Wannaskan Almanac

Life is a road trip, our body is the car. Death holds the lease, and tells us: this far. The infinite line of graves, the obits in the news... Nothing kills our undying sense of me, I'm in my groove. A good squib brings two elements together: Say, sodium and potassium, And bang!! You've got something to sprinkle on your day. We've done destination weddings. Next up, destination funerals: "Bury my bones in old Katmandu." New knowledge pours out like a hydrant stream. Jump in and watch your delusions get knocked on their ass.                                                                  @jmcdonnell123

Hello and welcome to a cold, but happy, Saturday here at the Wannaskan Almanac. Today is January 19th. Locals got a special winter treat this past week. For readers hailing from Hawaii, check out this glorious sundog right outside my front door. Usually a winter phenomenon, here's an article that explains what weather conditions are needed to pull one off in August. According to the "Warroad And Area 1948, 1949, 1950" book compiled by Alvin (Ole) Swanson, "Famous people born on January 19th were, Willie Strieff, Rudy Hegstad, Buzzy Marvin and Patty Hickman. They all had big birthday parties." (p. 12) Today we celebrate the birthdays of Edgar Allen Poe and Paul Cézanne, who said,  "With an apple I will astonish Paris." Still Life with Apples by Paul Cezanne, 1879 Today, we commemorate the passing of German poet, August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben, most famous for his contribution to the German national anthem (for more on that se...

   Welcome to the Wannaskan Almanac for Friday.     On this day in 1788, the first shipload of convicts arrived at Botany Bay in eastern Australia to establish a penal colony. Previously, Britain had cleared its prisons by sending convicts to the American Colonies, but after the Revolutionary War (1775-83), Britain had to find another outlet.    Most of these "convicts" had been imprisoned for petty crimes. You could be sentenced to years in prison for stealing a trinket. There was also a fair number of murderers and rapists as well as political prisoners aboard the ships.    James Cook, the British explorer, had visited Botany Bay back in 1770 and declared it the perfect place for a penal colony.  But it turned out the bay was too shallow, drinking water too scare, the soil too hard, and even the trees broke the axes of the convicts. A few days later, everyone moved up the coast to what was to become the city of Sydney.    ...

I ndiantown Marina, Florida An Evant of a Lifetime           First one awake after first night sleeping on boat. Last night I slept in the same bunk, next to the engine, port side. Slept pretty good. The bunk is more comfortable than 4 years ago when we were sailing the Gulf of Maine, not as smelly with diesel fuel leakage plus the boat isn't rocking on ocean swells. On the way to I ndiantown, w e've been sleeping in motels and at Marion's relatives houses along the way, now we inhabit the cabin of Indian Summer: Marion on 'the couch'; Jerry on 'the table'; and me, like I said, in a berth along the engine.      The hatch is open somewhat. The boards in the companionway were warped and wedged tight in the steel slots so much that Jerry and I had to use screwdrivers and a hammer to force them out. So without doing some grinding of the slot on boards they won't go back on without a fight. From my berth, I...

And here is the Wannaskan Almanac for Word-Wednesday, January 16, 2019, brought to you by the Middle River Winter Fest 2019 on Sunday, January 20 at the Middle River Legacy Building. You’ll find lots of food, drawings, and events, and admission is totally and completely free. The fun starts at 2pm with Snowshoe Bingo, followed by a Dodgeball Tournament and Adult and Kid Sign Making, both at 3pm. Don't miss the Great Chili Cook-Off at 5pm. Finish off the day with the Moonlight Luminary Walk at 7pm, when temperatures should be well above -10F. All proceeds will go to the Legacy Building.  January 16 is the 16th day of the year, with 349 days remaining until the end of the year, 75 days remaining until April Fools Day, and 1,133 days until Twosday, February 22, 2022. Nordhem Lunch : Hot Ham Sandwich w/Potatoes & Gravy Earth/Moon Almanac for January 16, 2019 Sunrise: 8:10am; Sunset: 4:55pm; 2 minutes, 12 seconds more daylight today Moonrise: 1:11pm; Moonset: 3:02am, w...

Good day, mates!  Welcome to the Australian...I mean Wannaskan Almanac. As a teacher, I often hear stories from students that I figure are far from the truth.  I have heard the traditional "My dog ate my homework" to the modern "My homework ate my dog so we had to put it down" and I am never really sure if the stories are true or not.  The following story was told to me over 30 years ago.  I retell it now in hopes that someone can verify or renounce it.  The names are changed in order to protect our publication from copyright infringement issues. My Aunt Fergie needed to visit a doctor in Winnipeg (a real town, but not necessarily "the" real town).  My much younger Aunt (Regina) volunteered to go with her.  I would like to believe that it was because she wanted to be helpful but it is more likely that Aunt Regina wanted to join Aunt Fergie in order to go shopping. Up in Northwestern Ontario (where I grew up) you would have to be crazy to mi...

Welcome back to The One , an Odyssey of an (extra)ordinary person from birth to . . . well, I won’t be blamed for a spoiler alert. If you haven’t read the first installment of this epic poem posted on 7 January 2019, you may want to do so prior to reading today’s post which offers the continuation of Song 1, “Dark Waters,” the second of three installments of this first Song. If you didn’t read the first segment last week, you may want to read the introduction in the post to orient yourself to where we’re “going.” In the near future, we will construct a separate blog for The One where the entire poem will gradually be posted, but without the commentary (introduction, background, exploration) that may exist all, or in part, in the original posting. To repeat what I said last week, my work is greatly influenced by Homer’s epic concerning Odysseus’ return home to Ithaca after the war in Troy. Like the protagonist of The One , adventures, challenges, and sweet moments occur throug...