Wannaskan Almanac

1849        Mar 3, US Congress created the Minnesota Territory.      (AP, 3/3/99) 1851        In Minnesota Chief Shakopee and the Dakota Indians were pressured into selling 24 million acres for pennies an acre. Food and money from the federal government was to be distributed to the Indians as part of the treaty.     (WSJ, 2/5/98, p.A1,6) 1854        St. Paul, Minn., was founded.     (USAT, 3/5/04, p.9A) 1856        In Minnesota Benedictine monks arrived in St. Cloud and established a priory. In 1865 they moved to the shores of Lake Sagatagan and the following year the priory was raised to the status of Abbey. In 1913 they established St. John’s University.     {Minnesota, USA}     (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_John's_Abbey)   1858        May 11...

And here is the Wannaskan Almanac for Word-Wednesday, April 18, 2018, brought to you by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Forestry Division, Wannaska Branch, "If you plant them, they will grow." April 18 is the 108th day of the year with 257 days remaining until the end of the year, 348 days remaining until April Fools Day. Earth/Moon Almanac for April 18, 2018 Sunrise: 6:27am; Sunset: 8:19pm Moonrise: 8:21am; Moonset: 11:24 pm, waxing crescent Temperature Almanac for April 18, 2018             Average    Record   Today High     53             83           48 Low      29             11            29 April 18 Celebrations N...

Welcome to the Tuesday edition of the Wannaskan Almanac. My endeavor today is to take you through time and in a whimsical way look at the events that make today unique. There are 65 days until summer. This is the sixteenth Tuesday of 2018, so happy sweet 16th! That, unfortunately, is the high point of what today is known for. The low point is that today is tax day. In both the United States and Canada this the day that taxes are due. Have fun writing the check! Thinking of tax day, this word seems to sum up my views. Your word of the day is impignorate. You will have to wait to later to find out if I am disparaging the IRS. One thing that I did discover about April 17 is that it is National Haiku Poetry Day . In honor of this momentous occasion I will attempt to write an April haiku, but first let us examine the history of Haiku. Haiku was developed in Japan around 1000 years ago. At that time it was a social "requirement" to be able to recite Japanese or Chin...

This week’s post contains another feather poem, but this one differs greatly from the metaphor-laden verses of the 12 March poem, “The Feather is the Thing.” Today’s offering stays grounded (small pun!) in the very real world of nature and some of its avian creatures. One line in this poem also gives us the second appearance of Odin and his Ravens. Why? This poet doesn’t really know, except she has always had an affinity with Ravens – not so much with Odin. In fact, in my younger days, a diviner declared that Raven was my totem. I could do worse. But I digress. Obviously, the central theme of this poem is birds’ migration, as well as the fact of non-migration. In researching, I discovered that not all migrating birds fly south for their change of scenery. Some, like the Blue Heron, actually fly north or stay in the same climate all year round. Still other like the opportunistic Canada Goose hang out just about anywhere food availability exists. Things can get directional...

Welcome to the Wannaska Almanac for Saturday, April 14th. Yesterday was Friday the 13th. I hope you survived unscathed. We enjoyed some Revelation Ale Works craft beer over in Williams - that's a ways out of Wannaskan country, but as my WA peeps have pointed out - I myself am technically not a Wannasker. Alas, my passport is a useful thing. This past week, all of America celebrated National Library Week . I encouraged readers to send me their favorite library stories and I didn't get nary a one. Not even from my own mother . But poets can always be relied upon. My First Memory (Of Librarians) by Nikki Giovanni  (Bonus! We share the same birthday!) This is my first memory: A big room with heavy wooden tables that sat on a creaky      wood floor A line of green shades—bankers’ lights—down the center Heavy oak chairs that were too low or maybe I was simply      too short           For me to sit in and read So m...

     Welcome to the Wannaskan Almanac for Friday.      It's the birthday in 1732 of Frederick North, the man credited with losing America. North was born in London, just off Piccadilly. The family was not wealthy at first, but became so through inheritances.      He received a good education, went on the grand tour of Europe, and entered Parliament unopposed at the age of 22. He worked in the Treasury during the Seven Years War, from which Britain emerged as the greatest empire in the world. He become prime minister in 1770 at a time when the American colonies were refusing to pay their taxes. North's methods of subduing the colonies led to war. The other European powers saw this as a chance to cut Britain down to size. Britain ended up fighting wars on four continents without allies.     North was forced out of government after the fall of Yorktown. He had a short lived comeback but  his days in power...

I presume there are no definitive records about whether or not these important Minnesota dates occurred on a Thor’s Day, but as Minnesotans we could all agree that despite that oversight on somebody’s part (tsk, tsk--that human element again!) these are nonetheless worthy of notation in other than heavy-laden dusty historical tomes catalogued somewhere in a dimly lighted humidity-controlled basement. Here, in The Wannaskan Almanac , these dates can be at least, skimmed over, if but briefly, by readers hurriedly reading the page for some single tidbit of real interest. So let’s start at, ‘possibly the beginning,’ because nobody took ownership of that responsibility: 6200 BC   The glacial lake Agassiz-Ojibway, body of water so vast that it covered parts of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, North Dakota, Ontario and Minnesota, massively drained, sending a flow of water into the Hudson Strait and the Labrador Sea. The sudden flood of fresh water diluted the saltiness of the Gulf Stream weakenin...