Wannaskan Almanac

The City of Nashville was named for Uncle Frank In the war with Great Britain he held a general’s rank Young Ogden said no to all that doo-dah So they named after him that town in Utah    I love Ogden Nash for his name alone. And yes, Nashville was named for his great, great uncle Francis. I also admire him because he made a good living by his very short poems. That was his secret: he encapsulated great truths in a few lines. A Word to Husbands To keep your marriage brimming  With love in the loving cup, Whenever your wrong admit it: Whenever you’re right, shut up.     There's a truth admitted by all to be right. And no one but Ogden Nash could have put it so prettily. It took Nash many years to settle on poetry as an occupation. He claims he started rhyming at the age of six and admitted that finding the right rhyme can be hard. It became easier when he started making up his own words which is the right of any real poet. Further Reflections on Parsley Parsley I...

Torsgad august 18 2022     Uncle Wayne has his own daily weather forecast for his specific area on the National Weather Service website called Torfin, Minnesota! Look at the ‘Click map for Forecast’ location.’ It ain’t Wannaska, is it? Palmville Township doesn’t have its own specific forecast, neither does Grimstad Township, nor Golden Valley Township. Only Torfin.       I used to take Weather Spotter classes at the toy factory every year it was offered. They gave me a break from work, paid me for it, never asked anything of me, and I never used it except for my own speculation/interest. I learned a lot in it. One of the things of particular interest was that someone who reported some weather phenomenon (I think it was maybe the late Kenny Eggen) pinpointed his location as ‘Torfin’ when he called the National Weather Service Hotline 1-800-667-1218 about a storm/tornado sighting/large hail, etc, as was explained in one of those spotter classes, and pu...

And here is the Wannaskan Almanac with Word-Wednesday for August 17, 2022, the thirty-third Wednesday of the year, the ninth Wednesday of summer, and the 299th day of the year, with 136 days remaining. Brought to you by Bead Gypsy Studio , 101 Main Avenue North, in downtown Roseau, featuring a month-long August sock sale — 10% off the first pair; 20% off the second pair; and 30% off the third pair. Ask about fourth pair rates in-person. Wannaska Phenology Update for August 17, 2022 Wild Rice Season is Open! Minnesota’s wild rice harvest season opened August 15.  Wild rice (Zizania palustris) is called manoomin — meaning “good berry,” “harvesting berry,” or “wondrous grain" — by the Ojibwe people, who traditionally harvest during manoominike giizis (the wild rice moon) each year. I’m guessing that one of our faithful readers, Nature Lady, has already been out there with her husband and daughter. Can’ou canoe? August 17 Fickle Pickle Wednesday Menu Special : Potato Dumpling Augus...

More deep thoughts...with Wrex Wrexy. Root canals always leave me with a bad taste in my mouth. More sugar for my iced tea?  That'd be sweet! Wouldn't all of a skeleton's keys be skeleton keys? I told my wife a story about a porcupine but she didn't get the point.  My grocery store pays me 25 cents for each bag I return to the store.  It is part of their quarterback sack program.   Finding a long lost cousin on a boat leads to the best relation ships.   They tried to tell me a boy lit a building on fire but I think it was arson.   I was de-lighted after someone stole all my lamps. What is a moth's favorite fish?  Lamprey Take me to you moth..er My dad unfortunately passed away when we couldn't remember his blood type… His last words to us were, "Be positive!" Have a great week!

BREATHLESS AFTER 17 SYLLABLES Book-length epic poems such as  The Odyssey  dazzle with their adventurous tales. Sonnets about love and idyllic fields of wildflowers tickle lovers’ fancies. The villanelle and the decima impress with their technical complexities. So, who needs a poem of just seventeen syllables? Anyone who wants a poem that can leave the listener breathless, dropping off the edge of reason into the bliss of found wisdom. If done with both simplicity yet intensity, attention to the natural world, to the marking seconds of our life, to depths of no-meaning in every hour, haiku can leave the reader, the listener, breathless, even awed. Yes. In just seventeen syllables. Background As early as the 7th century, Japanese narrative poetry that included short lyrical poems called "uta," or songs, were written as part of pre-Buddhist or early Shinto ceremonial rituals. Prayers, celebrations, formal eulogies, courting, planting, and harvesting were among the form’s earlie...

  We need at least one friend who scares us to make us appreciate the friends who don’t.  Covid brain has given respectability to my long-term absent mindedness.  Some see eternity in a grain of sand. I see it in a dirty dish.  History gives us an excellent chart of the past but only a rough map of the future.  The sloth would make the perfect efficiency expert if only he could organize his notes.  The alcoholic always remembers his first drink. Once dry he always remembers his latest refusal.  Sickness transports us back to the irritable age of adolescence when we were only able to focus on ourselves.  Our lives are like those Netflix series that seem to go on forever until they suddenly end, more or less lamely, and after some chatter,    the fans turn to the spin-offs.  I just updated my phone’s operating system to 15 point something to improve security and fix bugs. 1.0 seemed to work fine way back when but it must have been vul...

Hello and welcome to a sunny Saturday here at the Wannaskan Almanac. Today is August 13th. Good news! This thirteenth doesn't fall on a Friday so isn't nearly as scary or troublesome. I am a big believer in writing practice. It's my observation that writers have a tendency to only work on "the project," but I ask you, what does an athlete spend more time on: preparing for the game or playing the game? I use this 365 Creative Writing Prompts list to do my creative push-ups. I have a couple of rules.  1) I do the writing prompts in order and I have to do the prompt even if it terrifies me and I think I won't be able to write anything. 2) I set a timer for ten minutes and make myself keep writing for that entire time. So far, I have always been able to write  something . As I often tell writers, "It doesn't have to be good; it just has to exist." These writings usually never make it past my hard drive, but I thought you all might like to see what g...