Wannaskan Almanac

And here is the Wannaskan Almanac with Word-Wednesday for December 31, 2025, the twenty-ninth Wednesday of the year, the second Wednesday of winter, the fifth Wednesday of December, and the three-hundred sixty-fifth day of the year, with zero days remaining.   Wannaska Phenology Update for December 31, 2025 Otawage-gookooko'oo It's that time of year — the great horned owls, Bubo virginianus  — now begin their duets as mated pairs set up nesting territories in forest areas. Beware all non-hibernating mammals, including smaller pets. The great horned owl is one of the earliest nesting birds in North America, often laying eggs weeks or even months before other raptorial birds. This species' eyebrow-like "horns" are tufts of feathers, called plumicorns . The great horned owl's song is normally a low-pitched but loud ho-ho-hoo hoo hoo (or also transcribed as bu-bubu booh , who-hoo-ho-oo or who-ho-o-o , whoo-hoo-o-o, whoo ) and can last for four or five syllable...

Wrapping Up the Year at The Wannaskan Almanac! Well, here we are at the end of another year! As the days get shorter and the cocoa gets hotter, it’s a great time to pause and look back at everything that's happened at The Wannaskan Almanac. First off, a huge, heartfelt thank you to all our amazing writers and, just as importantly, our dedicated readers. You’re the reason this strange little corner of the internet keeps spinning. We wish you all a truly wonderful, peaceful close to your year, and an even better, brighter start to the next one. May your eggnog be spiced and your winter socks be warm! The Big Questions of The Wannaskan Almanac This year, as every year, has been filled with the kind of content only we seem to offer. It always makes me wonder: How long can the Wannaskan Almanac continue? Seriously, how many more bizarre tidbits and non-rhyming couplets can we all handle? We hope for many more years, as long as you keep clicking! Why do people read the weird things that ...

I'd hit a milestone as a kid when I realized that holidays existed. It was marvelous. I would repeat the festive names to myself and tick them off on my fingers: Valentine's, Easter, Fourth of July, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Candy - how much of it, and the type - topped the criteria for which one was the best. On Christmas afternoon, we'd inhale our annual box of Whitman's. Little, squared-off, milk-chocolate-covered caramels and domed coconut balls were my favorites. Over time, certain candies became holiday fixtures. Somehow, ribbon candy always seemed to nudge its way into the house, most likely a gift from neighbors. Pretty, yes, but those hardened, stripy, fragile folds of shimmery sugar failed to win me over. Despite their flash and dazzle, they broke up too easily. Worse, they had sharp edges that hurt to eat. I always steered clear of the gross, purply-red, liquid-filled hard candies that fused together in my grandmother's cut-glass candy dish...

  The Palmville Globe Volume 1 Number 48 Man Finds Tradesman Joe McDonnell ,  78 and residing in Palmville Twp, Minnesota, was recently able to persuade a plumber to come to his home to do a minor repair. "Tradesmen are always busy building houses or replacing whole-house    electrical    and plumbing systems" McDonnell tells the press, "and understandably don't want to be running off for small jobs. My toilet was leaking at the base. Thirty years ago I would have tackled the job myself. I now have enough money to pay whatever a pro wants. The first guy on my list did not return my two voicemails. I called his emergency furnace-not-working number and he said he was too busy. The second guy said he could come sometime next Tuesday. I cleared my calendar. I thought the problem was with the wax seal between the toilet and the floor. The plumber diagnosed it as the seal between the toilet and the tank. He had an assortment of seals in his truck and an hour late...

Hello and welcome to the last Saturday of 2025 here at the Wannaskan Almanac by way of the ski slopes. Today is December 27th. The time has finally come for the annual Hruby ski trip. This year we are at Giant's Ridge ski resort. Today is our second day skiing here, and we have (including today) two more full days of skiing left. Oftentimes, we start planning the trip a few months in advance, always debating the following things: Where should we go skiing? Where should we stay? When should we go? How long should we go for? Should we do anything different?  To start off, the first question is always a debate between two places (besides Whitefish, where we went once): Lutsen Mountains Ski Resort or Giants Ridge Ski Resort. Both have their positives and negatives, and we usually compromise SOME aspect of our experience by going to either one. Lutsen objectively has better skiing because it has bigger hills and longer trails giving you a more traditional 'mountain' type ski exp...

  Joshua fit the battle of Jericho, Jericho, Jericho Joshua fit the battle of Jericho When the walls come tumbling down     Archaeologists doubt the battle happened as sung by Mahalia Jackson. There is no evidence on the site that Jericho was destroyed at the time Joshua was around. Biblical scholars say the message of the Book of Joshua is what's important, not strict historical accuracy. The message: God will keep his word so we should be faithful too.    Joshua lived in the 13th century BC. The Book of Joshua  in the Bible was written in the sixth century BC when the kings of Israel needed a heroic past to justify their claim to rule the people. Jericho has been destroyed twenty times since its foundation 12,000 years ago, and some archaeologists say Joshua may have been the one who was behind one of them.    Figuring out which of the twenty levelings of Jericho took place when is like trying to discern which pancake in a gigantic stack o...

         Sven and Ula are taking a break from their work at the McDonnell-Reynolds Wood Products Ltd H.C.T.P.F.  (Hand-Carved Tooth Pick Factory) watching the farmyard animals doing their barnyard things when, after some profound contemplation Ula, a proud French-Press owner-operator, says, "Sven, I'm t'inkin' ... I'm t'inkin', ve could make ground coffee ... usin' barn cat poop.  "I vas readin' an article about Kaya Kopi Luwak coffee from Indonesia. Da beans dey grind are in da poop of Asian palm civet cats, according to their website .  Vat we 'ave are Palm barn cats , from the United States. Dey 'ave got to be even better, 'specially being from Minnesoter an' all."    "Hmmm," answers Sven. "I see vat yer're sayin'. Ye might 'ave somet'in' dere ... for it does inspire some serious consideration. Funny, I never saw it before now, meself."    The two stood leanin' on the corral ...

And here is the Wannaskan Almanac with Word-Wednesday for December 24, 2025, the twenty-eighth Wednesday of the year, the first Wednesday of winter, the fourth Wednesday of December, and the three-hundred fifty-eighth day of the year, with seven days remaining.   Wannaska Phenology Update for December 24, 2025 Waabinangozhii Also known as the "snowflake" bird, due to the appearance of flocks in flight against a winter sky, the Snow bunting, Plectrophenax nivalis , is once again a common sight as they gather around Wannaskan roadsides, waiting to take flight just before your car reaches their roosting position. Song plays an important role in species propagation. Snow buntings use vocalizations to communicate among each other and males will have a song to attract the female. The communication calls are done by both the male and the female - sung in flight or in the ground. The males will start singing as soon as they will reach the breeding grounds, and will stop once they fi...

 The Rise of 100-Factor Authentication: Humanity’s Final Boss Battle Let’s be honest: two-factor authentication (2FA) was clearly invented by someone who hates joy. It’s the digital equivalent of being asked for ID at the entrance of your own house. First, you enter your password—something you created in a moment of caffeine-fueled optimism and now forget weekly. Then, you're asked to retrieve a six-digit code from an app that only opens if you remember the password to that app. By the time you’ve authenticated, your original purpose—checking email, buying socks, logging into your bank—has evaporated. You’re left staring at your screen, wondering if this is what the ancients meant by “the long dark night of the soul.” But 2FA was just the beginning. The tech overlords, unsatisfied with merely tormenting us twice, have begun whispering sweet nothings about multi-factor authentication. Three factors. Four. Soon, we’ll be asked to verify our identity using a retinal scan, a blood samp...

Soul searching – asking the big questions – speculating on the meaning of life. These are all traits of transition spaces and potential transformations, as we discussed in last week’s post. In this current post, something intrudes on such contemplations. The MC has a number of practical things to consider. Where to get food? How to travel now that the boat, Hart, has floated away? How to make sense of Shield Bearer? Will there be more Dragons in the future? All this is put on hold based on what happens in this next segment. At this point . . . the main character’s ruminations are interrupted by an unexpected voice speaking to Argose who has scampered away, exploring, and probably drawn by the scent of some one.  An instant later, a voice coos to Argose “Well aren’t you handsome? And what a fine coat!” I hear Argose panting and lifting paws side to side and I know his tail’s wagging Suddenly, a fine white mist rolls out from a dim cave like a throat leading into cracked open ...