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October 1, 2019 The End of the Sesquicentennial

Welcome to the Almanac for October 1, 2019.  Today we are exactly one year past the much hyped sesquicentennial (I would not know that this word existed if it weren't for the writers of the defunct Raven and their infamous trip on the Pembina Trail) of the American release of Little Women.  Now that the celebrations have begun to die down we can take a serious look at this ground-breaking book. 
Little Women was a coming of age novel (originally written in two volumes) written by Louisa May Alcott.  The first volume was published by Roberts Brothers of Boston in 1868.   It was a smashing success.  Readers demanded to know more from the characters (who were loosely based on Alcott and her three sisters) so a second volume was released.  This second book was called "Good Wives" and it was also a success.  In 1880 the books were combined and rereleased under one title, "Little Women".
1880 Edition of Little Women
The books chronicle the lives of the March sisters (Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy) as they grow from childhood into adulthood.  The three major themes of the book are said to be domesticity, work, and true love.  If you haven't read the book I won't spoil it for you by handing out too many details.  Also, seriously...you haven't read this book yet?  What are you waiting for?  A sale at Amazon?
A final note on Little Women.  It is often considered the first in a new direction for Children's Literature (now called Young Adult Literature) as it is a realistic representation of life as opposed to a fanciful tale meant to teach morals.  There are morals to be learned from the book (such as the value of hard work) but it is different from prior children's literature due to the story producing the morals instead of the morals producing the story.
Since this is October (oct referring to ten in dog years) I thought it would be good to review the CB radio "10" codes, just in case you are out driving around Wannaska and hear 10-81 (a very important call) on your CB radio.  You can also do some decoding of exactly what truckers are saying here.

There are some codes that are specific to the Wannaska area.  For example, if you hear 10-211 that means that it is 10:50 AM, time to stop at Lee's and check your mail.
So dust off your CB radio, rediscover your handle, and hit SR-89.  Just watch out for bears.  I mean...not bears like police but real bears...like bears.  Not Baudette bears.  Just bear bears.

Comments

  1. CB codes are actually early day encrypted messages. Fortunately, we of the 21st century are now suspicious by nature and so do not immediately take such things at face value, seeing at once the referral to Christopher Walken's brother, coded 10-11: "Talking to rapidly."

    Rapidly Walken was Christopher's younger brother, as everyone knows, and just a year and a half older than Really Walken. Sadly, Christopher's oldest brother, Slowly Walken, five years his senior, was struck by a speeding car and killed, by, who of all people? -- his half brother, Power Walken, who hadn't been back to Jersey since he got out of prison two weeks earlier. Their parents, Fast & Quickly Walken, adopted a German immigrant they named Gustep Walken to fill the void, when of all things great and small, Quickly discovered she was pregnant. They named the baby Skip.

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