Wannaskan Almanac

Twas New Year's Eve On the banks of a frozen river We'd each had a few drinks Not enough to damage our liver We were chatting and making merry Till the wee hours of the morn And then in a stroke of weakness The Wannaskan Almanac was born Most figured it would only last Until we'd sobered up from our beers But today we reach a milestone We've been writing for a good 6 years! And though it has been so long And Hot Coco is never inspiring Here we are still writing each week With only hourly talk of retiring On we go with our weekly scribbles Our egos is what we are feeding It seems like a big waste of time Since no one else on the web is reading! How much longer can we keep this going? How many words can we keep on writing? Even those who are closest to me Say my writings no longer exciting! We have overcome so much already Writing weekly is much to admire And here within the very last year We survived the Great Wannaska fire! But I do have to admit that I like it I am wri...

Jim and I had just arrived in Massachusetts when I wrote my post about my jumpstart on Christmas. The last two weeks have flown, and we are facing New Year's Day on Wednesday. But, before I confront the demands of marching forward into the future, I'm leaning back and breathing in all the many satisfactions of the last few weeks.  Although you Minnesotans might think it strange, cold weather is one of the reasons we like to go up north during the holidays. Because cold weather requires proper clothing, one of the first things we did was hop in the car to thrift. Triumph is the word to describe the fun of finding nine-dollar puffy jackets, five-dollar plaid shirts, and snow pants, new with tags, mind you, for an equally low pittance.  Once correctly geared up, we were almost ready for the big day, but first, we had to take care of the birds. The nice man at the local seed store gave us a tutorial on the latest feeders, and we treated ourselves to a top-of-the-line gizmo guara...

      Welcome to International Squib Day, which falls every year on the Sunday closest to New Year's Day and which was instituted by the  Wannaskan Almanac  to celebrate all things squibby- all epigrams, aphorisms,  bon mots , all maxims, dictums, words of wisdom, and pithy sayings.     I've been a fan of proverbs ever since Sisters Eubestrabius read to us from the book of  Proverbs  in fifth grade.  Don't argue with the stupidity of a fool. You'll only look foolish yourself.   Next year when sister thought we were mature enough, she read the book of  Ecclesiastes  to us.   There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of later things yet to be among those who come after.   "Sister Eubestrabius? I said. "Since everything is Vanity, shouldn't we go have fun while we can? What's the point of school if everything's going to be forgotten?" Sister referred to the quote from...

Hello and welcome to a birthday Saturday here at the Wannaskan Almanac. Today is December 28th and the LAST Saturday of 2024. Today is The Oldest's birthday! We continue to steep ourselves in the holiday spirit and family togetherness. No family is perfect, so before you get tempted to put us on a pedestal, please know that we're much more like the Hecks in The Middle than the Donahues. Rest assured, there have been moments of arguing and tears. Fortunately, each day is a gift to begin again and a choice to keep spending time with each other. Today is also the last day that our whole crew will be together, so, we will try to do so with grace and wholeheartedness, knowing that the time has been far too short instead of too long. We wish you all a Merry Christmas and an abundant 2025. See you in the new year!

    Bits and bobs is what they call collections of small items in England. Bits and bobs is what I gather on trips to Europe. I like refrigerator magnets. Also postcards and medals of saints. Things that won't make my suitcase any heavier.      I also end up with my memory full of bits and bobs which once home I try to put together like pieces of a puzzle. I think this is why I travel- to gain insights while seeing the world from a different angle.      It helps to talk about what I’ve seen, but an acquaintance bumped into in the grocery store can only spare so much time. Their kids are waiting for dinner, or so they say.      It’s better to flip through my hundreds of trip pics and embody my thoughts in the form of a blog post.      Allerlei dingen  is what they call bits and bobs in the Netherlands.    I wondered while walking around Amsterdam why the city felt like such a human place. For one thing t...

  A Christmas Wish Epic from 1995 a year after the origination date of December 23, 1994 of THE RAVEN: Northwest Minnesota’s Original Art, History, & Humor Journal   A year has passed since December 23rd Snow underfoot, loud crunches could be heard As I walked to your porch  in the dark that night Fredrica, the guard dog  laid waiting to the right She leaped from the shadows,  white fangs agape Christmas or not, no strangers she’d take No sales personnel from the Avon Store No Christmas ‘Round The World, She couldn’t take it anymore From ‘tweenst my eyes a blur did I see A loud growl, a loud GRRR, scared the shit outa me I was too scared to run, too old to fight If I could’ve, I would’ve  long through the night. We’d awrestled and rolled, ‘cross the snow, down the bank O’er the edge, on the ice, through a big hole we’d sank ‘Neathe the water we’d fight, n’er a breath we’d take Not her, not me, nor if our lives at stake We’d awrestled to Roseau, poppin’ ...

And here is the Wannaskan Almanac with Word-Wednesday for December 25, 2024, the fifty-second Wednesday of the year, the first Wednesday of winter, the fourth Wednesday of December, and the three-hundred sixtieth day of the year, with six days remaining.   Wannaska Phenology Update for December 25, 2024 Snowy Owl Nyctea scandiaca , generally nests in the arctic tundra in northern Canada and Alaska, but during hard winters, this large, white raptor comes to the tropics of northern Minnesota to hunt voles, mice, and other small animals. Snowy owls stand about 22 inches high with round heads, no ear tufts, and a black beak standing out on a white face and white to speckled body — depending on the bird. Snowy owls hoot during the nesting season but are otherwise silent. December 25 Fickle Pickle Wednesday Menu Special : Potato Dumpling December 25 Nordhem Wednesday Lunch : Updated daily, occasionally. Earth/Moon Almanac for December 25, 2024 Sunrise: 8:16am; Sunset: 4:32pm; 25 secon...

 What do January 23, February 22, March 21, April 20, May 19, June 18, July 17, August 16, September 15, October 14, November 13 of this year and today all have in common?  They all add up to 24-24.  Today is 12+12 of 24.  Have you prepared for this anomaly like you did for Y2K?  I hope so.  Just to be safe I have removed the batteries from both of my vehicles and have covered myself with a mixture of honey and mustard.  I suggest you do the same. Oh yeah, I almost forgot...it is Christmas eve.  If someone would pick me up and give me a ride to church tonight it would be swell.  For some reason my cars won't start.  Hopefully you don't have leather seats or mind the smell of honey and mustard. In an attempt to not ruin your Christmas Eve, I will leave you with some AI generated pics...enjoy! Merry Christmas!