Murder On The Red River

 I get emails from the Friends of the Saint Paul Library. They have a state wide reading group and I have done that before with a friend of mine. This time they had Marcie Rendon speak about her book, set on the White Earth reservation, during the Vietnam war, named Murder On The Red River. The Saint Paul library had a link where I could easily access the book via e-book or audio book. I chose e-book and I read about half of it. I thought the review was in September. But NOOOOOOO! The review is today via Zoom. The author sounds great and even though I don't like crime novels I hope she doesn't solve this mystery for me. Please don't spill the beans! I beg of you, please don't solve this murder yet.

Speak Okinawa

 Elizabeth Miki Brina's parents met in Okinawa. Her mother had a job as a cocktail waitress. Her father was a Vietnam veteran. Her mother was an alcoholic. Her father had shell shock from the Vietnam war and an unhealthy tendency towards codependency. Elizabeth also was a hot mess as a child but she bravely airs all of the family dirty laundry in her memoir, Speak Okinawa: A Memoir by Elizabeth Miki Brina.  I have never been to Okinawa but I have heard about it from relatives and friends. I didn't know that President Ulysses S. Grant decided that Okinawa should be a part of Japan. I have read about crimes committed against citizens of Okinawa by United States troops but I wasn't aware of the Koza riot in 1970. One of my cousins on my Mom's side was stationed in Japan and he married a woman there and they have children together. I'd be very interested in visiting with them but he is the kind of cousin who does not stay in touch very much. I believe they live near Seattle, Washington now. I wonder how their teenage children are coping. Like me, Elizabeth regrets some of her youthful indiscretions. This author regrets her choices much more than I do. Honestly I am slightly proud of some of my "sins." Like a good child Elizabeth copied the behaviors of her parents. I think every family has some injustices to reckon with. I will remember this book for a long time.

Mask On, Mask Off, The Masker

 Slowly I am adjusting back to wearing masks indoors again. I got accustomed to masks at the beginning of the pandemic and I can get accustomed to masks again. I keep a mask attached to my car keys which are attached to my wallet. I am vaccinated but I don't know for sure that I won't carry the virus and give it to someone who isn't vaccinated so I mask up as I enter stores or restaurants or skyway hallways or the YMCA or even at Saver's (thrift store) where I was looking for gold shiny things to buy for a pair of treasure chests I am making for my grand girls (keep that a secret). In the store the Police are singing "Every Breath You Take." I can play that catchy tune on my piano and I know every single word to that song and with my mask on no one can see me mouthing the words. That song has to be the theme song to all the stalkers in the world. Just as I come up to a bag of shiny gold, pink, green, and blue beads for a mere two dollars, this tall blond millennial, who was singing the same song only out loud, says, "I found exactly what I need!"

I say, aloud, with my mask on, "Me Too!" We smile at each other. She cannot see my mouth but I smile anyway and we walk away still singing "Every Breath You Take." I sing silently. She sings aloud.

Later, I am browsing in the pretty bottle section of Saver's and a huge yawn comes over me. I move to cover my mouth with my hand. Hold the phone! I don't have to cover my mouth when I yawn in public when I am wearing a mask. How did I not realize this before?

Early in the pandemic I would judge others who wore their masks below their nose. Now I find myself doing the same thing!  When did this start? How did this happen? Consarnit anyway!

Last week I was driving to the YMCA and the wildfire smoke was really thick. My eyes were watering from the stench of a boreal forest fire. So I put my mask on in the parking ramp of the Holiday Inn and wore my mask the half block walk to the Y in order to catch the smoke particles in the air and keep them out of my lungs. Then I kept the mask on in the Y until I took a shower before going swimming. After swimming and after getting dressed again, I put the mask on to leave the dressing room, walk outside, get into my car, realize I forgot my parking pass, walk back to the Y, get the parking pass, walk back to my car,  drive to the Ace hardware store, drive home from the hardware store, and then walk inside my house and then I took off the mask.

Someone in my family shall remain nameless but she got a mask tan! A farmer's tan from wearing a mask! She has a badge of honor from the sun for being a responsible adult!

I remember my Grandmother Leona telling me once about how her house was marked with a quarantine sign and how her family couldn't leave the house. Was that the Spanish flu? And why did they call it the Spanish flu when it didn't start in Spain? I should research this more once I have the time. Maybe I can do more family research once I am retired. 

Wait, I am retired. I'll do it once I am retired and less tired.

I really wish I wore a mask that day when I spray painted the two balsa wood treasure chests with metallic gold paint. On the fourth coat of spray paint I wasn't paying attention when I picked up the can. Pity the fool who picks up a can of metallic gold spray paint backwards and sprays herself in the face! I am glad I was wearing my reading glasses though but a mask would have kept that paint out of my nose and mouth. Talk about shiny and gold and nasty!

Places To Go, Streams To Monitor

Last night we had a storm. Two buildings, a church and an apartment building, were struck by lightening closer to the downtown area. I got 1.4 inches of rain on my tiny deck. I decided today would be a good day to monitor my streams. I am getting ready to go when I see my neighbor mowing his lawn wearing flip flops. "Dude," I think to myself, "Wearing close toed shoes would be good when mowing your lawn." I gather all my stuff, rain boots, rain coat, short list of things I need to buy, a cozy sweater and I head out. Across the street in the newly mowed lawn are two tables and one shelf filled with hand blown glassware. Glassware is not on my list of things to buy today. But I go look. I see beautiful glassware. I see one giant vase and in my mind I see a $150.00 price tag on it, at minimum. I look anyway and I see a piece of green tape that reads $8. My mind was blown. I talk to Alisha, my neighbor, about a glass. She says it's 2 bucks. I say it's 5 bucks. She read it upside down. I only have 4 bucks. She takes 4 bucks. The cup is clear with blue and green. In the picture it looks yellow but that is because it set it on top of my wet car. This glass is so heavy and beautiful and will make my Duluth water taste even better. What a deal I got here. Then I go to Walgreens to buy calcium tablets and to break a twenty dollar bill so I can buy vegies from my farmer. After my first monitoring spot on the Cloquet River I go to the farm with a ten dollar bill to buy tomatoes and squash. I must have tunnel vision laser focused on the tomatoes because I don't see the farmer waving at me from the corn field. He looks like Santa Claus if Santa wore bib overalls and carried a hoe. I wave back. A bellow behind me makes me jump. There stand Elsie the cow with her sweet brown and white face standing there with her boyfriend, Elmer. I just walked past two ginormous cows and didn't even see them because I love tomatoes that much.

O

Turkeys in the hay, turkeys in the way, turkeys in the straw, haw, haw, haw!

If you were an apex predator with color blindness, these turkeys would really blend in. I bet these birds were freshly hatched this year.

What did the angry turkey say to the other turkey?

Go pluck yourself! At my second river the water was much higher but not high enough to say the level was high. I marked it as normal because I have seen this entire road covered in water. Some turtles just hatched here and I could see their shells. These could be snapping turtles or maybe some other kind. I brought my nippers along because I want to make a fall bouquet. I snip off some maiden hair ferns, some fireweed stems, some balsam boughs and some sassafras stems. I also use my nippers to clip off some invasive tansy to make up for what I take out of this public forest. This will make a nice bouquet. I start to head home. I stick to my plan and just buy what is on my list. No more impulse buying for me. I get home and bring my things inside. I kept one dollar to repay the neighbor. I go to the neighbor's house again with my dollar bill and only my dollar bill because I am not going to buy anymore glass no matter how beautiful and how valuable.

I meet the Dude who mowed without shoes. His name is Jake. He blows glass at Canal Park and I have always wanted to take a class there. He says I can ask for him when I sign up for a class. He says he sold $400 worth today. He says he wants to get rid of his inventory. He says he will trade me for something. I eye the olive oil dispensers. His olive oil dispensers are gorgeous and functional. I mention I am infusing olive oil with garlic, peppers and orange peel. He says he will trade me, my olive oil for his olive oil dispenser. I run home and grab my olive oil which is actually delicious but it sitting in a $2 bottle I bought at Savers. He takes my spicy olive oil. His girlfriend is making lunch. This will go good on his sandwich. He asked me if I grew the peppers and dried them. I say no, I bought the peppers but I did peel the orange. He goes inside to get his sandwich and says to me, "Take what ever you want on the table. You don't have to take the olive oil dispenser I pointed out." I take the one he pointed out. I thought it was pink but in the sun it's orange. OMG!  Win/win bargain here.

I take most of my tomatoes and all the squash I bought from the Santa Claus farmer and bake them with onion, garlic cloves, plain olive oil, salt, pepper, and basil for an hour. I eat a quick lunch and go for another walk to get some exercise. I walk through the University campus. I monitor the Tischer Creek for the city of Duluth. Tischer Creek is at .4 inches. Even though we got all that rain, the creek is still very low. I would guess all the critters  who live in this creek are breathing a sign of relief that we finally got some rain. Football players are playing football. Baseball players are playing baseball. Tennis players are playing tennis. The campus seems to be coming alive again after the pandemic. I think back to my freshman year of college. I lived off campus. I would not be watching football, tennis, or baseball, I would probably be hanging out with other girls I see sitting in hammocks by the music building. These girls are sitting cross legged in hammocks jabbering away. I can't sit cross legged very long anymore but I can do it for a couple minutes. My right hip can tolerate that position longer than my left hip. Maybe I should buy a hammock? I keep walking. I have never been a big sports fan so I just walk through the crowds humming a song in my head (Nancy Sinatra-these boots(sandals) are made for walking), eager to get home to drink water out of my new glass.

 

The Vanishing Half

 In June of this year I read Passing by Nella Larsen. This was a story of two sisters. One of the sisters lived as a black woman and the other one lived as a white woman and kept her race a secret. So that is why I was surprised to see the same plot in The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett. I am still glad I read it because this was a great book. A pair of twins, Desiree and Stella, grow up in Mallard, Alabama. Their father in lynched in front of them and someone takes their picture at his funeral. That photo becomes important over the years. Their mother does her best to raise her twins but Mallard is an impoverished town with few opportunities. Stella and Desiree run away and live very different lives. The story takes place from the 1950's to the 1990's and what a compelling story it is. I liked Stella more than Desiree but that is a matter of personal opinion.

Wisconsin Point

 

Today I met a group of plant enthusiasts on Wisconsin Point. Wisconsin Point in the long sandbar that extends across Lake Superior from the city of Superior. Like the Minnesota Point, it is long and sandy. Wisconsin point has more public lands and fewer houses than Minnesota Point. Also, Wisconsin Point allows campfires on the beach. Minnesota Point does not allow campfires on the beach. We were supposed to park in the lot nearest the light house but it was too foggy for me to see the light house. I parked at the wrong spot but I still found the plant lovers I was seeking. First thing we found was the Earth Star Mushroom. This mushroom has a white button cap on a thick gray star shaped base and it looks like something I would see on a video game like Super Mario Brothers. Our speaker today highly recommended the book, Plants Have So Much To Give Us, All We Have To Do Is Ask by Mary Silisip Geniusz.

This area has a lot of poison ivy. The native name for poison ivy is thunder leaf and I think that is a very fitting name. Out here there is a lot of horsetail plants which the natives call Squeak Grass (because it squeaks if the stalks rub against each other when wet) or scouring rush. You can make tea from it but it does contain some nicotine. Or you can steep it in hot water and use it to rinse your hair and make it smooth and shiny. Here is a picture of beach heather. Beach heather is common in Wisconsin along Lake Superior and Lake Michigan. The only place in Minnesota that has beach heather is Minnesota Point and there isn't very much of it there.

This is club moss. We also found the leaves of rattle snake plantain which is not a snake and not a plantain but an orchid.

This is the sign in the parking lot where I wasn't supposed to park. The fog made me think I was in a Sherlock Holmes movie. A light mist fell during our 2 hour hike. We heard thunder and saw lightening. Once I got to my car to leave the clouds let loose and it rained very hard. Great timing for a hike on the beach!

This is our speaker Marisa Lee. She was engaging and enthusiastic and humble. In front of her is Canada Buffalo Berry patch. Behind her is a red pine plantation.

These red caps are British Soldier lichen which I have seen before. I held the lichen up right in front of my phone lens. In reality, the red caps are so small you can hardly see them on the ground if you are standing up. But aren't they adorable? Seeing such tiny wonders make me think about what I am missing when I have my eyes up in the sky looking at birds or clouds or sunsets for the F16's that fly over Duluth. Our speaker ended with a few words about invasive species. Her philosophy is to try to treat the invasives with respect instead of annoyance. She suggests we try to find a use for the invasive plants and use them up in a productive and thoughtful manner. To be honest, I have been perseverating on the invasive tansy and this might help me break that habit.

This tiny red berry is a bear berry.

Rip Tides

The weather service warned us not to go swimming today because strong winds out of the east caused rip tides and dangerous swimming conditions. So I went to the beach on Minnesota Point. So did this dude kite surfing. You can see the kite but not him because he is in a trough between waves.

With my binoculars I can see he is on a foil and standing a good foot above water level. This surfer zoomed right across the water while we watched. Some people don't have the good sense their Maker gave them but they sure have fun! All the beach closer to the lift bridge is closed. The contractor for the Army Corp. of Engineers is extracting the sand they put down on the beach last year because the dredged sand was contaminated with shredded aluminum cans. The cans appeared to be from the 1960's era. The sharp cans will cut bare feet.

Here is the view on the board walk at the 12th street beach.

Big signs advice us not to swim. When swimmers get into trouble, they are rescued by the city fire fighters. I guess the Coast Guard saves vessels and the fire department saves people.

On the quieter side of the peninsula I saw a loon looking at me. I watched the loon eat a fish.

Our state bird is the loon.

One ring billed gull sits while the other one stands on one foot.

My girlfriend told me she improves her core strength by walking backwards on a treadmill or with another person who tells her she is going to bump into something. I took this opportunity to walk the pier backwards while enjoying the waves. Walking backwards is more difficult than I thought it would be.

The gulls wonder why I am walking backwards. I found a stick and threw it off the pier to see if it would float to shore or get caught in a rip tide and float out to sea. The stick did neither. When a wave crashed over it the stick moved closer to shore and in between waves it moves farther from shore. The stick moved away from me but parallel to the shore. A human body would take up more space in the water than a floating stick so I can see how the undercurrent would pull you away from shore. The more I think about Lake Superior, the more I realize how little I know about Lake Superior.

 

Animals That Have Gone Extinct In The Past 100 Years

 Watch this video please. Credit goes to a group of folks dedicated to informing the world about the impact we humans have on our planet.

Dryad's Saddle

 

Two weeks ago I identified a mushroom by my front door as Dryad's Saddle. I keyed it out in my mushroom field guide. I posted a picture in the mushroom social media group and two people from the group said it was Dryad's Saddle. Dryad's Saddle is edible. But on social media there is a warning not to eat mushroom based on what you read on social media. I was 95% sure this was an edible mushroom. Yet I dithered and dallied, dallied and dithered. I sat on the fence for two weeks on whether I should pick this fungus and ingest it. The same stump grew 3 more mushroom fruits while I stewed in my indecision. Look at the Holstein salt and pepper shakers. Even ceramic cows look at this fungus with interest to see if I will consume it. I think I heard one of them say, "Betcha ten bucks she won't eat it."

This is the underside of the mushroom. Best if you don't zoom in on this picture. Offspring #2 asked me why I wouldn't eat it if I was sure it was Dryad's Saddle. I said something about being philosophical now. Offspring #2 said something about how asking intelligent questions equates being philosophical. That conversation was going round and round like a fairy ring.

I didn't want to put it in the marinara sauce I was making because what if the mushroom poisoned all those other tasty ingredients. I wanted to cook this separately. Dryad's Saddle is delicious but very chewy, like gristle, only I don't eat gristle. The mushroom was chewy like leather, a venison steak, the beef roasts my mother used to make, a chunk of raw celery you have been chewing on for 3 minutes. In fact, after eating two pieces I was going to eat another one but I hesitated. If I am going to get sick on mushrooms, better to get sick on a smaller amount of mushrooms. I'm fine. I feel perfectly fine after consuming Dryad's Saddle. I feel fit as a fidle, a viola. Nuffin wrong wif me. I is gud as gold. I sink i is gonna take a wee nap. No, just kidding. I really am fine. I would eat it again.

Sail Boats Race

Wednesday nights are for sail boat races in Duluth. The Yacht Club sponsors the races. Today was breezy so I thought I should go and take a look/see.

I packed a supper, a napkin, my binoculars and my water bottle and I parked my car at the Rose Garden.

I walked along the Lake Front careful to stay to the right because those bicycles, skate boarders, joggers, and electric scooters will run you down if you are not careful.

I like to be warned by someone saying, "On your left." Maybe I should put a rearview mirror on my sun hat.

The smoke from the fires in the boreal forest isn't as bad tonight as yesterday.

I'm sitting on a hard rock half hoping a big wave will come and splash me.

Petite black flies biting my ankles are my only annoyance.

Whoa! I almost got splashed!

Watching the waves roll in is relaxing for me.

Maybe I should go to the Yacht Club and make some friends or take some lessons.

 

Thing One And Thing Two

 

I was being polite and not referring to my former college roommates by name out of respect for their privacy and what are the thanks I get? The nerve! The bald-faced audacity! Both of them point the finger at the other one but one of them wrote on my calendar! From now on they will be known as Thing One and Thing Two. And! I am going to switch it up and rotate who is Thing One and Thing Two so they won't know who I am talking at.

Dance Party Like It Is 1976!

 

Two of my college roommates came to stay at my house for a couple of days. We lived on Fifth Avenue in a cramped apartment in Saint Cloud with three beds in the bedroom, three towel racks in the bathroom, and three shelves in the refrigerator. That was 44 years ago. Saint Cloud State University had a reputation as a party college. We had a good time together even though we are older, can't see as well, can't hear as well, can't bend like we used to, and have doctors advising us to take it easy. We laughed loud and often as we recalled our younger days when we could party all night and still go to college in the morning. We had some great moments. Like when we realized that one of my roommate's offspring lived in this house four blocks from mine that was involved in a fire where a teen saved the lives of her family. I wondered what happened in that house.

Or at lunch today when one friend is trying to take a selfie with all three of us but the other one waits until she hits the shutter to give her bunny ears. This is totally the kind of thing I would do but this time someone else is playing the goofy role and she does it seven. times. in. a. row! I laughed so hard I cried.

Or this moment last night when we shared some home made wine bottled into beer bottles. Or the moment when I won the dance debate on what is twerking and what is flossing. (Our lower backs have way too much arthritis for twerking). The moment where we watched the sun set from Park Point beach but were unable to see the rare blue full moon coming up tonight. Wait, full moon last night? That does explain some things.

Or this moment when the burrito of the month is not only delicious but it is the nickname of Offspring #2 when she was young.

Or this moment when we walked from the Rose Garden down to the lift bridge and asked a stranger to take our photo while we said "stinky cheese!"  I am the nerd wearing socks with sandals. We talked about what we learned from each other during that 1976/77 school year. One of them taught me to rub lotion on my legs after a shower. I did not know that. I do it all the time now and my skin on my legs is fully hydrated. Another one showed me that when a college kid tries to blend into a big party in our apartment without being invited you notice him, you jump up from your seat, you get in his face, and you ask, "Who do you know in this apartment?" He didn't know anyone and he turned around and sulked away. I saw all this from my position on the red vinyl love seat with a shocked expression on my face. I had never witnessed such an assertive reaction from a female before in my entire life. Actually, I had never hosted a college party this large before. Color me impressed! These two women taught me about emotional boundaries and I needed to hear their lessons.

I baked a loaf of French bread from scratch using the dough hook on my Kitchen Aid mixer. I wanted them to feel welcome. The French bread was successful. They felt welcome. Both said they had a great time even though one of them accidentally pulled the plug on the air mattress when she used the bathroom at 4 a.m. and had to sleep on the carpet. Clumsy much? I was sad to see them leave. Spending time with people who still like you even though they know all your secrets, your failures as well as your successes is life affirming. Also, we had a dance party and a sing along. Whatever shall we do next year? Please enjoy Maria Muldaur sing one of our favorite songs.

Norse Mythology

 Neil Gaiman wrote Norse Mythology and he also read the audio version. Hearing his voice change for an angry Thor, a mischievous Loki and the wise Odin was very entertaining. He included the female Norse gods too and holy smokes, Freya was very entertaining when the male gods came up with dumb ideas that benefitted them but called for extreme sacrifice on her part. This author is not only a gifted writer, he is a gifted actor as well. Gaiman must be a Renaissance man. The story behind why Thor's hammer has such a short handle made me laugh out loud.

Jody Island

 

Today I paddled with a group of master naturalists. We started out at the Munger Landing off Clyde Avenue. We listened to a woman named Jody. Jody had a neighbor and good friend who owned Raspberry Island in the Saint Louis River. When he died he deeded his island to her. I had never met someone who owned an entire island before. She tried to give it to the Nature Conservancy but they couldn't afford the resources to take care of it. She donated it to the local Ojibway band and now they own Raspberry Island. I decided to call it Jody Island. We followed Jody out of the landing and past Rat Island before we came to Jody Island. A big cottonwood tree help a gigantic bald eagle nest. Eagles were calling back and forth. We saw an adult and some juvenile eagles. We saw a 3 year old eagle who was just coming into the white feathers. We saw belted Kingfisher, Canadian geese and mergansers. I want to own an island now!

The Whiteside family used to own the island. They built cabins for their family and their employees. Whiteside was a lumber and railroad baron. When a fire destroyed most of their buildings and one of the children in the family almost drowned in the current, they moved the remaining buildings to a different spot in the city of Duluth near Normanna road. We got out of our boats at a beach and explored for a few minutes. The sign above, installed by the local Ojibway, has an error in it. I guess one of the islands is not named correctly. After going around Jody Island we paddled to Clough Island which is bigger. A wind came up and was blowing off Lake Superior toward us. Jeeves (my kayak) and I were getting wet. The other four boats were canoes and had two paddlers in each one so I was starting to lag behind a little. Luckily we found a creek running right through Clough Island so we had a short cut. If I were alone I would have turned around by now. After the creek it was a long, hard paddle straight into the wind to get to the other side of Clough Island. My sunglasses were too low on my nose and I couldn't even stop to push them up because the wind was so strong. Someone asked how I was doing. I, in jest, said I needed a tow. He, in jest, said he would give me a tow once we got around the corner. Once around the corner we had to paddle away from the island to cut the waves at a safe angle. That was difficult. The wind made it hard to hear each other. Once past the island the wind pushed us back to the landing which was nice. I had the wind at my back and the sun shining through my big hat. I asked for a tow again and this time I got it. I didn't drag the canoe that was towing me back but I paddled close enough that we could talk. Once we got close to the landing I asked them if I could pretend to tow them in. We tried to do it but the wind brought us back too quickly to pull it off right. We helped each other disembark and load up the boats. We all agreed it was a hard paddle. I have the blisters on my palm under my rings to prove it. The plan after that was to visit a local brewery on our way home. I would have gone to Ursa Minor (or Major? I don't know) Brewery but I knew if I did that I would never get anything else done tonight. My arms have had a good work out two days in a row. I drove right past the brewery on my way home, satisfied after paddling with a good group of people.