Dreams Of Joy

I happened upon this book at the library and scooped it up not realizing I had already read the prequel named Shanghai Girls by Lisa See. As I listened to this book on CD it came to me that I already knew the sisters, Pearl and Joy. I knew the story of their escape from Shanghai to Los Angeles. Now Pearl is back in Red China? I was transported from the cold frozen tundra of Minnesota to Red China during the time of Mao Se Tung.  I actually forgot about all my Minnesota problems and became immersed in the Red China problems of communism and suppression of artists and famine. This. Was. A. Great. Book.

Heard It Through The Grape Vine

This morning a person who works at a local charter school spies a snowy owl near the school. They send an email to a person at city hall. A person at city hall tells me about it. I can't keep it to myself. I tell everyone I see about it. Although I am at work I am not that busy today.  I ask 3 or 4 people, "Do you need anyone to drive out to Ramsey today for any reason at all?  Because, if you do, I am willing and eager to go!"  No one needs me to drive out to Ramsey. I end up working all day. After work I go to the gym. I arrive in Ramsey at sundown. I could go home but I must drive past the place where the owl was spotted. I look and I look without driving recklessly. No owls are spotted I think but it is hard to spot a white owl in an empty field of snow. Aw shucks!

The Early Bird Gets The Worm

This morning, as usual, I went out to check on my chicks at zero dark thirty.  They hear me coming. I put a light down on top of the run right above the water bowl.  I bring a pitcher of warm water and a small plastic container of wood chips and wax worms that were bought at a bait store. I pour the warm water into the chicken water bowl and the Americauna chickens (Pollyanna, Heidi Ho, and Half Pint) drink up. Chickenson Caruso stays in the coop. The two black cuckoo marans (Heckyl and Jeckyl) look up at me expecting a treat. I empty the wiggling meal worms into the run along with the wood chips. Heckyl and Jeckyl peck at the wood chips. Suddenly one of them pecks at a fat juicy meal worm. Excitement rises. Heckyl and Jeckyl peck faster until every morsel has been tasted.  Maybe those cuckoo marans are not the cuckoo marans I thought they were!

Two Feet Thick!

Today I went ice fishing for the first time in 20 years. Yes, I bought a license (but it's only good for today). I forgot how much I enjoyed ice fishing!

WWGD?

I have had a Jiminy Cricket of a cold. Actually it is a relief to have a honest cold because I know what is wrong with me. I have been treating my cold as I imagine my grandmother Gertrude treated her colds. Steam helps a cold. Gertrude didn't have a membership at a health club but she might have used steam. Menthol helps a cold. Gertrude didn't have Vick's vabor rub but I do. Honey helps a cold.I don't know if Gertrude had honey but honey helps and is delicious on the lips. Hot tea helps a cold. I doubt Gertrude had Bigelow decaf green tea but I do. Hot packs help a cold. A bag of microwaved beans on the forehead helps a cold but Gertrude didn't have a microwave. Distraction helps a cold. Gertrude didn't have a salary position but she had a lot of distractions! Exercise helps a cold. I am sure Gertrude had plenty of exercise. If only I had Gertrude's gams! Coconut oil and vaseline help a cold. I doubt Gertrude had vaseline or coconut oil but maybe she used tractor oil? Parsley helps a cold. I doubt Gertrude had parsley but I could be wrong. Hot drinks help a cold. I hope Gertrude had hot drinks but hot veggie broth is to die for when I have a cold. Puffs Plus help a cold and I know Gertrude didn't have that! I have not taken my usual Dayquil,Nyquil or Afternoon Quil to fight this cold. So far I am winning (I think).

Healthy Choices At the Grocery Store Today!

My Personal Assistant Take Two (Photobomber in lower left)

My Personal Assistant

Another Impulsive Decision

One day earlier this week I had a choice to make. What shall I do today? My sinuses are thanking me but my thighs are complaining about the decision to remove the carpeting from my bedroom and lay down another floor. As a home improvement project, I have to say this has been one of my most successful projects so far. I know that carpeting was there in 1990.  I found a penny near a heat register that was dated 1990.  Also 1990 is the year I moved in. It's possible this carpeting was laid in 1975. I am not sure. All that tan carpeting is gone, long gone. (My neighbor kindly took it because she likes to carpet her paths in the woods so she can walk barefoot in the summer).  All the padding is gone to the same neighbor (which turned out to be bright blue). The rubber backing attached to the blue carpeting had disintegrated into dust. Some of the rubber hunks litter my front sidewalk but I believe it is supposed to snow tonight so I can shovel it off tomorrow.  The rubber should add to my traction.  Dust, dust mites, dust balls, dust bunnies, dusty dirt, dirt, skin cells, spider webs, spiders, and doggone dusty dust have been evicted out of this room. The total cost for this project was less than $80 including tools. I saved big money! Pardon my humble bragging.  I used a kitchen knife and a pair of kids scissors on the black and white tile. I like the look of it. I feel like I am in a M,C. Escher bedroom now.

Traffic Hazards in Frederic, Wisconsin

My cousin sent me this picture yesterday.  I couldn't make it out at first.  She lives in the Saint Croix river valley which was once full of tall white pines.  My first thought was Paul Bunyan walked through town and Babe left a deposit in the street.  Then I thought hay bale. Maybe 3 round hay bales blew into town down the hill and came to a rest here?  My third thought was 3 hay bales fell off a truck as it turned a corner. Jiminy Cricket!  Maybe I should sell that motorcycle of mine?

Out Here In The Rain When I Could Have Been Inside A Tropical Garden

Hot Water With A Slice of Fresh Ginger

Starring Chickenson Caruso, Half-Pint, and a cameo appearance by Heckyll (or Jeckyll).

Great Gray!

I was asked if I wanted to join others on a short trip to a frozen wasteland known as the Sax Zim Bog. This bog is located in the middle of no where near Meadowlands, Minnesota which is a 45 minute drive from Duluth. This area of the state is flat except where the Saint Louis river cuts a valley. I saw some farms, some cattle, some hay fields, and some abandoned farms. The snow made interesting patterns on the clods of dirt left on the flat fields. The tamarack trees are beautiful year round. We left at noon and arrived around 3 pm which gave us time to find some bird feeders the locals keep filled to attract people who like nature. We saw an eagle, a pileated woodpecker, some finches, some red polls, some ravens, some crows, some chickadees but it is difficult to identify birds going fast on frozen roads. We got to the Welcome  Center at 4. The Welcome Center was welcoming but it was cold in there. The outhouse was even colder! I think the temperature was -17 degrees Fahrenheit before the sun went down. As I warmed up the toilet seat for the next person I questioned my sanity. The last time I came up here (five years ago?) to see a great gray owl it was -25 degrees Fahrenheit and it was windy. Our instructor was full of cheer and energy and we piled into a caravan to look for a great gray owl. I am dressed for the weather. My companion gave me a battery powered hand warmer. The hand warmer was silver in color and smooth to the touch. It was shaped like one of those rocks you find on the North Shore of Lake Superior only lighter. I fell in love with my hand warmer. I caressed it in my hands.  I put it in my pocket. I put it in all the pockets I had.  I put it in my boot. I put it on my other boot.  I held it to my forehead. I held it to my neck.  I held it to my right facial cheek and my left facial cheek. Our caravan stopped after a 15 minute drive and I got out to see what was up. There, on the side of the two lane road was a great gray owl!  Jiminy cricket! For the first time in my life I am looking at a great gray owl! Oh, how beautiful is the great gray owl.  Long and slender with a huge head the yellow eyes were searching the ditch for supper a red backed vole. Our guide got it in the spotting scope. I saw it up close in the scope. Cars were zooming by on the road so we had to contain our excitement and avoid getting run over. The owl moved up the road. As I put my binoculars on the owl and looked again it lifted it's wings and dropped like a falling angel into the snow.  Jiminy Cricket! The owl missed the vole. We watched the owl for 15 minutes before getting back into the cars and moving on. I was a passenger in the back seat of a car and as I went by I gave the owl a friendly wave and a wink for good luck. We drove for another 45 minutes but did not stop again until we got back to the Welcome Center.  Our guide told us all about owls. He was quite energetic but maybe that was because it was so cold in the welcome center.  He needed to hop around to keep his feet from freezing. At the end of the program he imitated owls and asked us to imitate owls with him.  I did participate in the owl hooting but I got the giggles when he did the whinny of an eastern screech owl. I hope he didn't take that personally.What a night! We had dinner late so I warmed up with French Onion Soup, hot water and a glass of red wine at Applebees.  What a night!  Jiminy Cricket, I saw a great gray owl.  Next I want to see a barn owl.

Don't Think About Polar Bears!

Too Much Togetherness

My chickens appear to be handing this cold snap quite well. Sunday was warmer so I decided to spoil them a little bit. I cleaned their home. I gave them some sunflower seeds. I opened the door to the coop in case they wanted to walk around and stretch their wings. Chickenson Caruso, always the leader of the pack, was the first to take me up on my offer. The younger chickens just watched her walk around in the leaves and sandy soil next to the house. I checked on them through out the day. I brought them some zucchini to munch on. I brought them some apple cores and a little bit of organic red kale. At noon I brought them so probiotic water kefir grains. I think they liked them. At 4 pm it was getting dark and I wanted to make sure they all went to bed.  I saw that Heckle and Half Pint never left the coop all day. I guess they couldn't figure it out.  Jeckle and Pollyanna and Heidi Ho were content to hang out in the brambles of the black spruce tree with Chickenson Caruso. I had a phone call to make so I wanted to hurry this process along. I shook my bag of dried mealworms and gave the treat to the two chickens who were still in the coop. I could see Chickenson Caruso watching me carefully. I think she is smart enough to tell if I am actually feeding them or just shaking the bag and pretending to feed them. So I got a branch and came up behind her and poked her gently in the tail. She didn't move and my stick broke. I used the broken stick to bang on some branches and rustle around. I created a little disturbance. Chickenson wasn't moving.  Too much togetherness in the coop.  I get it. Eventually other chickens started moving and Chickenson followed them. After five minutes of chicken corralling I shut the door of the coop and said good night. My dear poultry slackers. I actually had to buy eggs at the grocery store last week!

Mystic River

In my daily commute to work I have to cross the Rum River. This river drains out of Lake Mille Lacs and enters the Mississippi. The water goes through bogs and that is why it has that dark color of rum. Every drop of water that falls onto my property drains into the Rum and eventually enters the Gulf of Mexico. The indigenous name of the Rum was Spirit Lake and that makes major sense to me. In the cold weather we have been having lately the spirits of the Rum have been treacherous. In the first week of January I saw from the Ferry Street bridge over Highway 10 that there was a serious accident right on top of the river. Traffic was backed up for miles and I could see blue and red lights flashing. I made a quick decision to take the long way to work and cross the Rum in downtown Anoka instead and made it to work on time. Jiminy Crickets, that was a close one. (I am using Jiminy Cricket as my swearing substitute now). Last Friday I turned onto Highway 10 from the Ferry Street bridge to see a serious accident on the west bound lane. I saw at least four cars slid into each other right on top of the Rum River. Oh, my worst nightmare would be to crash and have my car fall into a frozen river. Jiminy Cricket! On my right three more cars were touching on the shoulder. I slowly go around them. I am glad it is 6:30 a.m. and the traffic isn't terrible yet. Jiminy Cricket! Now I see six cars slid into each other and several look totalled.  No one is even out of the cars yet. Jiminy Cricket! As I go around this bunch I see another group of 4 cars smashed on the right! That makes a total of 4 multi car crashes between Ferry Street and Seventh Avenue! Jiminy Cricket! I proceed on Highway 10 and by the time I get in the building I am breathing normally again. An hour later a coworker comes in all upset because her son was in an accident on Highway 10 right by the river.  Jiminy Cricket! He is ok but his car is totalled.  He happened to temporarily have two vehicles so he is fine and all is well. I am beginning to think the spirits in that river are not happy spirits. I wonder what I can do to appease whatever is bothering this mystic river?

Security

On my last trip I made many trips to the airport: Minneapolis, Iceland, Copenhagen, Warsaw, Warsaw, Helsinki, Helsinki, Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Iceland, and Minneapolis. That makes 11 trips to the airport. With artificial hips I get special treatment. I get physically searched. I wore a warm thick skirt so that must have made me look suspicious. Plus I have a battery under my skin for my spinal stimulator so I expect to be searched. But on airport stop #8, the one leaving Amsterdam, my eyes widened in surprise and I whispered to my child, "I think I may have been sexually assaulted." I was somewhat kidding but also not kidding. I was standing there with legs spread apart and arms out at  my sides while a five foot tall woman felt my arms and my legs. She lifted my skirt a little but not too much. All that didn't bother me. Only when she cupped my crotch and squeezed did the hair on the back of my neck go up. Two seconds later she did the same thing on the back side of me. Was she checking my gender? What could I do? I am standing in an airport with no shoes on.  My passport and all my belongings are on a conveyor belt out of my line of vision. I don't want to cause a scene. I want to get on my plane and go home. What would you do? I think I will take other modes of transportation for awhile.  Trains are nice. Greyhound Bus Lines tell me I can leave the driving to them.  Sounds good to me.

Sawa the Mermaid

Once upon a time in Eastern Europe there lived a mermaid. The mermaid's name was Sawa. Sawa lived in the Vistula River.  Most of the time the river was a deep blue river; as blue as the deep blue sea.  Sometimes at night the river looked black; as black as the sky at night. Sometimes in the middle of the day the river looked orange; as orange as a persimmon. Sometimes, just before the sun went down in the sky, the Vistula river looked as red as a pomegranete.


Sawa lived in the river with her father who was a merman and her mother who was a mermaid.  Sawa had a little sister named Gertrude.  Sawa and Gertrude played in the Vistula river every day.

Sometimes Sawa and Gertrude  played happily together.  The sister mermaids shared their toys and took turns. Sawa and Gertrude both loved to eat herring.

Sometimes Gertrude and Sawa did not play happily together. Sometimes they did not share their toys.  Sometimes Sawa and Gertrude  did not want to take turns.

No matter how Gertrude and Sawa played they loved each other very much.  Sometimes Gertrude hugged Sawa around the neck.  Sometimes Sawa hugged Gertrude around the belly. Every once in awhile Gertrude tickled Sawa's fins with her fingers.  Every once in awhie Sawa tickled Gertrude under the chin with her fins.


Both Gertrude and Sawa went to school together. School for mermaids and mermen was right across the Vistula river from their house. Sawa always look both ways before crossing the river. She did not want to get hit by any boats passing overhead.  Gertrude always looked both ways because she didn't want to get hit by anybody throwing sticks or rocks into the river.

One day in winter Sawa was exploring a part of the Vistula River that went under a street.  Sawa could hear the voices of people talking up on the street. She swam closer so she could listen to the voices.  Sawa wanted to know what they were talking about.  Sawa heard that the people on the street were talking about sticks.  Suddenly a stick came down through the street and splashed in the water right in front of Sawa's nose.  Sawa laughed. She thought the stick was funny. She laughed so hard bubbles came out of her mouth and her nose.


As the years went by Sawa and Gertrude grew up to become adult mermaids. Gertrude still went to school. Sawa was finished with school and looking for something else to do in the Vistula River.


One day Sawa met a merman named Matthew. Matthew and Sawa played together. They played hide and go seek in the weeds.  They held races to see who could swim the fastest. They counted how many ducks were in the river.  They counted how many stars they could see in the sky. Sawa and Matthew were good friends indeed.

Sawa and Matthew decided to start their own family. Matthew wanted to stay close to his brother.  Sawa wanted to stay close to her mother, her father and Gertrude. Sawa and Matthew chose a home just a little way away up the Vistula river.


One day a Zsa Zsa was walking by the river with her binoculars looking for birds.  She saw Sawa and she saw Matthew.  Zsa Zsa called out to Sawa and to Matthew.
"Hello," said Zsa Zsa, "What are your names?"
Sawa answered first.  Sawa wasn't sure what to say so she blurted out, "War."
Matthew answered second. Matthew said, "Sawa."
Zsa Zsa answered, "Awesome sauce! I shall name this part of the river Warsawa. How about a fist bump?"  Zsa Zsa held her fist out over the river as far as she could stretch her arm.

Sawa looked at Matthew. Matthew looked at Sawa.  With their eyes they agreed they did  not want to give Zsa Zsa a fist bump.  So Sawa and Matthew swam away and hid in the weeds until Zsa Zsa went back to looking through her binoculars.
The End

Sad, Dark, Strict, Accepting

When it comes to travel do you prefer to lead or to follow? Do you prefer to travel with others or alone? If you like to travel with others do you prefer to travel with family, with friends, or with strangers? All methods of travel have advantages. The secret to enjoying travel is to be open to the experience. I would not hire a Lyft driver or an Uber driver by myself. But we met some very interesting drivers in Poland, Finland, Amsterdam and Minneapolis.  Travel with a 7 month old baby is hard on the back and the arms and on the cleanliness of my clothes. On the other hand, I would have been more nervous when we went into the Supreme Court building of Poland to use the ATM if I didn't have a smiling baby in my arms.  From the outside the building looked like a bank.  The numerous armed guards tipped us off that maybe this building was not a bank. Also, in a crowded Polish cafe, the same baby got restless so I took her to stand by the door so we could look out the window. This baby kept trying to knock over the beers and the hot beetroot soup. While we looked out at the street we heard sirens. A parade of police cars and black luxury vehicles roared by followed by more police and a couple motorcycles.  I believe the president of Poland just went by on his way to his palace.  Holy cow! I would have missed that if it wasn't for the baby. A two year old is hard to travel with. But when I become overwhelmed by so much history and so much architecture a stick in the grass becomes fascinating to me. How about we stick it in a sewer grate and pretend we are poking a mermaid? Travel with parents can be fun but they sure have a lot to carry around. I can carry a child for about a mile and then I am done.  Family togetherness is great fun.  Family separate is also great fun! If I had to condense my travel of the four countries into one word I would say Poland was sad, Finland was dark, Germany was strict and Amsterdam was accepting.