Wannaskan Almanac

Yesterday a niece and nephew of mine from Czech Republic both sent me this graphic through Facebook Messenger. Send this to everyone you want to wish a beautiful holiday. Friday, June 29th was the last day of school in Czech Republic. I enjoyed the kids' enthusiasm for starting summer vacation. The first day of sleeping in. No homework for two whole months. Next week, while we will be celebrating the Independence Day holiday stateside, Czechs get two holidays: Thursday, July 5th is St Cyril and Methodius Day and Friday, July 6th is Jan Hus Day . (And you thought we were going to have a long weekend holiday here in the U.S.) Click on the links about these feast days and you will get your daily dose of irony and a fascinating history lesson. A lot of fun facts here, folks! Over here in Wannaska region in the US, as you know, we are well into the throes of summer vacation. In fact, it was  Week #5 at our house. This week can be summed up in one word: Taskmaster. I cracked

Welcome to the Wannaskan Almanac for Friday.    In this day of crazy rulers, one of the consolations of history is that after doing a lot of damage these madmen usually bring destruction down upon their own heads. On this day in 1863, George Custer was appointed a brigadier general at the age of 23. This was fortunate for the Union for a few days later, Custer was to play an important role at the battle of Gettysburg, the turning point of the Civil War.    Custer was born in New Rumley, Ohio on December 5, 1839 into a large, close-knit family. He was named after a local preacher, his mother hoping he would enter the clergy. His later youth was spent living with an older sister and her husband in south-east Michigan, where he attended school. He taught school for awhile before entering West Point,  where he graduated last in his class with a record number of demerits.     In normal times his record would have relegated him to an obscure posting, but there was a war on. After his

Today marks the first year anniversary of my last day at the toy factory, and yesterday was my birthday. I don’t know which day was funner. I turned the oldest I have ever been to that point, and as my wife points out, this is my first day of my next birthday, which skewers thought as you might think. I have never been this old nor ever really thought about its impact on me in the immediate. I understand, sort of, how the human body ages and deteriorates in time, but it’s slower in some people than others I’ve observed, so this interests me. I have questions, but I know I am not alone.  “I don’t like retirement. What’s wrong with me?” is not one of those questions. I love retirement. I have several ‘life guide’ friends around me who are older, by even five days, to whom I look to for wisdom and life lessons because, of course, I respect my elders. I am blessed beyond reason. And too, I’ve always grown up with older people. My mother and father were older than me. So were my three sist

And here is the Wannaskan Almanac for Word-Wednesday, June 27, 2018, brought to you by the Roseau Pioneer Farm and Village. Yes, we're still here; and yes, turn at the old green wagon. June 27 is the 178th day of the year, with 187 days remaining until the end of the year, and 278 days remaining until April Fools Day. Earth/Moon Almanac for June 27, 2018 Sunrise: 5:22am; Sunset: 9:31pm Moonrise: 9:03pm Moonset: 5:09am, full moon Temperature Almanac for June 27, 2018               Average    Record   Today High          76             91          83 Low           50            37          55 June 27 Celebrations from National Day Calendar National Ice Cream Cake Day National Orange Blossom Day National PTSD Awareness Day National Sunglasses Day National Parchment Day June 27 Riddle From what 8-letter word can you remove one letter at a time, seven times, leaving all other letters in place, and still leave a word after each single letter is removed?*

It is the last Tuesday in June. There is a waxing gibbous moon. Sunrise will be at five twenty-two. I will watch it...will you? I tried...just couldn't keep it up. I was going to try to rhyme my way through this whole blog but I got bored. Plus it was seeming kind of lame. I mean June and Moon? Really? What am I? In second grade! Now before I get any hate mail, I am not against rhyming in the slightest. It is just that my attempt up there was pretty bad. One of the cool things about living in northern Minnesota (other than the temperatures) is that the days in the summer are really long. Sunrise today in Wannaska will be at 5:22 AM, while sunset will be at 9:30 PM. This gives us just over 16 hours of sunshine. Meanwhile, in Florida (the sunshine state!) sunrise will be at 6:30 and sunset will be at 8:27. Northern Minnesota actually gets two more hours of sunshine than Orlando! Now, before you run out to plant some orange trees in the Malung area, remember that wi

Okay. If you read Monday’s posts regularly, no doubt you noticed that last week and this, I broke a poem into two parts, the second part appearing today. I like writing long poems. In fact, I’ve been crafting an epic poem that runs over 200 pages, and I’ve been writing and revising for over fifteen years. This work may never be published, but what does that matter? Going forward, as time and inspiration permit, I’m going to try my hand at two, three, maybe even four-part works in this Almanac. This week’s poem is Part 2 of a two-part poem. The first part was posted on 18 June 18, along with background and introduction. So, with that I offer Part 2 of “Goose Walking.” Please “hronk!” if you like it. Goose Walking Part 2 (Part 1 of this poem appeared as week ago, 18 June) Only a few creatures partner for life – penguins, swans, the albatross but chances of a lifetime union, not so good with us Wolves and dolphins and these gray geese espoused all their lives

There's a bull in the china shop. I don't expect him to say he's sorry or show remorse for the mess he's making. I just want him out of the shop or at least hobbled till he leaves on his own. A son during your wars is worth three daughters. A daughter during your death is worth three sons, who are probably MIA anyway. Fish and guests both stink after three days. I didn't think this old saying applied to me until I became a host myself. Plato's cave has entertaining shadows, comfortable seats, and free food. I wouldn't dream of leaving.                                                                                                               @jmcdonnell123

Good morning and welcome to Saturday, June 23rd! Summer Vacation Week #4 was all about biking. In my neck of the woods, I'm known as that lady who bikes to town with her kids. My bike trailer is so old that the original bright neon pink and green fabrics have faded to pitiful shades of pig pink and celery. Nevertheless, our crew is easily spotted with our fluorescent orange helmets and neon green (or is it yellow?) construction vests. I'm of an age now when I no longer care how ridiculous we look. Safety first, folks. This was a big week for us. The 6-year old, who learned how to ride a bike last fall, made her first trek to town. Living about two miles south of our happy little village by the big lake, this is no small feat. Fortunately, she's oblivious to fashion, too, and had no problem donning an orange helmet. After accidentally pinching the sensitive flesh under her chin, we got the helmet sized just right. I put the baby (a toddler, really, but old names die

Welcome to the Wannaskan Almanac for Friday.    It was on this day in 1633 that Galileo was forced to deny that he believed that the earth revolved around the sun. He was sentenced to life imprisonment for heresy. This was was commuted to house arrest and he spent the final nine years of his life in his villa. He did some of his best work during this period.    Galileo was a polymath, which means he was smart about lots of things. It's impossible to list in this post all the scientific advances he's responsible for, but heliocentrism was not one of them. It was Copernicus back in 1543 who devised a solar system with the sun at the center. But Galileo championed it. The Inquisition studied heliocentrism and in 1616 said it was heretical because it contradicted the Bible. The professors in the Italian universities knew there was something to heliocentrism, but there was lots of debate about exactly how things worked.     Galileo was a professor of mathematics at the univer

What if you purchased a car, that in later reviews of it, several owners complained that one or more of the wheels would fall off, if you drove too fast? It would be a great surprise for sure and require an immediate call to the dealer to refute or substantiate those troubling statements. Assured as you have been all your life by American car design, you are dismayed to say the least that any one of them would market a vehicle, whose wheels would probably fall off at high speeds, or equally learn from them, that yes, given today’s limited attention climate, the possibility that the wheels may fall off your car is the new normal and everybody just accepts the risk as a common life experience. Today’s cars have a pretty good warranty. And although I’ve never heard of a situation that one or more wheels are commonly known to come off a particular brand of cars, I have heard of situations that, after wheel mounting at a service shop, the lugs had loosened and the wheel wobbled off when the

And here is the Wannaskan Almanac for Word-Wednesday, June 20, 2018, brought to you by the Roseau Civic and Commerce Association, Go Explore! Feels like home. June 20 is the 171st day of the year, with days 194 remaining until the end of the year, and 285 days remaining until April Fools Day. Earth/Moon Almanac for June 20, 2018 Sunrise: 5:20am; Sunset: 9:31pm Moonrise: 1:36pm Moonset: 1:46am, waxing gibbous Temperature Almanac for June 20, 2018            Average    Record   Today High       74            94          86 Low       49            28           58 June 20 Celebrations from National Day Calendar National Hike with a Geek Day National Kouign Amann Day American Eagle Day National Ice Cream Soda Day National Vanilla Milkshake Day June 20 Haiku Riddle One page on another dark stains in ordered patters knowledge bound together.* June 20 Notable historic events, literary or otherwise, from On This Day 1214 The University of Oxford receives its charte

Already June 19. One of the three benefits of being a teacher is the month of June. The other two are July and August. By this time of June I am comfortably settling into staying up late and sleeping in. For me, sleeping involves waking up at around 6:30 AM. I put on a pot of coffee and enjoy the coolness of the morning. Most days I watch the sunrise. It is a beautiful way to start the day. Sorry, I got off track there. Already June 19...why did I say that? It is about this time that I start to look at the calendar and note how many days I have before I go back to work. It reminds me to treasure each summer day and enjoy it to the fullest. Which brings us to the word of the day...ranunculaceous. If you are driving around Wannaska and find yourself studying some yellow flowers, you might be increasing your ranunculaceous knowledge. Ranunculaceous means having to with buttercups. Staring at a buttercup would be an awesome way to spend some time today. On to this day in h

When I was in grade school, I raised a flock of mallards, drakes, hens, and their ducklings. I had over thirty at once. If you read my poem, “ Ghost Flyers ,” you know that I grew up on an airport. A regional airline called North Central (later to reincarnate as Northwest Airlines) made a stop of two at that local airport where I grew up. Well, my ducks loved the little ponds tucked around and in between the runways. Typically, they flew over to the ponds and had their way. (No I didn’t clip their wings, and if you wonder why they stayed around, it’s simple: Free food and lots of it. Why fly away?) But as usual, I digress – as if this whole narrative isn’t a digression from this week’s poem. So, back to North Central. Now and then, the mallards chose to walk between the small ponds. Usually, there was no incident; however, on one particular day, a proud mama duck and half a dozen ducklings walked across the runway just as North Central’s DC-3 was taxiing in to drop off and pick up p