Wannaskan Almanac

You ever dream of finding buried treasure?  The following is a true treasure and crime story that ties southwest Kansas and Minnesota together.  Enjoy! The Fleagle family left Iowa in the late 1800s and settled in western Kansas' flatlands. Raising four boys, the two eldest, Ralph and Jake Fleagle, would become outlaws in the early 1900s while the other two were diligent and hardworking. Jake Fleagle After leaving for San Francisco, California, Jake started working as a card shark. They later moved to Oklahoma, where Jake was charged with burglary and given a one-year sentence to serve at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary. They headed back to Garden City in western Kansas, where Ralph was waiting for him when he got out. The family was starting to prosper with a new house, tractor, and growing herd of cattle stock when neighbors noticed Ralph and Jake were frequently coming and leaving from the farm. Though no one knew they were in charge of a group of gunmen terrorizing the wes...

    Ingrate. Like a scraped knuckle, the word stings. At this time of year, to feel incapable of thanks, well, that's just unthinkable. So, er, I'm embarrassed to say that as I started to think of this Thanksgiving post, I began to wince at the thought of having to write about gratitude. To assuage my guilt, I recalled past Thanksgiving and our family's practice of going around the table so everyone could express some thanks. I'm always ready for that level of openness, so what's with my resistance?      Rick Hanson, renowned neuropsychologist and author of  Buddha's Brain , helps me feel less like a Grinch when he talks about our brain's built-in negativity bias. Our species wouldn't have survived without learning to say no evolutionarily. Just as a lizard on a log has to be quick to avoid being eaten, our brains are hard-wired to prevent sticks, predators, and threats of all kinds. That should put your mind at ease if, like me, you wal...

  I look upon my ignorance -upon all that I don’t know- as I do upon the house of a hoarder. I take a deep breath and crack open the front door.  The risk in giving a sincere compliment is in creating in the recipient a false pride.  Let's all agree it’s a risk worth taking.  If the value of money is all in our heads, then the poor person is mentally ill and the treatment is way too expensive.  Have a nice day.  Many’s the city hall that has the Ten Commandments on the front lawn and a jail in the basement for those who break them.  The Bible goes on at length about the free grace of God. It’s supposedly there for the taking, but the instructions are terribly sparse:  1. Follow me.  With hindsight we see how silly the old philosophers were.  With insight we admit we don't know any more than they did.  With foresight we know contusions will hurt and a kiss and a cookie will make them feel better. Altar girls were resisted as the thin...

Hello and welcome to a snowless Saturday here at the Wannaskan Almanac. Today is November 18th. A few weeks ago I had the honor of receiving the 2023 Distinguished Education Professional Award from North Dakota State University. The DEP program "identifies counselors and career center professionals who demonstrate leadership, commitment, excellence in their profession, support of student access to higher education and their support to NDSU." NDSU Admissions hosted a 2-day event that was not only educational but a blast. We met with the admissions team, had appetizers at President Cook's home on campus, had a fabulous meal in downtown Fargo, and, of course, took a photo by the famous bison statue. This trip reminded me of two reasons why I love the world of college admissions.  The first is how much I love touring college campuses. Seriously. Since 2019, I've toured at least 30 colleges, from the East Coast to the West Coast, and I still get that same thrilling feelin...

    People romanticize life in the country: the quiet, the clean air, lots of sheds so you don't have to throw anything away.  But people don't think about the constant maintenance. The house needs repainting, a new shed is needed, etc. Then there are all the annual chores, washing the windows in the spring, cleaning the gutters in the fall. Sure people in the city have those chores too, but they can hire someone to do them. But In the country, that someone has moved to the city to make big bucks cleaning gutters.   One job I especially dread is putting down the sewer blankets. Here in the country, everyone has a septic tank if they've upgraded to an indoor toilet. Not everyone has. The sewer line from the house to the septic tank should be covered to prevent the line from freezing. If the line freezes, it's back to the outhouse till spring thaw.   You could hope there was enough snow to insulate the ground and prevent it from freezing, but that’s risky. When we...

 

And here is the Wannaskan Almanac with Word-Wednesday for November 15, 2023, the forty-sixth Wednesday of the year, the eighth Wednesday of fall, and the three-hundred nineteenth day of the year, with forty-six days remaining.   Wannaska Phenology Update for November 15, 2023 In-betweenness November is an in-between month — half fall, half winter, between the equinox and the solstice — when many of us are in a state of transition, including our friends, Lepus americanus , the snowshoe hare. Looking up this evening: November 15 Fickle Pickle Wednesday Menu Special : Potato Dumpling November 15 Nordhem Wednesday Lunch : Updated daily by 11:00am, usually. Earth/Moon Almanac for November 15, 2023 Sunrise: 7:33am; Sunset: 4:45pm; 2 minutes, 44 seconds less daylight today Moonrise: 10:33am; Moonset: 5:53pm, waxing crescent, 6% illuminated. Temperature Almanac for November 15, 2023                 Average  ...