Wannaskan Almanac

  The Palmville Globe Volume 1 Number 44 Man Makes Clean Sweep Joe McDonnell, 78 and residing in Palmville Twp, Minnesota, recently cleaned up an eyesore in town. "My wife and I like to walk on the trails in town," McDonnell tells the press. "As the leaves disappear in the Fall, the trash in the bushes becomes visible, so we bring a plastic grocery bag with us and pick up paper, plastic, and aluminum. Recently we noticed the trash in the row of tall bushes between the nursing home and the golf course was particularly junky and on our next walk brought our grabber stick to reach objects deep in the bushes. We quickly filled our bag. Fortunately some of the trash was old grocery bags and we soon gathered six bagfuls." McDonnell reports that a friend coming up behind them thought they were homeless people. "We immediately placed our bags by the curb and came back with our car and picked up our bags for proper disposal," he says. Man Caught Scraperless Joe McD...

Hello and welcome to a Thanksgiving Saturday here at the Wannaskan Almanac. Today is November 29th. This year, the Thanksgiving holiday is like a gift that keeps on giving. We rented a house in the Brainerd Lakes Area for the long weekend. "Why do we need to be gone so long?" my husband griped last Sunday. "Because it's a vacation!" the WAKWIR 2.0* yelled on my behalf. I love it when the kids do that; state the obvious on my behalf. What's that expression? *Googling* Ah, yes, "truth from the mouths of babes." That's the one. It always sounds so much better coming from them. Google also gave me a great explanation as to why it's especially impactful: "Children, with their innocence and lack of filters, often speak blunt, unvarnished truths that adults may overlook or find uncomfortable." We got here Wednesday night, and the first thing the kids did was yell, "Hello, home!" Actually, that was me. The first thing the kids d...

     The Diocese of Crookston is running out of priests. Also, fewer people are coming to church every year. I don’t know which problem is worse, but first, the priest shortage. There are 76 parishes in the diocese, spread over 14 counties in northwest Minnesota. Most of the 32 priests in the diocese serve two or three parishes.     Eight of the 32 priests are from foreign countries. The US is now a missionary country for former missionary countries like Columbia, India and several African countries. Our wonderful priest Fr James here in Roseau is from Malawi, one of the poorest countries in the world. Of the 24 American born priests, 16 are over age 60. There are only five men in seminary slated to come to this diocese, if they even complete their studies and are ordained.     The other big problem for our diocese is that since 2015, a third of the people going to church then are no longer in church on Sunday now. And another third left betw...

  Sundown on Minnesota's Firearm Deer Season 2025     I know a lot of you are happy about the end of deer season here in NW Minnesota. Between the blog posts of Chairman Joe (since he's ended his travel blog about hiking the Thames River), and mine, you've been avoiding these deer hunting-associated posts these past couple weeks. "Why do they romanticize killing wild animals and eating them? The brutes!" But at least we don't publish the gruesome images because, after all, the Wannaskan  Almanac is sensitive toward its readers -- not that it's written down anywhere; we just  know what is acceptable content without instruction. (Psst, somebody tell Mr. Hot Cocoa.)      I know I wax sentimental about this particular outdoor activity. To me, this hunter education program greatly over-simplifies the activity of hunting when everything is staged for hunter enjoyment and guarantee of success in the field instead of practical experience of the...

And here is the Wannaskan Almanac with Word-Wednesday for November 26, 2025, the twenty-fourth Wednesday of the year, the tenth Wednesday of fall, the fourth Wednesday of November, and the three-hundred thirtieth day of the year, with thirty-five days remaining. Brought to you by Bead Gypsy Studio , 101 Main Avenue North in downtown Roseau, celebrating 32 years of handcrafted jewelry, where you can celebrate Black Friday on November 28 AND on November 29 with in-store specials, AAAAAND enter to win a $32 Gift Certificate.   Wannaska Phenology Update for November 26, 2025 Minnesota First Snows Typical timeline Twin Cities: The first snowfall typically occurs around November 5th, based on the last decade's data. Statewide: It is not uncommon for snow to fall in October, with light snow even occurring around Halloween in the past. Historic extremes Earliest measurable snow: September 14, 1964, in International Falls (0.3 inch). Earliest recorded snow (trace): August 31, 1949, in Dulu...

It is one month until Christmas, three days until Black Friday For those of you who like to shop, you might say that this is "my day" So crowd the stores and get up early for that door buster sale A 90 inch big screen tv has become your white whale! Some wait til Monday and shop online on what is called Cyber Monday With all the deals and free shipping it is certainly a fun day. Sitting at home and clicking leaves them so much less irrate Until they find their treasures stolen by a passing porch pirate. Mom and Pop...they felt left out...like they didn't matter, eh So now we have time just for them...small merchant Saturday By then you have digested all of that excess turkey And are ready for some hometown goods...like scrunchies or beef jerky. All these sellers are just working you hard to get back in the black When all you really need each year is the Wannaskan Almanac! Happy shopping faithful reader!

Diving deeper into magic territory, the main character understands both Dragon and dog languages, and they understand human speech. Curiouser and curiouser. Down the rabbit hole. The white rabbit. Suspending disbelief. All these are necessary approaches to what comes next in our story.   Now I hear the dragon’s language clearly and dog’s meanings are simply understood as if unexpectedly thoughts translate between us and human, dog, and dragon dance wildly, singing in their native tongues Dragon stops her swaying, looks at me saying, “I am Shield Bearer, fifth of nine second of three, numbers of my birth and rank I am come for you crossing space and time I am come to impart our truth to you You are worthy even if you aren’t pure” Argose looks like he’s grinning and appears to understand Dragon Speech as I do although perhaps in some canine accent “Where I am from, hope alive is not gone,” speaks the dragon, fifth of nine, in her song “I guard all Speech in ...

  The Palmville Globe Volume 1 Number 43 Man Bids Ice-maker Adieu Joe McDonnell, 78 and a resident of Palmville Twp, Minnesota, recently removed the ice maker from his refrigerator. "When we bought the fridge in 2000, the ice maker seemed like a great option. But I soon came to resent all the room it took up just for the convenience of having ice at the push of a button. When the ice maker quit working I pulled out the ice bin and gained a cubic foot of space. That's huge in a side-by-side freezer like ours. My only concern is that if the ice maker should start working again, we would have a mess.    I plan to pull out the fridge and find the water shut off valve." When asked if he misses having lots of ready-made ice, McDonnell said, "Not yet. I bought four ice cube trays and set them next to the gallon jug of ice cream we never had room for before."   Man Reunited with Light  Joe McDonnell, 78 and a true believer, recently recovered a flashlight he had lost th...

Hello and welcome to a still-no-snow Saturday here at the Wannaskan Almanac. Today is November 22nd. Well, it's time to face the music - Little Kitty is gone and not coming back. Little Kitty was our "ditch kitty" - the one we found in the ditch on our way home from adventures in town, and our last (or most recent) feline acquisition. At the time, we already had three cats: Nicey, Scrawny, and Fuzzy. We weren't looking to acquire a new cat, but there's something irrepressible about saving a little being's life, even if it is just a cat's. Little Kitty was sweet with her humans when she was indoors, but a fierce little beast when she was out. She'd terrorize the other cats - swatting at them and pushing them out of the way at the food bowl - to assert her dominance as the new Alpha gal in the 'hood. It wasn't long after Little Kitty's arrival that Nicey "ran away." I say this in quotation marks because I'm not sure if she was i...