Wannaskan Almanac

  My bandwith is as wide as ever; there’s just less stuff being broadcast on it.  There are so many things in my wheelhouse that I can no longer find the wheel.  Three quarters of Americans are overweight. How about a law that no one ten per cent over their ideal body weight can vote; Congress exempted of course.  If no one listens to you then write a book.  If no one reads it, you’ll at least have a nice doorstop.   Wisdom enables us to discern which of our intellectual betters is solid and which is a looney.  The Republicans hold the keys of the kingdom and a two year lease before the people ask, “Why is this door locked?” AI is creating a picture of me that others might recognize but that is totally foreign to my selfie.  The person torturing you on the rack does not want you to tell the truth. Rather, he’s trying to get you to believe his lie. 

Hello and welcome to a post-Thanksgiving Saturday here at the Wannaskan Almanac. Today is November 30 th . Thanksgiving was pretty mellow at our house on Thursday. With no shops open, we snuggled in for the day with the first order of business: sleeping in. Our official Thanksgiving celebration is today, so the actual holiday felt more like a regular Saturday, which means two things: laundry and cooking. “I just want to make sure we’re on the same page about Thursday,” I said to my husband Tuesday night while parked outside of the grocery store. It was a good thing I called, because we were not on the same page. While I was envisioning a low-key day of staying out of the kitchen - stringing a series of simple  meals of peanut butter and jelly, bread and butter, salads and lentil stew together in order to work on house projects, my husband shrieked, “What?! No turkey! What about potatoes? What about a meal? What are WE going to have???!” Our expectations out of alignment, I gr...

    Who hasn’t wanted to visit a city built on islands with canals for streets. I do. Well my time to do it has come. Venice is sinking as am I. Teresa and I kept talking about Italy until finally we heard about an eight day bus tour to the big three: Venice, Florence and Rome.    I’ve always been death on tours, wasting time waiting for a bunch of strangers while being bossed around by a tour guide. I tried to forget the negatives and look on the bright side. Someone else would take care of the stressful details and we'd meet some interesting people.   We flew first to Amsterdam, another city of canals. We had always wanted to see Amsterdam so we spent three pleasant days there recovering from jet lag.  On the train to the airport to fly to Venice on November 15, Teresa discovered her suitcase handle wouldn’t go down. There was a convenient luggage shop at the airport and Teresa made the swap on the shop floor. The shop recycled her broken down suitcase. I...

  To A Sandridge Settler By Helen Tobin Holcomb 1922-2016 Brave hearted men and women Left their homes afar, Each for a reason of his own To follow the bright North Star The wagons rolling northward Carried their needs—and less With tools to cut and hew a home Out of the wilderness. Drawn by a yoke of oxen Or a team of rugged draft Followed by sheep just newly sheared And a cow with her heifer calf. A crate of squawking laying hens, A pen’d up pair of shoats, A walking plow roped to the side And a canvas bag with oats. Taking the bare necessities, Frills they will not know But tuck’d in the folds of a comforter Is a shining fiddle and bow. Cursing mosquitoes, they inched their way Thru the mud of the dim blazed trail. The women prayed as they drove the teams, And hushed the children’s wail. Worn and ragged and weary, They reached the wilderness Where they would live and build their homes And they prayed for God to bless. Bedded down ‘neath the wagon The mosquitoes hum’d like a band...

And here is the Wannaskan Almanac with Word-Wednesday for November 27, 2024, the forty-eighth Wednesday of the year, the tenth Wednesday of fall, the fourth Wednesday of November, and the three-hundred-thirty-second day of the year, with thirty-four days remaining.   Wannaska Phenology Update for November 27, 2024 Somebody’s Grateful for the Snow Until just two days ago, it was tough going in snowless Wannaska Lepus americanus , otherwise known as the snowshoe hare, because Mother Nature just wasn’t providing the necessary background for their winter coats. November 27 Fickle Pickle Wednesday Menu Special : Potato Dumpling November 27 Nordhem Wednesday Lunch : Updated daily, occasionally. Earth/Moon Almanac for November 27, 2024 Sunrise: 7:51am; Sunset: 4:32pm; 2 minutes, 3 seconds less daylight today Moonrise: 4:08am; Moonset: 235pm, waning crescent, 12% illuminated. Temperature Almanac for November 27, 2024            ...

When I retire I want to go somewhere secluded A special place Where the wind blows  And it is all you hear Where the rain falls Pure, unadulterated, fresh Where no cars drown out the sounds of birds Where no arguing couple disturbs the sunset Where no street lights steal the night sky Someplace where I can paddle my boat And hear the waves as they rock me to sleep I don't care if I catch fish Even if I starve Because my stomach won't ache As much as my ears do now I want to breathe clean air And drink pure water That is all I want

 Originally published June 03, 2019... Significant prior people depart from our lives. Some remain. Still others, new to our circle, appear. This segment comes on the heels of Jani’s departure, the teacher’s presence, and Hart’s new place in the protagonist’s life. Bringing the old (the teacher) and the new (Hart) has its risks. Relating to the “old” means facing the possibility that the long-standing relationship will overshadow the new, or that shared history will leave the newer member out. Perhaps, this is worth considering in our own relationships. As for the italicized sections this time, think of them as day-dreaming and meditation, both in a youthful sense. Hopefully, such sections add interest to the story, and also assist in exploring the inner life of our main character. Much to be learned in these passages about life on the other side of conventional reality – a place worth visiting frequently. Formless ideas emerge. Dreams become concrete. Insights arise. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~...

  The strangeness of dreams is a reflection of how crazy the universe is. While awake, we tell ourselves the fiction that it all makes sense.  It is bracing to read the dictionary, to contrast the precision of the word-book with my own vague approximations.  It’s amazing that all eight billion paths of salvation lead to one narrow gate, though according to Jesus it won’t be crowded there.   The pig undoubtedly dislikes the slaughterhouse experience, but in his place I’d be thinking, get it over with; I have no quality of life back at the factory farm.  Even the most stoic pig will squeal at the butchers.  The most difficult public service job to remain friendly at: motel check-in clerk.  Government is the nanny who prevents the libertarian from cutting down the last tree and catching the final fish.  Humility is absorbing the depressing news about how less than perfect we are while still, after some hesitation, saying yes to God’s mission impossib...

Hello and welcome to a still-no-snow Saturday here at the Wannaskan Almanac. Today is November 23rd. It was Wednesday. Mom left on a long journey for a week. It was really hard not having her around. We had to go through the week trial of onion and meat ONLY because that is what we had to eat by my dad. We also had some homemade french fries which were good. We also had some hot dogs with jalapeno and cheese in them, which were also really good. Wednesday: We came home from church school to see no mom. She had traveled a long journey to the Twin Cities. And in this paragraph, I will tell you what it was like for just this one day. So, the morning was usual. We went on the bus, but it was only after school that the terror had started. I went to Kid Kare. Mom didn't pick me up. Guess what? I had church school. No mom was there. When I went home; no mom was there. And I slept. And no mom was there... Thursday: So, Thursday was a different day. The first full day we spent on this lon...

    Last year's trip was to Spain; this year it's Italy.    We started our overseas travels several years ago with a trip around Ireland, to pay respects to my ancestors. The big discovery was our residence in North America has changed us out of recognition to the locals.        We went to both Sweden and Scotland to do the same for Teresa's antecedents. We added France, Greece, and England. It was good to have the patches from those places sewn onto our backpacks.      But what was the reason for traveling after all? To have adventures. I want to share my adventures but people back home can only listen to so much. I appreciate that. Therefore my travels become fodder for this blog.  People would always ask if we'd been to Italy and we'd have to say, sadly, no. This spring our son Matt's wife Heather took their son Luke on a tour of Venice, Florence, and Rome for his graduation trip. Heather said this would be a good way for us...