Wannaskan Almanac

Hello and welcome to a festive Saturday here at the Wannaskan Almanac. Today is October 4th. How about that heat last week?  Today, our family will be out and about taking in all the fall festivities happening this week across Wannaskaland. Last weekend, we enjoyed Middle River GooseFest , where we bought homemade doughnuts (you know, the kind that grannies from yesteryear make), wild plum syrup, a unicorn stocking cap, a children's book, Aunt Sophie's Place by Joni Armstrong (loved it and highly recommend), and a cute scrubby pouch that holds all the loose soap bits that sits on a nice wooden tray.  We feasted on free samples of cooked goose, smoked goose, and a wild rice goose casserole. I considered buying an apple tree and a big bushel of maroon mums before reminding myself that my gardening thumb is far too weedy and brown to justify these splurges. The squares were all sold out, so we missed our chance at $500 from the goose drop. But we enjoyed the thespian talen...

     I saw a scary ad  put out by the government when I was a kid. The ad was pushing US Savings Bonds. The ad showed an old man watching a ship pull away from the pier. He wanted to be on the ship traveling to Europe or South America, but he hadn't saved enough during his working years.   I opened a savings account after that, but it was hard for me to keep money in it. When I got a job, the government started saving money for me. I resented that at the time because I was an idiot, but now I'm glad to have it. However Social Security would provide only enough money to get to the pier. Not enough to get on the ship. When I got a better job my employer offered me money if I would match their contribution in a retirement plan. That provided enough money to get on the ship.    I bought a few Savings Bonds over the years but the government discontinued the program so I cashed them in. Nowadays the only passenger ships are those that cruise around the ocean...

  Some visiting family members had brought their two large dogs with them while they camped in our yard awhile back.   I heard the male dog make a noise that sounded remotely like a someone trying to start a car, "Urr, urr, urr, urrr ... urr."    One dog was a robust long-legged young boxer-like male; the other a very old female of the broad-backed gray muzzle set-with poor eyesight and doddering step, who according to lore, once had the disposition and ability to 'clean her young friend's clock and make him know it.' Hardly boon companions, they both were on long restraints that were anchored in the ground enabling a good deal of exercise for the younger boisterous one; not as much for the old one as she rarely explored its length, appreciating even less the frequent wrap-ups with her all too wild companion.  I've had several large dogs in my life; huskies, hunting dogs, and shepherds. I know they need rigorous exercise to match their verbal expression of un...

And here is the Wannaskan Almanac with Word-Wednesday for October 1, 2025, the sixteenth Wednesday of the year, the second Wednesday of fall, the first Wednesday of October, and the two-hundred seventy-fourth day of the year, with ninety-one days remaining.   Wannaska Phenology Update for October 1, 2025 Lion's Mane Time Hericium erinaceus , commonly known as lion's mane, yamabushitake, bearded tooth fungus, or bearded hedgehog, is a species of tooth fungus that tends to grow in a single clump with dangling spines longer than 1⁄2 inch. Native to North America and Eurasia, these mushrooms are common during late summer and autumn on hardwoods, particularly American beech and maple. It is typically saprophytic, feeding on dead trees, but it can also be found on living trees, usually in association with a wound. Both the Latin genus name Hericium and the species name erinaceus mean "hedgehog" in Latin. This is also reflected by the German name, Igel-Stachelbart (liter...