I just don't get it.

I just don't understand people.  Without telling much about my latest observation of rudeness I hope to convey my concern about words.  You know the sticks and stones ditty how they break your bones but that words will never hurt me.  Well, I am here to tell you that words do hurt.  People!!!!!   Mind your tongues!!!!!!!! The offender is usually the uninformed, mentally challenged, or jealious.    I know I can't change people, but I can work on me.   First of all, I need to remember that my opinion does not always need to be heard.  Therefore I cannot be an offender.   But second of all I need to work on shielding myself from those words directed at me.   There is no need to reply to the opinion that is being expressed. Ignore it.  The conversation usually dies with that uncomfortable silence. Replying is the first step toward an argument.  Ignore them and gracefully walk away.   But then I need to turn off the replay in my mind.  What I should, would or could have said.  Just let it go.  Wouldn 't be nice if we could just tell ourselves that that is how I will act the next time and it would happen.  Well, I guess I will just practice.  They say it makes perfect.  But what it really does is make planned patterns of performance. 

Shaping ones future

Me behave?  Seriously?  As a child I saw tarzan almost naked.  Superman changed his clothes in a public telephone booth.   Robin Hood stoled and killed men in the woods.  Cinderalla arrived home after midnight.  Pinacchio told lies.  Aladdin was a thief.  Batman drove over two hundred miles an hour.  Snow white lived in a house with 7 men and someone tried to poison her. Popeye smoked a pipe and had tattoos.  Pac man ran around to digital music while eating pills that enhanced his performance.  Shaggy and Scooby were mystery solving hippies that always had the muchies.  The fault is not mine I say!

SAD - lighting the way

During the winter months more and more multi-colored lights and bright, festive decorations are splashed across houses and yards everywhere. Long ago, in more earthy times, people celebrated the solstice because it was the rebirth of the sun, when days began to lengthen and light began to return. As our ancient ancestors probably realized, their celebrations helped to keep spirits up when times were dark and cold, just as our modern holiday light displays function as a way to ward off the winter blues.
However, not everybody can shake the sadness that comes at this time of year, usually because they are suffering from a type of clinical depression called Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). When a person has SAD, he or she regularly experiences depression in the winter months that then subsides in the spring and summer months. Although first identified around 1845, this mood disorder was not officially classified until 1984 when psychiatrist Norman E. Rosenthal, M.D., began to study cases of depression that seemed to occur during the winter only. After an article was published in The Washington Post about his research, Rosenthal received a nationwide response from thousands of people who experienced the same symptoms he had observed in his patients.  After further research he compiled his studies in Winter Blues: Seasonal Affective Disorder: What It Is and How to Overcome It, which he recently revised, updated, and re released in October 1998.
The symptoms of Seasonal Affective Disorder appear in the winter months and leave with the return of longer days of sunlight, in the spring. They include body aches and pains, changes in energy level, sleep/wake patterns, and appetite, avoidance of social situations, reduction in the quality of sleep, drop in energy level, weight gain, irritability, inability to complete tasks, decreased creativity, and suicidal thoughts.
I suffer from SAD. I have since I lived in the Alaska.  The four years I lived there in the winter I would have only 2 hours of light a day.  Even now during January and part of February I find  myself playing mind games of why I don't want to go to church, clubs, meetings, and social events.  I really have just learned to plow on and not listen to my thoughts. I just get listless.

I find that skiing, snow shoeing, and plowing my yard a big help.  But even during those activities my face is the only thing that is exposed to the light.  Well only two more weeks and my spirits will start to soar again.

  

Childhood

This  my neighbors yard.  Their oldest child is an eight grader.  Here he has built a solam for snow boarding or sledding.   The trail starts at the top between the two blue poles.  Then you become airborne and land on the top of the picnic table.  Then you are launched again in the air and hit the top of the snow pile and then shoot out in the the road.  Sirius Drive.  That is the street I live on.  Some times during the day the traffic is thick.  I hope he is careful, but I do remember the things that my brother and I got into as kids.   We had a flying saucer that went down a hill trail and then out on Stone Lake.  I remember going so fast that I clipped off a tree that had a trunk of 2.5 inches thick.  The tree and I went down the rest of the hill together.  Or the time we were teaching our younger sister to ride her bike so we put her on and launched her down our steep drive way.  Needless to say she landed in a heap with a broken arm.  That was the last time she let us try to teach her to ride a bike.  It is amazing what kids will do.  We all must have believed that we were invincible.

I wonder if that garbage can in the picture is there to pick up the pieces.

    

My prius

I call my car the fast and the frugal.  My prius is electric and gasoline - a hybred.  I get anywhere from 38 to 58 miles to the gallon.  My last trip to Jamestown I got  58 miles to the gallon going over and 45 miles to the gallon coming back.  The variables are how fast I drive, whether the wind is blowing, and my style of driving.  No jackrabbit starts.  It also saves at the pump by shutting off at every stop.  That one is hard to explain, but the car is still on, but the engine just stops.  If the light turns to green you push on the gas and away you go.  I guess I would liken that to a golf cart. 

 It does not have a key.  You carry a transponder.  The car knows when it is near and automatically unlocks my door for me.  When the transponder is in the car you just push a power button to start the car.  It is great starter in the winter because all you are starting is the electric motor.  Then the electric motor starts the gas motor when it is needed.   My son borrowed my car to go to Oklahoma City from North Dakota.  He and 3 of his friends had to go to be in a friends wedding.  For the 4 boys the plane was to cost them over 1200 dollars.  They each took turns buying gas for the trip and it ended up costing them 40 dollars each.  Were they every happy.  By the way my car came back in great shape.   Well, Jamon traded cars with me and he had an 08 Honda accord.  My Prius is an 05.  So I guess he kept everyone in line as he knew I had the upper hand in that deal. 

Since this is the 7th year I have had this car.  I guess I really like it.  Normally I trade cars like I change socks.  But being on a fixed income and liking my car as much as I do.  I'll be hard put to change.    

Land that made me, me

Are you old enough to remember any of this good stuff!

Long ago and far away, in a land that time forgot,
Before the days of Dylan , or the dawn of Camelot.
There lived a race of innocents, and they were you and me, For Ike was in the White House in that land where we were born,
Where navels were for oranges, and Peyton Place was porn.

We longed for love and romance, and waited for our Prince,
Eddie Fisher married Liz, and no one's seen him since. We danced to 'Little Darlin,' and sang to 'Stagger Lee'
And cried for Buddy Holly in the Land That Made Me, Me. Only girls wore earrings then, and 3 was one too many,
And only boys wore flat-top cuts, except for Jean McKinney. And only in our wildest dreams did we expect to see
A boy named George with Lipstick, in the Land That Made Me, Me. We fell for Frankie Avalon, Annette was oh, so nice,
And when they made a movie, they never made it twice.. We didn't have a Star Trek Five, or Psycho Two and Three,
Or Rocky-Rambo Twenty in the Land That Made Me, Me. Miss Kitty had a heart of gold, and Chester had a limp,
And Reagan was a Democrat whose co-star was a chimp. We had a Mr. Wizard, but not a Mr. T,
And Oprah couldn't talk yet, in the Land That Made Me, Me.
We had our share of heroes, we never thought they'd go,
At least not Bobby Darin, or Marilyn Monroe. For youth was still eternal, and life was yet to be,
And Elvis ;was forever in the Land That Made Me, Me. We'd never seen the rock band that was Grateful to be Dead,
And Airplanes weren't named Jefferson , and Zeppelins were not Led. And Beatles lived in gardens then, and Monkees lived in trees,
Madonna was Mary in the Land That Made Me, Me. We'd never heard of microwaves, or telephones in cars,
And babies might be bottle-fed, but they were not grown in jars. And pumping iron got wrinkles out, and 'gay' meant fancy-free,
And dorms were never co-ed in the Land That Made Me, Me.We hadn't seen enough of jets to talk about the lag,
And microchips were what was left at the bottom of the bag. And hardware was a box of nails, and bytes came from a flea,
And rocket ships were fiction in the Land That Made Me, Me. Buicks came with portholes, and side shows came with freaks,
And bathing suits came big enough to cover both your cheeks. And Coke came just in bottles, and skirts below the knee,
And Castro came to power near the Land That Made Me, Me. We had no Crest with Fluoride, we had no Hill Street Blues,
We had no patterned pantyhose or Lipton herbal tea
Or prime-time ads for those dysfunctions in the Land That Made Me, Me. There were no golden arches, no Perrier to chill,
And fish were not called Wanda, and cats were not called Bill And middle-aged was 35 and old was forty-three,
And ancient were our parents in the Land That Made Me, Me. But all things have a season, or so we've heard them say,
And now instead of Maybelline we swear by Retin-A.
They send us invitations to join AARP,
We've come a long way, baby, from the Land That Made Me, Me. So now we face a brave new world in slightly larger jeans,
And wonder why they're using smaller print in magazines.
And we tell our children's children of the way it used to be,
Long ago and far away in the Land That Made Me, Me. If you didn't grow up in the fiftys,
you missed the greatest time in history, Hope you enjoyed this read as much as I did.

Too much of a good thing

I am reminded of Mae West' quote " Too much of a good thing can be wonderful."  Skiing is that way for me.  I love it.  Any time of year, you’d be hard-pressed to find a sport that offers a better workout than cross-country skiing.  Skiing works the whole body with invigorating cardiovascular exercise. Unlike downhill skiing, which offers quick runs at thrilling speeds, you can enjoy cross-country skiing at any pace. And you rarely get cold, because you are constantly moving.

Skiing immerses you in Minnesota’s winter landscape. Take to the trails, where a fresh perspective waits. With no foliage on the trees, new vistas open up at familiar places. The linear shapes of deciduous trees and long blue shadows cast across pure snow create surroundings that are a study of shape and contrast. It reminds me of the color palette of my quilts.

You  find yourself contemplating the awesome silence of a thick pine stand after a heavy snowfall. Perhaps you will ski along a river, marveling at sparkling ice formations. You’ll feel a sense of accomplishment after the challenge of skiing up a hill, then revel in the exhilarating downhill ride. You’ll enjoy frozen lakes, whose flat surfaces are perfect for skiing. You’ll see plenty of wildlife, but few people.  Minnesota has more than 100 well-maintained cross country ski trails and the Bemidji area is no exception.  A friend of mine and I went skiing on Tuesday on the Montebello ski trail.  We had just got about 6 inches of snow. I know it was a lot as I had to plow it out of my yard. We had a great time and the scenery was breathe taking. The internet reported that the trail had 4 km if snow.  Since I was 20 I have heard that in my life time everything will be measured in metric.  While some things are measured in metric the majority is still in English measurement.  I speak English and still don't speak metric.  Where is the conversion button?  I do know that 39 inches in a meter.  Than is 4 km about a half an inch?   I feel like a contestant on Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader.  All those 9 and 10 year old kids locking in and I just don't know the answer.  I know what I will do I will ask when I buy my Minnesota ski pass. That is the advantage of being old.

Table runner

This table runner had more new techniques than any quilt that I have done in the last year.  It took me two weeks to complete and look how small it is.  The three sunflowers in the middle stand up and curl into leaves and petals.  There are 5 layers of leaves and petals stacked one on another.  The flowers stand 2-3 inches away from the runner itself. Each of the layers are outlined (top stitched) with different metallic threads that make them gleason and shine. My machine does not like metallic thread.    I truely love it.  I will put it on my table this fall.  Maybe I will enter this one in the fair next august.  Can you spell winner.

Jamon

My son who lives in Jamestown stopped in on Sunday after three days of fishing on Lake of the Woods.  This time he brought two of his friends with him.  From the sound of it they had a great time.  They went with Jamon's two cousins.  The fish were not biting like they usually do.  But they managed to catch some and Jamon left me his share of the catch.  Fish fry my friends -- my house -- be there. Since Jamon was old enough to hold a rod I would take him fishing.  We both loved the time together and again just like in golfing he is a better fisherman than I am.  How can it be that I taught him both to golf and fish and he surpassed my abilities.  He was a State High School golfer and golfed for the University of Mary.  Its a good day of golf when I play in the 50's for 9 holes.   I guess it just proves that my skill is in the teaching and not in the game.  Oh well, I will keep trying.  He is coming back the end of February and will do it all over again.   

Polar plunge

The day started out with the pancake breakfast at the senior center.  Delicious pancakes, sausages and great conversation.  The Senior Center was decorated with Paul Bunyan black and red plaid.  I fit right in with my PB Black and red trapper hat.  I joked with someone that this is what Paul Bunyan would have looked like if he had shopped on 5th Avenue in New York City.   Does that statement bring to mind the salsa commercials.  "He's the guy who buys his salsa from new York City."

Every January Bemidji puts on the Brrrmidji polar plunge. It is in conjunction with the annual Brrrmidji Polar daze.   It is also Paul Bunyan's 75th birthday this year.  All Bemidji events all year will have that as their theme. It has been proclaimed the Year of the Legend.    This year it was January 21st.  They cut a hole in the ice and people take turns jumping in.  Last year it was bitter cold and very windy.  This year it was a one degree but not so windy.  That is to be expected in January in Minnesota.  After they enter the water they move very quickly to get out and change their clothing.  Some wear costumes.  I like the man in a tux and a gal with a formal dress on. They have two portable trailers.  The first one is where they wait to take the plunge.  The second one is to dry off and change into winter appropriate dry clothing.  This is the only event that never gets canceled because of in climate weather.  If it did get cancelled it for cold weather they would have to rename it from the Polar Plunge to the Bahama Plunge.

Volunteerism

I am donating this quilt to the Anne Carlson School in Jamestown North Dakota. The Anne Carlsen Center offers a rich tradition of educational, residential, therapeutic, evaluation, and community-based services. Their individualized services include care for individuals — and families — of all ages with cerebral palsy; orthopedic, vision and hearing disabilities; autism, pervasive, and other behavior disorders; and other medical acuities.  My daughter-in-law is a therapist at the center.  This is going to be in a silent auction at their annual golf tournament.  My son always plays in that tournament. Quilting is my way of giving back to the world to make it easier for those less fortunate.

But as I go about my day I see others that are volunteering their time to help.   Schools, the hospital, churches and many other places.  If you just read the front page of the newspaper one gets a very negative view of life.  But look around you and you will see many wondrous people and events that give you a more positive outlook on the world.

Knitting

Yesterday we all gathered at the church for knitting and found that the furances were not functioning.  It was cold in the church.  So we gathered in the kitchen where there is heat from the pilot lights on the gas stove.  It was warm in there.  Creative solution.

Diagramming Sentences

I was watching Are you smarter than a fifth grader? 
The first grade question was as follows:   In the following sentence which word is the only word that is not part of the predicate.

Nathan threw his book at the wall.

The contestant answered threw.  Not correct.  Buzzzzzzzzz.  Threw is the predicate.  His book is part of the predicate telling what he threw and at the wall is part of the predicate telling where he threw it. 
Nathan is the answer. yeaaaaaaaa.

My question is that really a first grade question?  

I am a visual learner like over 50% of students are.  I learned the parts of a sentence by diagramming sentences.  Boring, but is it???

You could really see the relationship between the parts to the whole sentence.  I don't think they are teaching sentence construction by diagramming sentences any more. In my opinion  seeing the relationship of sentence parts without diagramming the sentence then becomes abstract learning and very difficult and hard to rememeber.

Well, in the contestant's case she flunked out of school on the first question.   Booooooo.

Lefse

My heritage is Finnish, but my mother's sister married a full blood Norwegian.  So Lefse has been in the family for years.  I have even made it. My Uncle Gerry  was a librarian for the University of Wisconsin, Madisen.  But his passion was studying the immigration of Norwegians to the United States.  He has written five books about the families that came to America.  I know for a fact that Bemidji families are in the books.  Uncle Gerry was born in Valley City, North Dakota in 1913, the son of a Lutheran Clergymen. As a young boy, he sought to follow in his father's footsteps, but an uncle recognized early on that Gerry had more of the traits of a librarian. Gerry eventually received degrees in history and library science. He worked as a professional librarian for three universities before retiring from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1978, where he had been associate director.
Gerry is most well known for his work, Norwegian Immigrants to the United States: A Biographical Directory. For this work, Uncle Gerry was awarded the Knight’s Cross, First Class, Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav in 1978. The Norwegian-American Genealogical Center & Naeseth Library in Madison, Wisconson is named in his honor. Gerry was also the director and chief researcher of the Vesterheim Genealogical Center from 1974 to 1994, and after his death the research chair was named in his honor. Uncle Gerry served as associate director of the libraries of the University of Wisconsin–Madison from 1948 to 1978. He was also chairman of the Church Council of the American Lutheran Church.  I got kind of carried away about Uncle Gerry when I really started out to write about lefse. He makes me proud and just a small part of me wishes that I was Norwegian too.

It is hard to say when lefse originated. Maybe the Norse God Odin first had it served to the souls of the slain warriors who occupy Valhalla as a way to fortify them for their final battle. That's probably just a folk tale given the fact that the potato was introduced to Norway a little over 250 years ago.

Like Ireland, Norway suffered from the effects of the potato famine in the mid-1800's, which is about the time that many Norwegians came to the United States. They brought their knowledge, griddles, mashers and rolling pins. The result is a delicacy that's part of a special tradition replicated in every Norwegian-American town for more than 150 years. A tradition that you can be part of once again.

This version of Lefse's history was submitted by Jim Berg from Albert Lea, MN.

Now Den, vot you know bout dat....
Did you know that lefsa was invented by the norweigen Vikings...
Von day, dey vent and was going to raid Ireland.....
Vell they got over der, but they couldn't suprise dem
Irish people cause they were making too much noise coming across
the Nort Sea from Norway.
When they got to the shores of Ireland, they tried to land
But couldn't. You see the Irish heard them coming and began
throwing their potatoes at
them darn vikings so dat the cud not land. Vel by golly,
do you know vat. They load that ship with all the potatoes
dat got trowed at dem, pulled out their oars and finally got back
to Norway. When they got there they played aroung with those
potatoes and came up with a bread, and called it LEFSA.
They had a big party that night, day got out that old foul smelling
fish and put it on Lefsa and that is where the Lutefisk Supper vas
born...........My Grate, Grate, Grate, Grate, Granfodder was on that
ship that raided Ireland.
I'm sure glad they brought it to America other wise we would not have
Lutefisk Suppers Today.

My Lena makes the best darn lefsa in Minnesota. Corse I have to help
otherwise she'd eat it all up while she was cooking it and we would not have
any for supper that evening....

I'm sure glad they have Lutefisk Suppers around Thanksgiving and Christmas every year.
My mother Palma, made all the lefsa by herself. They wern't very round,
but then she always said you could not taste the round......
Your Friend.......... Ole

I've been everywhere, man

I've have been in many places, but I've never been in Cahoots. Apparently, you can't go alone. You have to be in Cahoots with

someone.

I've also never been in Cognito. I hear no one recognizes you there.

I have, however, been in Sane. They don't have an airport; you have to be driven there. I have made several trips there, thanks to my
friends, family and work. I live close so it's a short drive.

I would like to go to Conclusions, but you have to jump, and I'm not too much on physical activity anymore.

I have also been in Doubt. That is a sad place to go, and I try not to visit there too often.

I've been in Flexible, but only when it was very important to stand firm.

Sometimes I'm in Capable, and I go there more often as I'm getting older.

One of my favorite places to be is in Suspense! It really gets the adrenalin flowing and pumps up the old heart! At my age I need all the
stimuli I can get!

And, sometimes I think I am in Vincible but life shows me I am not.

People keep telling me I'm in Denial but I'm positive I've never been there before!

I have been in Deepshit many times; the older I get, the easier it is to get there. I actually kind of enjoy it there.

So far, I haven't been in Continent; but my travel agent says I'll be going soon.

    

3rd Monday

Today is Martin Luther King, Jr Day.  It is a Federal holiday marking the birthday of Rev Dr. Martin Luther King  Jr.  It is observed on the third Monday of January each year, which is around the time of King's birthday, January 15.
The idea of Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a holiday was promoted by labor unions in contract negotiations. After King's death, United States Representative John Conyers  and United States Senator Edwards Brooke introduced a bill in Congress to make King's birthday a national holiday. The bill first came to a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1979. However, it fell five votes short of the number needed for passage. Two of the main arguments mentioned by opponents were that a paid holiday for federal employees would be too expensive, and that a holiday to honor a private citizen would be contrary to longstanding tradition. Only two other persons have national holidays in the United States honoring them: George Washington and Christopher Columbus , the navigator, colonizer, and explorer.  Six million signatures were collected for a petition to Congress to pass the law. Ronald Reagan signed the holiday into law in 1983, and it was first observed on January 20, 1986. At first, some states resisted observing the holiday as such, giving it alternative names or combining it with other holidays. It was officially observed in all 50 states for the first time in 2000.

Happy Martin Luther King Jr day.

color for a quilt

When I am deciding what color should be in any quilt, I use the color wheel.  There are three parts to the color wheel. They are primary colors, secondary colors and tertiary colors.
A color wheel is an abstract illustrative organization of color around a circle that shows relationships between primary colors, secondary colors, and tertiary colors.
As an illustrative model, I use red, yellow, and blue primaries arranged at three equally spaced points around their color wheel. Secondary colors represent color mixtures resulting in  green, orange, and violet.  They are placed between their maker colors. The Tertiary colors are a mixture of one primary and one secondary color. There are six.  They are red orange,  yellow orange, yellow green, blue green, red violet, and blue violet. They are placed between their maker colors. As you see that all colors are made from blue, yellow, and red then you can see that you can find colors that have one of those colors in it and it will blend, such as red matched with red violet.  That is just the basics.  Then if you take those colors and mix varying amounts of either white or black you get tones.  Add white and you get tints and add black and you get shades. 

This is just the tip of the ice burg as there is adjacent colors,complimentary colors monochromatic colors.  Color also has temperature.  Warm colors and color colors.  Colors also have movement.  A group of colors go back into space and a group of colors go forward into space creating the illusion of depth.

One can spend a life time studying color.  But the average quilt can take the color wheel concept and improve their color blending ability by 100%.  Happy quilting.

Caterpillars

Two of my friends have seen caterpillars this week during our January thaw.   Both Stan and Don saw them, but this picture was taken over by Rockwood Hall by Stan.  This caterpillar is called the woolly bear.  There is no green vegetation for them to eat and as soon as a cold snap came they died.
The woolly bear is a fuzzy furry little creature that evolves into a beautiful butterfly. Known for its fuzzy coat of hair, dark on both ends and reddish brown in the middle, the woolly bear caterpillar is actually the larvae of the tiger moth and not a butterfly at all..
It once was thought that the woolly bear caterpillar was the larvae of the Monarch butterfly, but it is not. Moths are a quite a bit different and usually have smaller features, and tend to be plain in color than the butterfly. However, the tiger moth can be quite beautiful
Woolly bears are most often found in the late fall crawling around on roadways and walkways trying to keep warm in the bright fall sunshine. They are dormant through out the winter months. In the spring, they form a cocoon and presto!!! they emerge as one of the true splendors of mother nature.

What triggers them to start their journey to becoming a moth during a January thaw?  The caterpillar is the second stage of this journey.  The first stage is eggs. Then the pupae and presto the moth.

Well it is a complete mystery to me.  But then most of the events in nature mystifies me.

Why I am surrounded by beautiful people.

There comes a point in your life when you realize:

        Who matters,
        Who never did,
        Who won't anymore...
        And who always will.
        So, don't worry about people from your past,
        There's a reason why they didn't make it to your future.

TV

I just received my Roku 2 xs internet streaming device.  Well, that was a mouth full.  This device gives me TV where I don't have a cable box.  Now it does not replace cable, but it does allow you to tap into over 400 channels of tv that is coming in with your wireless router.  Sports, news channels, music, shows, and many more.   I called Paul Bunyan Communications and they were very willing to wire me to another tv for $9.00 a month more on my bill for each tv over 3.  Three is the amount that the basic package allows. That would be over a hundred dollars a year plus a hundred dollar home visit charge.  I attached it to one of my older tv's and plan to replace the tv if necessary, but according to the advertisement any tv will be just fine.  I can take the tv anywhere were my wireless router signal can be picked up.  My steel building, garage, outside in my sunken patio or any room in my house that doesn't have tv box in it.  As you keep the box turn on all the time it is updated with new channel all the time. I think you all realize that I am a techy therefore,  I wonder if I am a nerd.   Do they go hand in hand.

Bears

My friend was telling me at coffee that he and his family have a bear den behind their house.   They are watching it closely.  His story went on to tell me that they checked on him and found him gone.  He thought that it had awoke and moved to a new location.  I told him that I had heard that on warm winters that they do come out of their dens for what ever reason I don't know.  Anyway they kept checking and sure enough the bear is back sleeping away. 

This has been an above average warm winter.  I was surprised the other day when I saw one go across Stone Lake road on a warm afternoon.  I could not wait to tell my friend. 

As long as I am talking about Minnesota bears  I might as well tell one of my Dad's favorite stories.  I heard it a million times.    He was hunting black bear up by Kelliher and had got a bear.  He had just got it out to the road when a car pulled up.  It had one of those small dogs like a miniture poodle in it.  Dad always called them ankle biters.    The occupants of the car rolled down the window to talk to dad.  The dog ran over to the window barking like they do.  The owner didn't need to tell the dog to quiet down as when the dog saw the bear and caught its scent it fainted in mid bark.  It was out for about a minute and when it woke it curled up in the back seat and waited for owner to drive off.  Dad has laughed over that story all his life.  He was in his early twenties when that happened. I was just a twinkle in his eye then.

Headlights

This winter must have been hard on headlights.  Monday going in to pick up Dave for dailysis and return home again, I saw 5 one-eyed cars.  That was the most I have seen in one trip.  Anyway, when I was a kid we would say pa dittal.  I don't know why, but the first to say it won.  If you beat your siblings it was a good day.  I really struggled on how to spell it as I have never seen it spelled.   I don't think it is even a word.  I really wish I knew what and why we did that or if it was a family thing or if others did it. I just don't remember, but the word always came to mind when I see one-eyed car.

Patsy's table runner

This is a fabulous story of giving.  Patsy is one of the First Lutheran Quilters.  She and Emily bind all the quilts that we make.  We put it in the bulletin that we need fabrics donated and we get all  kinds.  Well, Patsy brought in squares that she had worked on over the years.  They are call UFO's -- Unfinished projects.   Isn't that a strange name.  Anyway amongst her squares were three dresden plates.  They were made from 1930's fabrics. These fabrics were from flour sacks and she had hand stitched them.  Did I mention that she is over 80.  I told her that she could donate the others, but not the plates.  I would take the plates home and make her a table runner for her table.  So I did.    The day that she got it she was so happy.  She just beamed.  She put it right on her table and there it is to stay.

Snow thrower

It snowed yesterday and I was up with the chickens wanting to try out my snow thrower.  Snow blower is the name for gas snow removal equipment and snow thrower is the term for electric equipment.  The information that I got on this thrower was that it would throw 10 pounds of snow a second.  It has an 18 inch cut and can go through 10 inches of snow. It throws the snow 20 feet.   I am here to tell you it works just fine.  Including the learning curve time and the removal time it took me 20 minutes to remove the snow from my walks, deck, and apron. That time also is clean up of machine and storing it in the garage.    I am very pleased with this purchase and I see very little shoveling in my future.    Now if it has durability which I won't know until I use it a season life will be good.

My take on Alice in wonderland.

I am reading Alice in wonderland. I can not remember reading it as a child.  I have seen the Disney movie, of course, and have read the condensed books.  I think that I should have read this book when I was younger.  It is so bizarre that I just can't seem to wrap my mind around it.   It tells the story of Alice, a young girl who follows the White Rabbit down a rabbit hole. At the bottom, she finds herself in a room with a tiny door and a bottle labeled "drink me." She grows and shrinks depending on what she eats and drinks, and as a small version of herself, finds herself swimming in a pool of tears (her own tears). Swimming to shore, Alice and some other creatures decide that "the best thing to get us dry would be a Caucus-race". Alice continues to chase the White Rabbit and the White Rabbit sends her into his house for his fan and gloves. Once in the house, Alice gets into more trouble with an unlabeled bottle, quickly growing too big to move. The White Rabbit and Bill the Lizard try to get her out, and Alice only escapes by eating some small cakes. She runs into the woods and meets a hookah-smoking Caterpillar, who gives her some advice on ways to grow bigger and smaller. Next, she stops at the house of the Duchess with a pig for a baby; the pig escapes, and Alice asks the Cheshire Cat for help. Directed on to the March Hare's house, Alice takes part in the Mad Tea Party.  This is the most famous scene in the book. Alice moves on to the Queen's croquet ground, where she encounters the Queen of Hearts and tries to play croquet with a flamingo and a hedgehog. Next, Alice encounters a Mock Turtle and a Gryphon, who tell her the story of the lobster quadrille. The book closes with a trial on the case of the stolen tarts, as the Queen accuses the Knave of Hearts. Alice is accused also, and she scatters the attacking cards, only to find herself awake on the river bank where the book began.

The best part is Alice herself.  She is a fearless and inquisitive child, observant and forthright, scared at times but more often levelheaded in the face of a world which has, along with all the adults in it, been turned upside down. She remains polite while inundated with the greatest pile of nonsense ever conceived, and she wins through in the end by keeping her head. Not just in the sense of the Queen of Hearts' threat -- off with her head. To my mind, she's one of the strongest heroines in literature, a character fully deserving of her fame.  Thank goodness it has a strong character as the book has no plot.

I think you have to keep reminding yourself not to read anything into the situations that Alice gets into.  The situations were written just to entertain three little girls and feed their imaginations.
Maybe Lewis Carroll did used drugs to produce the story.   So be it.  It is fantasy.

Zamboni

I have always been a motor head.  If it has a motor and a seat I want to ride it.  I have always said that when I retire I wanted a job driving the zamboni at hockey games.   Last night on Jeopardy a contestant had the same idea only she took lessons and actually got cross it off her bucket list. Was I ever surprised to hear that.  She was a women after my own heart.   Last week I found out that there is a possibility to get a chance to ride on the zamboni that does the Sanford Center ice.  I am going to pursue this.
 
I am also going to test drive a cam am spider with my nephew Rik next summer.  I am really interested in seeing that machine with me on it.  I got a chance to sit on one in the parking lot of Luekins store this summer.

So if you read in the news about a runaway spider or zamboni you will know I got my wish.

Heart beat

For quite awhile now I have been hearing and feeling my heart beat in the back of my head.  I have given the medical community a chance to solve this problem. They have checked my carotid artery, they had me take a MRA (MRI for only the head) and checked my blood pressure.  If you are a faithful reader of my blog you would know that I passed these test with flying colors.  We yesterday they called and told me that for a year I have been taking two medications that are not compatible.  So I switched my blood pressure med to one that is compatible.  But in the mean time I have also been googling this problem and have found out some very interesting remedies.  So along with my med change. I also started several of the other remedies.  First of all, one lady got relief by rubbing just behind the ears.  Wow, what I found was there was a lot of pain in my left inner ear.  But I got instant relief from the heart beats.  Another lady took antihistamines which seemed to relieve her problems.  Since I am highly allergic to things I thought that couldn't hurt.  Again improvement.  Sleepiness occurred but also improvement.  The another man had wax build up in his ears so it suggested a mild solution of salt water to rinse away that build up.  Again, more improvement.    Here is where it gets weird and interesting at the same time.  There was a lot of references to a Native American remedy for this problem.  It was to make an oil based concoction that you put in your ear.  The recipe was mustard oil and two cloves of garlic.  Well as you might have guess that you can't buy mustard oil in Bemidji, so I had to make it.  Mustard powder steeped in olive oil.  Then you stain it.  Other then smelling like a pastrami on rye it seems to be working with the other remedies.  I have just had several mild bouts since I have started this process.  Hopefully I will be able to say soon that I have cracked the case and I am back to normal.  That is kinda scary in itself.

Tuesday

Tuesday is my favorite day of the week.  Along with Saturday I stay home all day.   I don't allow any outside forces to influence me on those two days.  It is totally relaxing.  I will quilt, read or knit.  Sometimes depending on the season I will jog, walk, ski or my new interest snowshoeing.  That is what I plan to do today.  Staying in my home for 24 hours straight grounds me.  I am able to better face the craziness of the world after I have spent a quiet day.  But that is not the only reason that I love Tuesday so much.  My favorite show The Biggest Loser is on.  Well, the new series starts today.  I can't wait to meet the contestants.  This year it is even more special as I have changed my gym location too.  Wednesday I start at Peak Performance.  I have spent 18 weeks at Anytime Fitness. I am sure that I have improved my physical fitness, but I did not get the results that I was hoping for.  I spent a lot of money for that membership and so far the only thing that was lighter was my wallet.  Not me that's for sure.  Well, now I have silver sneakers.  They are not the color or brand of my tennis shoes.  It is a program that my health insurance pays for.  Everything is totally free to me.  That bears repeating.  Free. I have a physical therapist that is hired to run the fitness center.  She assures me that we can get after my belly fat, balance and all over fitness,  I have a 8.5 by 11 card to record all my activity.  She teaches a class of aerobics on Monday and Thursday.  Again free.  I am committed to this gym.  Now not only am I a gym rat maybe I will get some results this time.  I am not going to make this a new year resolution.  That is something that goes in one year and comes out the other.  I have always broken my resolutions.  Even now if you listen really closely and you are really quiet you can hear them breaking all over the world.

Well people, wish me luck.  Both with staying grounded and with my physical fitness.      

My job

As you know I drive my brother M,W, and F to dialysis.  It has taken on a new dimension.  Snow.  I have plowed three times since the end of December and have shoveled 6 or more times,  I have ordered an electric snow thrower.  As I have learned a blower is gas and thrower is electric.  That is going to help with the shoveling areas.  I was told it throws snows up to 20 feet and it throws ten pounds of snow every second.  Ten pounds that I won't have to lift.   It only weighs 35 pounds. It can go through 10 inches of snow.  I hope it is just the ticket.  Just get here.  My aching back.  Any way I will be able to plow the rest of it away.  But the interesting part is that now I have to drive my truck.  My friend Don suggested that I have a trial run when it was nice out.  I wish I had done that very thing.  As I am writing this I am wondering if I can get the old boy in the truck.  I guess I will see in an hour.  Well, I got him in the truck for the morning run, but it took three of us to get him the truck going back.  I will put a step stool in the truck for Wednesday.  Or better yet ask Dave if I can drive his vehicle.  I have an empty stall in the garage.

5 things that you can't get back

(1) The Stone...........after it's thrown
(2) The Word.............after it's said,
(3) The Occasion......after it's missed
(4) The Time.............after it's gone, and
(5) A person..............after they die.


I used to treat things like there is no tomorrow.  But now I have realized that somethings are just gone never to return.  This makes a difference in how I make decisions.  Think about it.

SNOW PLOWING

I think we got 4 inches of snow yesterday. Maybe more it really dumped on us.   I went out to shovel and plow at two and didn't get back in until 4:20.  I shoveled my two decks and then the sidewalk in front of my house.  I was then ready to plow.  Well, I got my 4 wheeler going and made two passes and I fowled my spark plug.  It was sure that was what was wrong when the 4 wheeler refused to start again.  I think it was the two loud back fires just before it quit that cued me in.  It took me 20 minutes to pull it back into the steel building with my truck.  A gal just has to have a well lighted spot and a chair to work on the project of changing the plug.  Who wants to work outside.  After getting the 4 wheeler ready for the new plug, I went in search of the book and the new plug.  Well the book was an easy find.  It was filed under 4 wheeler. Well I was sure I had a plug, but came up empty in that file.  I sat down to think.  Where would I put that.  Nothing came to mind.  Then just for a joke I looked for a file labeled spark plug for the Polaris.  Wa la, there it was.  I can't believe it.  I also checked to see when I changed it last. January 1, 2009.  I guess it was due. Plowing done, Prime rib done, news on and then Hockey.  Happy New Year Everyone.