small Town If the gravel road was the nervous system of Walnut Bend, the railroad tracks were its spine—long, rusted, and indifferent. The tracks ran parallel to the road, just a stone's throw behind Earl’s general store. They didn't stop for us, of course. There was no station, no platform, and certainly no reason for a conductor to pull the brake. To the folks in the engine, Walnut Bend was just a four-second blur of a leaning silo and a single gas pump. But to me, those trains were the only way we kept time. In a place where the sun felt like it stood still for hours, the trains were our mechanical heartbeat. They came three times a day, plus the one that ran in the dead of night. The first was the 10:00 AM. It was usually a freight haul, heavy with coal or timber, moving slow enough that you could feel the vibration in the soles of your boots before you could see the smoke on the horizon. If you were standing in Earl’s buying a soda, the cans on the shelf wou...

Until March 20th, when Spring officially arrives, winter reigns, and walking around DC these days means wrestling with the season's obstinacy. Dribs and drabs of piebald snowpack laze on random street corners. Patches of sopping grass slow me down as I pick my way through sidewalk gardens. Mud - late winter's final insult.  And I caught another cold. Or was it the six cats in the house we toured last Sunday? Whether virus or dander, my nose is running again. Another seasonal offense, and it makes me mad.  As does waking to another grey day. We’ve had an intrusive string of them: foggy skies from constant rain, our two rivers, and the warmer spring air sneaking in.  For me, tea is one defense against the dregs of winter, so I make another cup and sit down to reflect. Winter is not the only thing that’s getting me down. Back when we concocted the idea of a temporary move, we’d been feeling stuck in our old house and were overdue for a change. Friends were entering tiered ad...

  The Palmville Globe Volume 2 Number 6 Checkout Control Center Named For Store Employee  Joe McDonnell, 78 and residing in Palmville Twp, Minnesota, recently noticed his longtime self-checkout assistant had not been in his usual place. "I always use self-checkout because I hate waiting in line," McDonnell tells the press, "though I question whether I'm saving any time, because I invariably do something that locks my screen and triggers the flashing yellow light over my checkout station. Most of the time it's Leon who fixes my problem. Over the years I've gotten to know Leon, a short, trim man who used to drive semis, has a summer place at the lake and lives in the trailer park next to the store. I haven’t seen Leon lately and Justin, another asssitant, told me Leon had retired and moved out west with his son. I asked Justin if Leon had quit because he didn't like the newly installed control center screen on which assistants    can now fix problems withou...

Hello and welcome to a Boys State Hockey Championship Saturday, here at the Wannaskan Alamanc. Today is March 7th. This past week, I watched the movie F Valentine's Day , in which the main character talks about her love of the Raiders football team. "Ride or die!" she exclaimed to the guy who started the scene wanting to steal her wallet, then ended with the two of them doing the secret Raider handshake. With this being the week of Boys State Hockey, I totally get this sentiment. Loyalty and nostalgia for a favorite sports team abound in this season. SuperBowl, Olympics, Final Four, March Madness, and high school state championships. It's an exciting time. It's an emotionally charged time. These ultimate face-offs make normally sane people paint letters on their bellies, creating human billboards that shout, "TEAM USA!" Face painting and temporary tattoos of mascots and coloring hair, and, of course, big handmade signs declaring love, affection, and loya...