Wannaskan Almanac

Hello and welcome to a partly sunny Saturday at the Wannaskan Almanac. Today is August 31st, aka, the very last day of August. Tomorrow everything changes. Well, almost. Sunday will be weekend as usual. Monday is a holiday. And then everything changes. Kids across Wannaskan country played their first game of the season this past week, teachers headed back to their classrooms, schools held their open houses and, somewhere in between, folks scrambled to finish school shopping and summer projects before making that mad dash for that last getaway of the season. And I am absolutely in tears. I do not want summer to end. It shocks even me to type this. Usually, I'm the one counting down the days until the highly anticipated morn when I gleefully snap  the obligatory first day of school pic then give the kids a cheerful nudge and boot onto the bus before heading off to a celebratory breakfast - which I have organized - with other stay-at-home moms to bask in the glory and freedom of...

   Welcome to Friday with Chairman Joe.     Today in 1893, Huey P. Long was born in Winnfield, Louisisana. Long was a "man of the people" who took from the rich to give to the poor. Known as "The Kingfish," he often used dictatorial nethods to help the rich do their part.    Long's home town in north central Louisiana was one of the poorest places in a very poor state. Long grew up sharing the resentment of his neighbors towards the urban elites who ran the state. In those days there were only 300 miles of paved road in the entire state and only three major  bridges. The state's illiteracy rate of 25% was the highest in the nation and a poll tax kept many poor whites from voting, while the blacks were totally disenfranchised.    In high school, Long started a secret society to try to let the students run the school. This led to his expulsion. He got revenge by convincing  the townspeople to sign a petition which resulted in the pr...

Sven's New Avocation Part 1 "‘Lo?" "Yah Sven! Dis ‘ere’s yer neighbor, Also Bjorn Sveden. ‘ow ya been? 'aven't seen you fer avile." "Yah ...?"   "Vell, I vas vunderin’ if’n you’d be intrestad in doin’ some tractor drivin’ fer me and me dad, Bjorn Sveden. Ve lost our tractor driver Tracy vatsisname, to dat dam toy factory, truck drivin’ for dem, an’ ve need anudder driver, purdy quick. Ve vas t’inkin’ ‘bout you, mebbe?" Typical Palmville tractor "If’n you vas t’inkin’ ‘bout me, yer disperate I’m knowin’. Did everbody else say, ‘no’? Even me vife, dun’t t’ink of me for no yobs, cuz I’m retired you know. I verked meself into dis ‘ere state at da toy factory fer over t’irty’tree years til all I can do gud, iss drink tew Extra Stouts a night after five oh clock pee em, and vatch Youtube videos on me computer in dis ‘ere basement relivin’ me glory days as a fookin’ forklift driver, pardon me French, and ‘ere al...

And here is the Wannaskan Almanac for Word-Wednesday, for August 28, 2019, the 35th Wednesday of the year,  the 240th day of the year, with 125 days remaining. Nordhem Lunch: Hot Turkey Plate Earth/Moon Almanac for August 28, 2019 Sunrise: 6:35am; Sunset: 8:15pm; 3 minutes, 25 seconds less daylight today Moonrise: 3:51am; Moonset: 7:39pm, waning crescent 50% chance of rain tonight. Temperature Almanac for August 28, 2019                 Average           Record          Today High             74                   96                 70 Low           ...

Hi, it is August 27, 2019.  The moon is in the third quadrant of its final ellipsis before the virtual equinox.  I don't know what that means, but it sounds legitimate.  Maybe even a little smart.  Of course that all didn't even make sense.  Maybe I do have a career in politics. Today I will attempt to share some of the sarcastic things that I live with every day.  I am a sarcastic person.  I don't try to be...it is just that people always seem to give me so much ammunition.  I mean, I start out the day trying to be nice and polite and all that, but then someone does something or says something that screams out for a sarcastic response and...well, you know what happens then!  So here are some sarcastic thoughts for today. "When people ask me stupid questions, it is my legal obligation to give a sarcastic remark."  That one has saved my hiney in court many times!  I really bore this out with telemarketers many years ago.  I th...

The three characters in this segment of Song 7 appear to be on three separate trajectories. Or are they? Intuitions, naivete, and appetite (or not) for adventure all play a significant role in the unfolding of the plot. Relationships form and dissolve. Knowledge, dare I say wisdom is shared, believed, and rejected out of hand. In short, the plot thickens, as the saying goes. As you read, stay aware of motivations and desires, greed and honest caring. You may find this segment challenging in that none of these dynamics are particularly clear at this time. But wait. The next segment will make all things clear. The fourth and final segment will be posted on 9 September. Hold on to your oars! We finish our gathering and start back “Some plants and flowers make good medicine,”             she tells me as we walk.  “Yarrow is good             ...