Wannaskan Almanac

Hello and welcome to a cool Saturday here at the Wannaskan Almanac. Today is August 8th. My big adventure last weekend was setting up a canopy tent I bought at Menards the prior weekend. I've been analyzing, calculating, and trying to woo the hubs into a 3-season porch renovation - heck, why not four seasons ?! - for at least two years. It's a tricky thing, wanting to put a porch on the upper level of a split-level home. So, we settled on a compromise. Instead of a spendy remodel, we'd test drive my fancy notion of rest, relaxation, and party-hosting inside a tent on our current deck. I got in on the ground floor of this investment/experiment for a reasonable $230. To celebrate, I added an outdoor area rug for another fifty bucks. I'm not sure if it's a result of getting older, or supporting technical higher education (Mechatronics) in my current job - maybe it's both - but, gosh, I grabbed that instruction manual with gusto and had at it. There were a few misha...

       People may die at inconvenient times for the living, but death is in priority class and will have its way. Our friend Catherine Stenzel died on March 18, right between the feasts of St Patrick and St Joseph, so the 18th will alway be St Catherine of the Forest Day.      Catherine had requested that her ashes be spread in her beloved Forest under a blasted and very old pine tree. The old friends who made up the spreading party could not get their acts together until May 17. Two months had gone by. Was Catherine's spirit hovering about anxiously? I doubt it. What's two months in the infinite sea of eternity?      Catherine did not request a celebration of life. That was for the living and that didn't happen till August 1, last Saturday, when most of the people who wanted to be there could make it.      The event began at 1:00 at the Shêdeau, the guesthouse at our place. Most of the people who came were from Joe Stenze...

      Bill Mason "Path of The Paddle":       

And here is the Wannaskan Almanac with Word-Wednesday for August 5, 2026, the thirty-first Wednesday of the year, the seventh Wednesday of summer, the first Wednesday of August, and the two-hundred seventeenth day of the year, with one-hundred forty-eight days remaining. Wannaska Phenology Update for August 5, 2026 Wild Red Raspberry Rubus idaeus —miskominin in Anishinaabe—is now ready for picking throughout Wannaskaland. Red raspberry is ubiquitous throughout much of Minnesota and frequently found along roadsides and hiking trails. Its fruits are readily and widely decimated by both birds and mammals, resulting in widespread seed dispersal. It establishes quickly from seed, after which vigorous and aggressive rhizomes often create dense colonies. In Anishinaabe tradition, miskomin means "blood berry", carrying teachings of resilience, gentleness, and women's health. The Raspberry Moon, Miskomini Giizis, rises in mid-summer when berries ripen, and this moon teaches that ...

And now, due to popular demand, here's more fractured history! 1265 Battle of Evesham: English Prince Edward (later Edward I) defeats baronial forces of Simon de Montfort, who is killed and his body mutilated.  The real question?  Is it Eve's ham or Eve Sham?  Pork or Phony?   1578 Battle of The Three Kings [Battle of Alcazar quivir): Moroccans defeat a Moroccan-Portuguese alliance in northern Morocco with 10,000 killed.  If I know anything about three kings it was probably caused by smoking a rubber cigar. 1598 London's Lord Mayor repossesses the Steelyard from the Hanze (German Hanseatic League) on instruction from Elizabeth.  Elizabeth was heard to have said "Unhanze my steelyard". 1693 Date traditionally ascribed to Dom Pérignon's invention of Champagne.  This is also known as reason number 599 on Steve and Joe's get up and drink list. Breakfast is served! 1753 21-year-old George Washington becomes a master mason.  They tried their best t...

                        THIRD MOVEMENT                    REMEMBERING   SONG SIXTEEN HUNTERS   III For a few more days I ascended the water’s path             sleeping near the winding stream when sleep would come             but bursting now with giddy knowing that soon              I would break through the upper walls and see the sun     Then one moment I turned a corner             and the burning light came flashing in             and I ran to meet the streaming sunlight           ...