Wannaskan Almanac

  The Palmville Globe Volume 1 Number 46 Man Cracks Irish Soda Bread Code Joe McDonnell, 78 and a resident of Palmville Twp, Minnesota, recently discovered the secret for authentic Irish soda bread. "When I first started making bread after college, I made a loaf using only whole wheat flour," McDonnell tells the press. "It was like a brick. My Irish grandmother however, had    a slice and said it was very good. I realized later I had inadvertently given her something like the bread of her childhood. Over the years I went on to make more pleasing, excuse my language, bastardizations of the traditional Irish soda bread. I used raisins, sugar, butter, and lots of white flour. Searching for a traditional recipe, I found one that called for wheat bran. A footnote said the sharp edged bran cuts the gluten strands. Gluten can make a soda bead tough. My results were still unsatisfactory, but I can build on the clue about bran." In a later communication, McDonnell says he is...

Hello and welcome to a subzero Saturday here at the Wannaskan Almanac. Today is December 13th. December 13th, the calendar turns... A quiet hum in the house as my spirit burns bright  with the thought of the kids coming home, No longer a silent, empty, lone home. But the plates, oh the plates, tell a different tale, Holiday treats , they absolutely prevail. The healthy choices lost, outnumbered and gone, A sugary battle from dusk until dawn. The work year winds down, but the pace is not slow, Ramping up busy, a steady, fast flow. The holiday prep sneaks up, time ticking by, Christmas day closer beneath the cold sky. Through the rush and the hustle, the love is the key, This seasonal joy, for all of us to see. Wishing you all  calm ,  care , and true  goodwill , Let peace find a way, let the world be still.

     Someone on Reddit said they were going to Israel for a week. They didn’t think they'd have time to get to both Nazareth and Bethlehem and they asked for advice on which site was more worthwhile. About ten people responded. Most pointed out that Nazareth was Jesus' boyhood home, while he was born in Bethlehem. I knew that, but I did learn some other things. Nazareth is in Galilee which is part of Israel. The city is 64 miles north of Jerusalem. Bethlehem is 28 miles south of Jerusalem in a part of the West Bank administered by the Palestinian Authority.    Half of the ten respondents on Reddit said Nazareth was better than Bethlehem while the other half said the opposite.  One group said their favored town was beautiful while the other group said it was a dump. That's Reddit for you. I've never been to Israel but I would have said, take a tour. The typical seven day Holy Land tour visits Nazareth and Bethlehem along with many other sites.   ...

     "Ula barely allowed Sven’s butt to alight on the seat before he started backing his ‘94 Toyota no-frill two-wheel drive pickup onto the highway."     “Now vat’s takin’ you so long, Sven?” Ula hollered impatiently from the car, eight years ago (2019) “You said dis vas yust goin’ to take a minute! Ve’re burnin’ daylight ‘ere!     “Yah, Ula! I’ll be out in da vag of a dog’s tail, you betcha,” answered Sven from inside an old weather-beaten two-holer behind a one-room school, north of Gud-drudge, Minnesoter.     “Sven! Good grief!” Ula bellowed two minutes later, this time sounding the horn for good measure. Pigeons flew from the schoolhouse roof.   “All right, all ready, den!” said frustrated Sven, pushing the frail door open, its rusted hinges squealing, his pants still in disarray in all the commotion. A car heading north from ‘Gud-drudge’ shot by the intersection, presumably soon becoming a mere speck on the horizon....

And here is the Wannaskan Almanac with Word-Wednesday for December 10, 2025, the twenty-sixth Wednesday of the year, the twelfth Wednesday of fall, the second Wednesday of December, and the three-hundred forty-fourth day of the year, with twenty-one days remaining.   Wannaska Phenology Update for December 10, 2025 Redpoll The Common Redpoll, Acanthis flammea — in Anishinaabe, ozaawaabineshiins — are small, arctic finches irrupting south into the Wannaskan winters, visiting feeders for seeds like nyjer and sunflower, known for their red caps, black chins, and energetic behavior, often seen in flocks as they forage on birch/alder seeds and can even store food in a special throat pouch to survive extreme cold. Redpoll songs are mainly a combination of their call notes given in a long string, lasting up to half a minute. Redpolls also form vocal, chattering flocks characterized by three main calls: a chatter of several sharp, zapping notes; a nasal, rising whistle lasting nearly half...

 Ah, Mr. Larson.  I do hope this falls under the parody laws! Enjoy!  

 Originally published June 8, 2020... And here we are – the first of two installments of The One for the month of June. You may have noticed that each month my posts include one guest poet from nearly unknown to the most famous, one poem newly created by yours truly, and two posts per month allocated to The One . Hope you enjoy the variety, especially you lovers of all things poetic – perhaps even including the itsy-bitsy spider and the waterspout. All great stories, especially those concerning a hero’s journey, have points of transition; The O ne is not an exception. At this point in the narrative the main character and faithful Argose continue heading south with less idea about why then, perhaps, any other time so far. For a journey such as this one, the direction and timing really don’t matter. It is “the quest” that drives the story’s purpose. But what’s to be done when no defining purpose exists? Carry on? Go home? Find someone to tell you what to do? What is the MC’s raison ...

  The Palmville Globe Volume 1 Number 45 Man Repairs Butter Door Joe McDonnell, 78 and a resident of Palmville Twp, Minnesota, recently repaired his refrigerator butter door. "The clear plastic door is on the inside of the refrigerator door. It pivots up and down on pegs and prevents the butter from falling out. When I opened the refrigerator door the other day, perhaps too quickly, the butter door popped out, fell on the floor, and a piece broke off one end. The glue bottle said to clamp the two pieces together for best adhesion, but the butter door is all curves and angles so clamping was impractical. My repair has been holding up fine after a week." In a follow up report, McDonnell says he put strapping tape on both sides of the break for extra strength. "It's not pretty," he says, "but no one except the family ever sees it." Man Replaces Five Smoke Detector Batteries Joe McDonnell, 78 and an unlicensed electrician, recently replaced the batteries i...

Hello and welcome to a wintry Saturday here at the Wannaskan Almanac. Today is December 6th. Today is St. Nicholas Day (Svatý Mikuláš) and my brother's birthday. Enjoy this poem celebrating both events. Mikuláš Wishes In chilly air, the sixth of Decembers glow, Marks Saint Nicholas Day, as old traditions flow. A time when stories from history awake, And generous deeds for our children's sake. Across the Czech lands, the magic starts at night, When  Mikuláš  arrives, a truly wondrous sight. With bishop's robes and staff, a presence so grand, Bringing judgment and treats across the land. He travels not alone, as is the local way, But with an angel bright, and dark  čert  (devil), sad to say, To sort the naughty from the good, with gentle hand, A beloved holiday, truly well-planned. They knock on doors, and listen for a song or rhyme, Then apples, nuts, and candies fill the evening time. Good children are rewarded, while the  čert  just waits, To warn the mis...