Wannaskan Almanac

 My Almost-Yearly Chronological Almanac Entry for Thursday  1521  The first Roman Catholic mass in the Philippines was celebrated on the island of Limasawa. 1596  Born: French mathematician, scientist, and philosopher René Descartes, widely considered the father of modern philosophy. 1732  Born in Rohrau, Austria: Composer Joseph Haydn, one of the most important figures in the development of the Classical style in music during the 18th century. 1797  Died: Olaudah Equiano, abolitionist and writer, self-proclaimed West African sold into slavery and later freed.   1854  U.S. Commodore Matthew Perry signed the Treaty of Kanagawa in Japan ending that country's period of seclusion. 1855  Died: Charlotte Brontë, English novelist noted for Jane Eyre (1847), a strong narrative of a woman in conflict with her natural desires and social condition.  1870  Thomas Peterson-Mundy of Perth Amboy, New Jersey, became the first African American ...

And here is the Wannaskan Almanac with Word-Wednesday, March 30, 2022, the thirteenth Wednesday of the year, the second Wednesday of spring, and the 89th day of the year, with 276 days remaining. Wannaska Nature Update for March 30, 2022 Winter Attempts a Feeble, but Stinging Comeback Stand strong, Wannaskans! To the Thawing Wind Robert Frost Come with rain, O loud Southwester! Bring the singer, bring the nester; Give the buried flower a dream; Make the settled snowbank steam; Find the brown beneath the white; But whate’er you do tonight, Bathe my window, make it flow, Melt it as the ice will go; Melt the glass and leave the sticks Like a hermit’s crucifix; Burst into my narrow stall; Swing the picture on the wall; Run the rattling pages o’er; Scatter poems on the floor; Turn the poet out of door. March 30 Nordhem Lunch : Updated daily. Earth/Moon Almanac for March 30, 2022 Sunrise: 87:06am; Sunset: 7:51pm; 3 minutes, 35 seconds more daylight today Moonrise: 6:57am; Moonset: 6:05pm, w...

Satire is the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues.   Flatire is the result of nails, screws, or other sharp objects to puncture and deflate the rubber where it meets the road.   Not going anywhere soon... Parody is a literary or musical work in which the style of an author or work is closely imitated for comic effect. Bareody is a clothing optional orthodontist hip hop artist.  His hits include "Aces Needs Braces" and "I Crown Them All". Smile...you just made a dentist rich! A lampoon is a piece of writing or drawing that criticizes a famous person or a public organization in a humorous way, allowing their or its bad qualities to be seen and making them or it seem stupid. A hampoon is a special fork designed to extract that last piece of Christmas ham from the platter before anyone else gets it. They are all mine...

COMING CLOSE TO THE END OF WORDS We are using the translation of Beowulf created by Seamus Heaney . To his credit, he took responsibility for this poem, and turned it into something that regular people would want to read and enjoy. Who knew that a translation of a poem more than a thousand years old, about people killing dragons, could reach the top of the Times best-seller list? In the words of Andrew Motion, in the Financial Times, Heaney “made a masterpiece out of a masterpiece.” I have no doubt that Heaney grieved over some of the choices he had to make, but by his rules he had to act as an artist, create a new poem. This is the sacrifice always made in a “free” translation. To help those who could read Old English, he reproduced the original on facing pages. One day, fifty years after Beowulf's battle with Grendel's mother, a slave steals a golden cup from the lair of a dragon When the dragon sees that the cup has been stolen, it leaves its cave in a rage, burning everyth...

        Yesterday I launched into my 76th year. My life has been interesting to myself, but it would appear boring to others so I will write instead about the changes I have seen in my country. When I was born, Hitler had been dead less than two years. All of America's rivals were down. Europe and Japan were wrecked, Russia was reeling, and China was a land of half a billion peasants. America's factories, which had turned out unlimited weapons of war, switched over to consumer goods. The vets went to college, built houses and filled them with those consumer goods.    Our TV was filled with documentaries about how we had won the war, along with nightmarish films about the holocaust. On holidays the still young veterans marched in their uniforms, or watched from the sidewalk with a trouser leg pinned up. My grandfather taught me to put my hand over my heart when our flag went by.    The streetcar tracks were paved over and busses took their pla...

Hello and welcome to a Sweet 16 Saturday here at the Wannaskan Almanac. Today is March 26th. Yes, folks, your favorite Wannaskan Almanac Kid Writer-in-Residence (WAKWIR) turns sixteen today! Maybe I should start calling him the WATIR – Wannaskan Almanac Teen Writer-in-Residence. Or perhaps I should pass the job along to the Fourth Grader who still believes that a dollar a paragraph pay is a pretty good deal. If you’re a regular WA reader, you may have noticed that the current WAKWIR hasn’t been blogging much. His last post in which he shared the adventures of his 3 rd  annual camping trip with his dad was in October. He’s been telling me for a while now that he’s just too busy now to blog. Not only has he been busy logging driving hours and learning how to drive a manual transmission (not even The Oldest and Senior 2.0 know how to do this, so kudos to him), but he’s been really committed to his studies this year. (Who am I kidding? That’s mom fluff talk right there. He keeps his gr...

      Does everyone remember Emeril? Emeril Lagasse: restauranteur and cooking show star. When he adds a special ingredient to his dish he says bam! He calls it kicking it up a notch and invites the audience to take a swig of their beverage.    Emeril is based in New Orleans, but I liked him because he was born in my home state of Massachusetts. As a youth he was a good drummer. Maybe that's where he got his bam. He was offered a scholarship to a music conservatory but he went to chef school instead.    While Emeril has mastered Cajun and Creole cuisine, my specialty is pizza. My love of pizza goes back to the days when my brother and I would scrounge up a dime or ten pennies and visit the local hole-in-the-wall pizza joint run by real Italians. From Italy. We'd sprinkle hot pepper flakes on top of our slice, cut it in half, then run to the park to ease our burning tongues at the big water fountain.    I never considered making my own pizza. ...

  What A Ride! Reprint from THE RAVEN: Volume 2 Issue 1 February 1995     In December of 1994, at the Warroad Park, the people of Warroad were introduced to the sport of dogsledding by Millie Kuryliw and Brent Hakala, owners of Anarok Kennels of Middlebro, Manitoba. With their two teams of Alaskan and Siberian huskies, the Canadian mushers treated many people to their first experience on sleds pulled by dogs bred to do the work.     Many of the dogs had been owned by Pete Fugleberg, a Roseau County musher from the Pine Creek area below Minnesota Hill. Pete had sold Millie and Brent a couple of his sleds too, and helped them with their decisions about harnesses, tugs and tow lines -- and the best dog food to buy.     Pete and I have known each other for 12 years. He lead me into the activity by giving a dogsled ride, as a favor to me, to a relative of mine who was visiting from Mordiallac, Australia. Because Pete raises over thirty mixed-breed sled dogs...

And here is the Wannaskan Almanac with Word-Wednesday, March 23, 2022, the twelfth Wednesday of the year, the first Wednesday of spring, and the 82nd day of the year, with 283 days remaining. Wannaska Nature Update for March 23, 2022 WHOOO Me?   (another fabulous nature photograph by our neighbor in the forest, Pam Shaw ) March 23 Nordhem Lunch : Chicken Bacon Alfredo W/SALAD AND GARLIC TOAST Hot Hamburger Sandwich Minestrone Soup W/ CHOICE OF MEATLOAF SANDWICH, HAM SANDWICH, OR HAMBURGER Earth/Moon Almanac for March 23, 2022 Sunrise: 7:20am; Sunset: 7:40pm; 3 minutes, 36 seconds more daylight today Moonrise: 1:34am; Moonset: 9:57am, waning gibbous, 70% illuminated. Temperature Almanac for March 23, 2022                 Average            Record              Today High      ...

There was a commercial put out in the 1970's that examined how many licks it took to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop.   In my opinion, they should have had a chihuahua in that commercial.  Anyways, here are some verified quotes from famous people about chihuahuas. I don't think there is an animal that is less trustworthy than a chihuahua.  (Mother Theresa) My chihuahua will either bite you or lick you as a thank you for petting him.  (George Burns) Bite them all and let God sort them out.  (Luv, Kansan chihuahua) They may bite us on the ankle or the toe, but they will never bite us on the kneecap!  (Mel Gibson speaking about English chihuahuas in Braveheart) Blue paint used to confuse attacking chihuahuas He is just tired.  (Kansan chihuahua owner after her dog has bitten husband again) Being cute has saved him more than once.  (Same Kansan owner after dog has annoyed her) Cute, but that smile hides an evil heart He bit my toes and even st...

Beware the Dragon! Draw not thy sword, good warrior! But for the third and last time, Beowulf does anyway. Yes, the awaited third “monster” arrives, complete with legendary treasure. The second part of the story, set in Geatland, skips over the middle of Beowulf’s career and focuses on the very end of his life. Through a series of retrospectives, however, we recover much of what happens during this gap and therefore are able to see how Beowulf comports himself as both a warrior and a king. The period following Hygelac’s death is an important transitional moment for Beowulf. Instead of rushing for the throne himself, as Hrothulf does in Denmark, he supports Hygelac’s son, the rightful heir. With this gesture of loyalty and respect for the throne, he proves himself worthy of kingship. Beowulf’s third battle is with the Dragon, which takes place back home, in Geatland. The Dragon, who unlike Grendel and his mother, is less a monster than a symbol. He is not sad or weird or even pathetic. ...