Buffalo Gal

Ah Hah!   Back in the boat again today…..Monday, September 7…Labor Day 2009….a beautiful day back on the water and at the sandy beach cove we discovered the last time out on a lazy, hazy day of late summertime.

Today our middle son (who lives closest to us in Fargo) and his family (part of it anyway…missing two of the kids but we had the youngest with us)  came along and between us we launched the fishing boat plus the jet ski and made our way out on the water. It was windier than the last Lazy Hazy day so we encountered a few bumps and thumps as we bucked the waves being driven by a southeasterly wind.  It was still wonderful…the sunshine and the water were just as magical as ever.

We enjoyed a day of solitude, sun, swimming, a bit of skiing, and a lot of total relaxation on the water and at its edges.   I got back into the swim of things (I turn into a kid of only 9 or 10 every time I get near the water in a nice beach setting.  I spent a long time paddling to my heart’s content again today…..my son made some "surf" waves for me and the grandson on our water noodles.  Who needs to go to Hawaii? I asked Grandson….we have our own waves right here on the lake in Minnesota!!!  He agreed as we rode the big waves created by the jet ski in our place of perfect sunshine and solitude and sand.  The waves were roaring on the other side of a small strip of land but on our side, it was glassy and calm with the wind driving the water away from us.  It was so relaxing….so blissful—-so lovely.  I am left hoping that we are going to have some really hot weather in September yet, and I have hope in my heart because I read a blog by John Wheeler, meteorologist, who said that September can have days when the temperature rises into the 90′s.  I so want this to be a solid forecast!!!!   With September heat, we usually do not get the high, sweaty humidity that is such a bothersome thing…..the days can be hot but the air is dry and it is perfect for enjoying the last days of summertime.   We deserve some hot days after our cool summer, a.k.a. the Long Springtime of 2009.

There were a number of other boats of various sizes plus more jet skis relaxing in the sunshine like we were, on the calm side of the lake today.  There is a sort of pleasant kinship among boaters and there was a good bit of it today as we saw others doing the same things were enjoying so much.  We wave at each other as our boats come close to each other.  We know how nice it is to be out on the water together and we acknowledge our shared pleasures with the friendly waves adn thumbs up we give as we pass by each other.

We leisurely ate our snacks and sandwiches and fruit and my experiment with a coffee thermos worked out great—-I had hot coffee all afternoon and that made it cozy after getting rather chilled from my long sessions with my water noodle riding the waves and paddling about.

Grandson was a bit obstinate today…..usually cheerful all the time, he can take a turn for the worse and get a mood on occasionally and today was one of those days.  He pleaded that he was too tired to ski….he did not want to get wet and cold…..he sat in the boat and ate his lunch and munched on Pringle chips and generally acted obstinate.  Finally after we ignored him, he decided he WOULD ride the waves with Grandma;  he also decided that he WOULD ski on the slalom (and got up immediately and skiied like a pro, as usual)  The obstinacy disappeared and he had a great time after getting over whatever little snit he was having privately (he said he didn’t get enough sleep last night!!!)   I bet!!!  His older brother and sister were not back from a weekend conference in the Twin Cities and he must have felt a bit strange because he is usually in the midst of a lot of action when the siblings are around.  It was odd to be the object of adoration of two generations of adults I guess.  We told him we were going to "spoil him rotten" today since he was the one and only!!!  He did not care for that concept at all, I think.   It turned out well in the end after all and all five us had a great time swimming, sunning, wading, munching, sitting around when we needed to and generally enjoying the watery surroundings and the stiff breeze at our backs.

I almost named that cove "Beauty Bay 2" in my mind today….it reminds me so much of the place of my childhood on the south shore of Pelican Lake…a place long gone to development from the cow pasture and lovely beach it once was.

I finally gave in to the rest of the family’s urging and outright pleas and got on the jet ski and learned to drive it over the waves.  I do not have a thing for machines of any kind, especially those that can go much too fast for my tastes but I found out it was a lot easier than driving a Honda scooter (on which I once had a bad experience when I hit the gas instead of the brake and parted company with the scooter going one way and me going another, landing in a gravelly ditch which embedded a lot of gravel in the skin of my arms, legs and face)   At least on the jet ski, my son pointed out, there are no ditches to stay out of….he was right and it was a lot easier than  I thought, and as long as I kept the speed down, I had fun.  My daughter in law absolutely loves to drive the jet ski and she got plenty of it in today with so little competition from the 2 teenagers who were still away today.

Today was a great day…..on the water, in the water, sun shining down all afternoon and good company with whom we had so much fun.   Once again the muscles are weary but it is a satisfying, good-feeling weariness which will lead to a night of sound sleep and good dreams of a day well spent.  Summer’s is over for many today….it is back to school, back to work, back to a regular routine which September brings.

But for retired folks like us….it could mean more pleasant,lazy-hazy days in the boat and in the water if only John Wheeler could guarantee some of those 90 degree days he mentioned on his blog!

After several years of "skipping out" on going to the nearby Rollag Threshers’ Reunion on Labor Day weekend, I finally agreed to go back again.  Every time in the past, I have thought I was nearly overcome by coal smoke, dust, chaff, and other negative detritus of the Threshing event.  But I forget how wonderful it is when I dwell on those negatives……so on Saturday September 5…in the company of my husband, who LOVES everything about the Hill at Rollag, we spent an entire day enjoying the sights and sounds available there.

The morning started with a most pleasant visit with two of my distant cousins who are the authors and compilers of ROLLAG: FROM NORWAY TO MINNESOTA.    I bought the book in March when it was published and have enjoyed it ever since that day it arrived in the mail. Dennis and Maxine (my cousins) did a superb job of pulling so much information together, so many good stories of the early settlers, and accounts of the modern day descendants from the band of early pioneers.  A conversation with them was a wonderful way to start our day.   Dennis confessed that he and Maxine almost gave their book a humorous title:  "We’re All Related, Then!"  But it was discarded since the book is a rather scholarly work of genealogy and the title it got seemed more appropriate. I still think they should have used the "We’re All Related" as a sort of cute little subtitle!

 We walked across the road from their table and visited the graves in the oldest cemetery in Rollag…Grong Church graveyard.  There we talked about our common ancestor, Joran Herbransdatter Olson Helle….she is the widow who came to America with her 5 children and took a homestead that is still lived upon by one of her descendants. She and her brother. Tov Herbranson, lie beside each other in death.  Tov was the brother who looked after the rest of his siblings all this long life.  We also visited the grave of Sigri Nilsdatter Bergan….a key ancestor who goes even farther back than Joran.  She is the mother of Joran, Tov, Nils, Sigrid and Ole; she came to America at about age 75 to join all her children who were already here.   

 Just viewing the graves of these pioneer women is a way to fill oneself with awe at the remembrance of the struggles and hard work it took to settle this region.  Most of us who read this blog descend from hardy pioneer stock in Minnesota or North or South Dakota —or elsewhere.  What courage and stamina those early settlers possessed!

Then it was on to the Threshers’ reunion and the big hill where all the action takes place.We made a dash from the entrance gate because there was old fashioned threshing going on very close to the gate and the grain chaff was filling the air….not a good thing for an allergic person so we ran fast to get away from it.  The steam powered sawmill was next. It is amazing what folks invented and created before the era of the gas or diesel engines.  Coal and wood fires powered the huge steamers, and those steamers in many forms provided the power needed to cut wood, to pump propane through the pipes of early day energy providers, to drive vehicles like tractors and harvesting machinery…all the big jobs that needed to be done in those days.     The creativity and vision of people long gone is amazing when you see the machines they built…machines which have been restored and are doing the same work they were designed to do.  All the lumber used in the many new buildings at the Rollag Hill is cut and finished at the steam sawmill there….we watched huge cottonwood logs being cut into board lumber.  It took many men to do the job and one remembers all the employment that was created in those days also.  We also caught sight of an old fashioned steam-driven paddle boat awaiting restoration.  No doubt in a year or two it will be taking visitors out for rides on the small lake behind Steamer Hill.

We kept meeting people who were eating the most delicious looking ice cream cones—double cones—so knowing that the lines at the eating places would be long and tiresome, we opted for an ice cream stop before proceeding to the growing "Main Street" at the east end of the big hill.  It has been turned into an old fashioned Main Street since I last went.  An old  rural school house is there, a church from Downer, MN is in place.  Several "businesses" are up and running….a general mercantile and ice cream parlor, an old gas station that brought back a flood of memories about old style stations of my younger days; a restored postoffice, a house I visited as a young child when my aunts and mother went to visit "Mrs. Fjaer" one afternoon and had coffee and the usual farm lunch.  That old house  is now set up on Main Street.    Marvin and I (the little kids present) were bored with ladies’ talk that long-ago day, and got two bowls and set off to the high bank of Lake Laura where we came upon a huge patch of ripe wild strawberries.  We two little kids picked and picked til we filled our bowls with the mini-wild red berries and then marched triumphantly back to the big old farmhouse to show what we had done.  I think they let us eat them all and they showered us with compliments for our industry in picking so many wild strawberries.  It was a thrill on Saturday to re-enter that old farmhouse of the visit so long-gone.  It is on the grounds at the Threshermens’ Bee and now people can go inside and see the many-roomed old farmhouse which is preserved and cared for by the volunteers who love their work at the Bee each end of summer.

Across from Main Steet is the Horse Area of the Bee and before we even stepped foot on the Horse grounds, my eye roved to an old "cookshack" preserved from the days of horse farming.  There a big sign advertised "egg coffee" and cookies and doughnuts and even though I was full of my double dip ice cream cone, I had to have egg coffee and egg coffee cannot be drunk without a doughnut, you know.  So we had a most pleasant visit with several friends we met at the cookshack where we sat on an outdoor porch and chatted and admired the small hillside garden that has been planted this summer, complete with a scarecrow!!!     The horses are beautiful…..Belgians and Percherons….little ponies were being led to a circular area where a long line of children and parents were waiting for pony rides.  The big wooden barn built not long ago, is also filled with beautiful horses…both work horses and riding horses.  An old farmhouse has been restored at the Horse Area also and just within past weeks, a log house has been moved onto the grounds there as well.  Volunteers were already at work that day, beginning the restoration of the old dwelling which will be ready next Labor Day weekend for visitors to see and admire the workmanship of the tongue- and- groove log home.

Finally our hunger could not be ingnored any longer and we ended up standing in line for a real meal…..the eating parlors are busy all day long with hungry visitors eager to sample homemade food and baked things.  We were not disappointed and we ate our fill of the good food prepared by the group from one of the rural churches nearby.   We also found more people we know to visit with at the tables under the oak trees.  We finished eating in time to take in the 2 p.m. parade of tractors…both steamers and early oil, gas and diesel machines.  The workmanship of those who love the old machines is stunning.  They have lovingly restored the old "clunkers" into working models once again and when the really huge old steam tractors roll by with their belching black smoke as the pull up the hill on the parade route…. the gigantic  huge iron tires that stand much higher than a very tall man rolling slowly by you….one is stunned by the size and the power of the old steamers.  They manage to "let off steam" via the whistles which shriek loudly and shrilly , startling the onlookers, even when you expect to hear it!  All the time the parade was passing , one could hear the music and the action at the old steam- powered merry go round which sits so close by the parade route.  That merry- go- round was full for every trip that afternoon—-kids and grownups alike rode the old merry-go- round horses to the wheezy music of the old steam- driven calliope.  What memories are aroused by that merry- go- round!  Memories of visits to long-ago county fairs come up as clear as the day one rode the old merry- go- rounds as a young, excited child.

It was such fun to be there on Saturday—-to walk in the paths under the huge oak trees of the Hill….to see the many, many steam driven machines in action and to see the delight of the men and women who so love the Reunion….the tremendous effort of an army of happy volunteers is impressive.  Riding the Western MN Steam Thresher Express railroad was the last highlight as we piled into the cars with bleacher seats and one open side to see every part of Steamer Hill.  Every car on the train was filled with men, women, children , even babies in their strollers which had been loaded on board with help from others eager to see the babies get "all aboard" as well as their young parents.     There is a permanent village of year- round campers and RVs where the volunteers spend many months a year in the nicer weather as they work diligently on the latest projects for the Reunion.  They have named their campgrounds, too—we spotted "Lower Lutefisk" campground as well as "Upper Lutefisk" when we rode the rails around the Hill.  A couple of other humorous sights were one bathroom building at the west end of the Hill which has been named "Buttzville and then there is the ancient John Deere manure spreader, christened the "Shittle Bus" which sits in a clump of grass near the west gate.  Leave it to us to discover those bits of crude humor which must have generated loud guffaws when the person(s) who thought up the titles revealed it to other Threshers!!!

I was so tired at 5 p.m. when we made our way back to our van on the parking lot hill. It was parked along with thousands of other vehicles that day.  My legs, ankles, and knee muscles were telling me stories by then of their unhappiness with my extensive walking and climbing along the trails and roads of Steamer Hill and the Horse Park.  A swipe of my face with a tissue showed that I had collected a good bit of coal smoke, grime and dirt in my travels back to Nostalgia Land which is so well created and preserved at the Rollag Steam Thresher’s Reunion Hill each Labor Day weekend.  We went home happy, tired, leg-and foot-weary and full of memories and good food ….and more than one of those double dip ice cream cones!

LUNCHING WITH THE SISTERS:     I always look forward to having a get-together with my favorite group of sisters.  It often happens at this time of year since some of the ones who live far way "come home" at the time of the Rollag Threshing Bee which occurs each Labor Day weekend.   Today was the day:  I met the Sisters at a local eating place (which is in the building that housed my Dad’s machine shop for over 45 years….so much is that familiarity is that when I meet friends for lunch, we usually say, "let’s go to my Dad’s Old Shop")   We filled up a very big table today…there were a few "extras" besides the Sisters…..old school friends and a sister-in-law were all there)     When we get going, it is a most interesting conversation that usually covers a range of topics and we always feel like we have solved a few of the worlds’ problems by the time our lunch is over….it was like that today.  One hilarious piece of talk that happened somewhere along the line in the two hours we sat at that table eating , talking, and emptying coffee pots , one after the other was an bit of news  one of the sisters "had heard" from "someone" about a lady who had a heart transplant.  She ( the recipent) did not know the donor of the heart she received, but they found out later that it was from a real "cowboy" type of fellow who had died in some sort of accident.  The donor had spent his life riding horses and loving to drink beer.   When the woman recovered from her heart transplant surgery she found herself craving beer and wanting to take up horseback riding.  Therefore, a lively discussion took place of whether this sort of thing could really be true….some solemnly said it could because the heart had certain substances in it that could affect behavior.  A nurse in the group disagreed completely.  But there was the story of the one sister—-hanging in the air for all to consider.  I am scratching my head and wondering.  It surely made for a good conversation–at least for a few minutes.  So many topics got covered I cannot remember all of them—I just know we laughed a lot and felt terrific being together again.  And fortunately, our good times did not drive out any other customers who were in the cafe at the time we were.

ANOTHER FURIOUS ARGUMENT:   There are over 130 comments so far on a FORUM news article about the Tempest brewing due to the President’s plan to "address school children" sometime on Tuesday, the opening day of school in many states.  A lot of parents are inundating their childrens’ schools with demands to NOT broadcast that speech on the grounds that is likely an attempt to indoctrinate students with the President’s liberal policies.  Others who support the idea of a presidential speech are calling the opponents anything from "red necks" to "stupid conservatives".   As a retired teacher I would be cautious about airing a speech I did not know the content of…. that has come up rather suddenly;  I would be extremely cautious about using any U.S. Dept. of Education pre-prepared lesson plans for the aftermath of the speech.  I am also cautious about this particular President’s speeches because he is getting to be like the fabled "Boy Who Cried Wolf", one too many times.  His serial speeches about just about anything are getting to be tired old adages;  there has already been so many things that have taken place since January 2009 that a huge contingent of the American people do not trust what this administration  says, to say nothing about what it does.  The horrendous debts incurred since January 2009 is a huge issue to a lot of Americans.     It is my opinion that a  President of any Party could better use his/her time tending to the very real issues that are plaguing this country.  Spending time on yet another "speech" is not the way I want my government to function.  The WhiteHouse could send out encouragement to students to work hard in school and study …. without making a middle- of- the- day speech on C-Span or other major networks. Get back to that Oval Office and get to work on solving the economic crisis!   Figure out a new health care reform plan!   Think of ways to reduce the huge deficit you have created in 8 short months!!!!   Please!!!

SLEEPING LIKE A LOG:  I am so fortunate, at my age, to sleep as well as I do.  I do little waking and have no trouble at all with any form of insomnia. ( I must be partly "cat")   Yesterday was even more of a sleep-inducer when I finally tumbled into bed last night.  I had spent the day in vigorous physical activity from morning (Silver Sneakers conditioning class) to the entire afternoon spent boating and swimming on Middle Cormorant Lake with family members.  I still love to swim and spend a good amount of time paddling on the sandy-beach, clear water cove of Middle Cormorant.  The water is cooling off rapidly but I still classify it as "refreshing".  My grandkids are becoming very able water-boarders and water skiiers.  I see myself as a teenager when I watch them ski effortlessly over the surface of the water.  I am not foolish enough to try water skiing now…..just let me paddle in the water and enjoy my love of swimming.   The days’ exertions on land and off land really put my "lights out" quickly last night!

DON’T MESS WITH OLD LADIES:   I AM an old lady and I might have made a statement about Dawn Fraser already but just in case—-here goes…for the first time—-or again.  If I did already, skip this paragraph!   Dawn Fraser, a former Olympic swimmer from Australia had a close encounter with some young punks recently when a group of young men tried to beat her up in some public venue… thinking she was an "easy target".  She was not!   She fought back and used her powerful swimming legs to accurately kick one of the men square in the groin, disarming him totally for a length of time, I would guess.  I think the others fled.

EDWARD KENNEDY’S MEMOIRS  will be published sometime this month in  a book he finished shortly before he died.  The New York Times has taken the not- so- surprising step of getting a hold of part, or all of the book, and publishing some tempting tidbits before the book is even dry from the printers’ ink.  An account of Kennedy’s distress and troubled mind since the Chappaquidick accident of 1969 is one of the tidbits released.  Apparently Kennedy writes of his deep regrets over the death of Mary Jo Kopechne and even admits his own blundering mistakes in leaving the woman in his submerged car for over 10 hours before reporting the accident.  I remember the day it happened like it was only yesterday.  I wondered then, and still wonder, at the seemingly amoral reaction of Ted Kennedy and his close aides in dealing with this crisis.   Mary Jo was found in the back seat of the car where she had positioned herself in a pocket of air….living for hours after the accident and one can only imagine the horror she experienced as she slowly suffocated while the Kennedy entourage hesitated for those ten hours trying to figure out a way to extract the Senator form the worst of the consequences.  I have always wondered why the state of Massachussetts did not charge him with a count of murder…accidental or third degree or some form of murder charge.  The answer of course, has always been obvious.  He was a Kennedy and had to be protected at all costs.  I have always wondered why Ted Kennedy did not immediately resign his seat as a Massachussetts senator.  I have imagined how this sort of "accident" would have gone down if a conservative, Republican senator—-say Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona…. would have been the one who drove off a beach bridge with a young woman aboard.  He would have been drummed out of public life by the other members of the Senate!!!  Remember the public demise of Senator Trent Lott for making a joke at Strom Thurmond’s birthday party!   Remember the Senator from Oregon who was drummed out of public life for kissing an unwilling office assistant!!!! (sometime in the late 1960s or early 1970s)            I think it no longer matters…. but millions will read the memoir and re-speculate about the same things I have thought about since 1969.

THRESHING BEE:    MBF is already off and running to the Rollag Threshing Bee today.  He loves it so much he buys a season ticket so he can go as often as he likes—-and he likes to go, a lot!    I plan to go tomorrow and visit with Dennis Herbranson and Maxine Lee Shulstad about their recently published book about the band of people from one valley west of Oslo Norway who came to settle in the Rollag area in the early 1870′s.   The two authors/compilers have done a superb job of tracing the pioneers back to their homeland and their roots and also filling in the stories of their descendants who now number in the several- thousands and are scattered all over the United States.  I bought the book right way when it was first available and have read and re-read many parts of it.  I am part of that intrepid band of settlers from the Numedal Valley of Norway.  My great-great- grandmother came to the Rollag area in the early 1870s as a widow with 5 children.  My great grandfather was the oldest at age 15 and his youngest sister was only 5.  Somehow this determined widow and her family of children managed to settle a homestead east of the village of Rollag.  I want to talk to Dennis and Maxine, both of whom are my relatives through that  brave widow who was our ancestor.  I may visit her grave at the nearby Grong Lutheran Church graveyard again.      I want to take a seat at various places on "The Hill" and wait for people I know to pass by me……I hope to see a lot of folks I only see at the Threshing Bee.  The food-stand of the Rollag Lutheran Church is one of the places I will station myself.  I also have to spend time over at the Horse Area—-away from the coal smoke and shrill whistles of the Steamers.  It is quiet and docile in the Horse Place compared to the loudness of the big Steamers and choking smoke in another area of the Hill.  I must line up at the Ice Cream parlor for a double dip ice cream cone sometime during the day.  There are so many things I need to do and see and so many people I want to talk with.  The anticipation of tomorrow is getting almost unbearable!!!

And it can only happen on this weekend each year.

Enter your blog post here…

I have been studying Cat Philosphy for 11 years since taking on the Princess Kitty a.k.a. Sarah, Miss Kitty, Puddy Girl, et al.    It does not matter what her name is, one principle of Cat Philosophy is that "Dogs come when you call, Cats take a message and get back to you later." I learned that right away as soon as I switched from being a dog person to a cat person.  I have consulted other experts in the field of Cat Philosophy and have come up with valuable information and sound conclusions.  Some of the conclusions follow.

"Cats are rather delicate creatures and they are subject to a good many ailments, but I never heard of one who suffered from insomnia."   (Joseph Wood)

"Do not meddle in the affairs of cats for they are subtle and will piss on your computer." (Bruce Graham)

"Thousands of years ago, cats were worshipped as gods.  Cats have never forgotten this." (A.Nonny Mouse)

"Cats are much smarter than dogs.  You cannot get 8 cats to pull a sled through the snow." (Jeff Valdez)

"People who hate cats will come back as mice in their next life."   (Faith Resnick)

"There is no snooze button on a cat who wants breakfast".   (A. Nonny Mouse)

"Cats seem to live on the principle that it never does any harm to ask for what you want." (Joseph W. Krutch)

"There are many intelligent species in the universe.  They are all owned by cats."  (A. Nonny Mouse)

Principles of Cat Philosophy as stated by Cats:

1. Never sleep alone when you can sleep on someone’s face.    2.Make your mark in this world or at least spray in every corner.      3. When in doubt, cop an attitude.    4.  On day one ignore humans, on day two, annoy them.   5. The SOLE purpose of humans on earth is to provide food, grooming, shelter, warmth, affection,snacks, rubs, scratches, and monetary support of our wills, whims, needs, fancies or lusts.   6.Any human found not complying with # 5 shall be scratched, sprayed, bugged, harassed, rubbed, annoyed and otherwise bothered til compliance is attained.  7. Never miss an opportunity to lay on a newspaper that is being read.   8. If the human you own is sleeping, make sure you get two inches from his/her face, fix with a stare, and wait for a startle response.  If this does not work, try drooling directly onto the face.   10. Never lose the desire to sharpen claws on the most expensive piece of upholstered furniture in the household.     11.  When outdoors in summertime, always choose your person’s vegetable garden for a potty place.

For anyone anticipating getting a cat for a companion, follow these conclusions and valuable informational tidbits.  Trust me….I know.                                  

I lived through the Asian Flu Epidemic of 1957.   It hit hard in October of that year and our college campus, along with the two others in Fargo/Moorhead had to close down for several days because so many students had the flu, which seems comparable to what they are now saying about the H1N1 flu virus (a.k.a. pig flu).  When we all got back I can remember the racking coughs heard everywhere on the campus as we slowly recovered from our illnesses.

There is a piece in today’s FORUM about the first case of H1N1 being identified at Moorhead State University.  No doubt, with all the students living together in close quarters (dorms, food centers, classrooms) there will be many more cases on the college campuses and in the public and private schools as the inevitable happens, year after year.  Just as soon as students of any age get together, there is an outbreak of colds, stomach upsets, and respiratory flus.  But this year, it is the Swine Flu, a more virulent one with possibilities for lots of very sick people and bad complications like pneumonia, ear infections, strep throat and other bacterial things waiting for a weakened body to attack.

One wonders how bad it will be.  If you read or watch things in "The Media" …they have run with the story and made it as bad they can.  Slow news cycles do this to the Media.  H1N1 has been the object of a lot of exaggeration this summer with predictions of deaths up to 90,000 in the United States, if I remember correctly from things I have read or heard.  I do not think the Center For Disease Control, the last word in the nation on health matters concerning epidemics, is as pessimistic as the Media have been in their effort to drum up headlines.

There is no swine flu vaccine in sight now either—-at least not til later in the fall and it may be much too late to do much good.  I do not take flu vaccines…have not done so for many years since I do not consider myself to be in any "high risk " group of people, even though I am starting out in my seventh decade.  The last time I submitted to a flu shot was when I was still teaching and the school worked out a deal with the county nursing service to come in and vaccinate us right after the school day was completed..or some such thing.  I lined up with my colleagues and took the shot.  That winter I had more illnesses than I had had in many years and I blamed the flu shot!   I never took another one and stayed pretty strong and flu-free, depending on my own strong immune system (which I deliberately strengthen with every known way to do so).  I have not had a "cold" for quite a few years;  do not get any sort of stomach flu either (I attribute that to my daily intake of live bacteria yogurt). I cannot remember the last time I actually had a respiratory flu-like illness.  And I have been exposed any number of times, even within my own household.

So I plan to tough out the Swine Flu alarums with my own immune system operating as smoothly as it has done for many years.  I think all of us have heard of the easy ways to keep yourself from getting exposed…..hand washing with soap and water, and not just a quickie rinse either—-one of my friends says to sing the "Happy Birthday" song twice while washing with soap and water and that should kill off the bad bugs on your hands. 
Try it—it is kind of fun to sing "Happy Birthday" to yourself in the bathroom.  Avoid touching things like door knobs, and other surfaces that others touch all the time….you cannot avoid touching them but you can wash your hands after you do….do not rub your eyes with your fingers…this is the most common way of spreading viruses.  I am taking a product called "Immunizen" which I get from my D.C. son at his clinic in SW Fargo….it has worked for many people in having less of the viral illnesses that come with fall and winter.  I take Vitamin C on a daily basis, I plus consume a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables every day also. Good old fahioned cod liver oil is not a bad idea either…now one can get cod liver oil in capsules and you do not have to have your Mom stick the spoon of ghastly tasting oil in your mouth any more.  My parents were  of the generation that believed in daily doses of cod liver oil and it helped us kids stay healthier…no doubt about it.     There are many other nutritional products especially designed to boost immune systems and I believe in them….they have worked for me for a long time.  It is worth it to pay a visit to a store like Swansons and talk with the knowledgeable people who work there. I have had much more faith in nutritional things than pharmaceutical drugs for a long time, also.  Since I took control of my own health around 1982, my life has been changed for the better.

We will all have to live through the fall of 2009…..just like I, and many others my age, lived through the fall of 1957 when Asian flu struck so hard.  There is a lot we can each do to protect ourselves in an epidemic, if it turns out to be one.

Stay tuned to the C.D.C.  They have the best information.

P.S.  After checking it out, there is a wealth of information available about all kinds of flu if you type in "Center For Disease Control" on Google.

Anyone who has read the Buffalogal blog for awhile knows how I feel about cell phones…they are nice in an emergency but have become a nuisance and an addiction for those you yammer endlessly into their mobile phones in public places or while driving a car.

This morning I read a short piece from the "Press Trust of India" in which information about the effects of cell phone towers on honeybees is revealed.   A direct quote from the piece titled "Mobile Towers Threatening Honeybees in Kerala".      "Mobile towers are posing a threat to honeybees in Kerala with the elctromagnetic radiation from mobile towers and cell phones having the potential to kill worker bees that go out to collect nectar from flowers, says a study."

The article goes on to say that a dramatic plunge in beehive population has been reported from different parts of Kerala. (Kerala is an Indian state at the southwestern tip of India) The piece also states that if the mushrooming cell phone towers keep being built in the state, the honeybee population could be wiped out within one decade.   Dr. Sainudeen Pattazhy is the author of the study that the article is based upon.

It makes me remember all the news about one year ago about the similar plunge in honeybee populations in parts of this country, especially in California where fruit and nut growers, as well as truck gardeners depend on  the Honeybees to pollinate their crops each year.  On the Buffalo Bluff a year ago this spring, we did not have honeybees at the time our appletrees were in blossom with the result that we had no apples one year ago.  If this is a scientifically accurate study and I have no reason to believe that it is not…..cell phones and the resultant infestation of the ugly towers all over our country have negative implications in yet one more way.  Will our addiction to cell phone use overwhelm the honeybee populations so badly needed in our agricultural crops???    Unfortunately, cell phones, like many other "trendy devices" of the past, might prove to be dangerous and deadly in more than a few ways if the trend continues with the constant building of cell phone towers to satisfy the heavier and heavier use of mobile phones.   Our landscape and our horizon in just a small part of our county has been desecrated by the ugliness of cell phone towers coming up along Highway 10 constantly.  Along with Ebenezer Scrooge of literary fame, I say "Bah! Humbug!" to the burgeoning cell phones in our nation.  

MY DITCHES ARE TURNING PURPLE!       No,I do not own the ditches along our road,but I think of them as "my ditches" because about this time of the summer, I go out and find various wildflowers that begin to bloom at the end of the summer.   As I drove home this morning from a trip to Detroit Lakes, I observed the "purple-ing of the ditches" along our county road……wild liatris is blooming, wild asters are beginning to bloom and soon the restored native Big Bluestem grass, which has proliferated in the roadside ditches from fields where it has been planted in buffer zones, will be turning the deep blue-purple that gives it its common name.  There is nothing as beautiful as a field or a ditch-ful of Big Bluestem when the sun begins to set and turns the heads of the native grass into a purple-blue evening- is- coming- scene…..just as the skies turn the same colors after sunset, Big Bluestem gives off the colors of evening from its fields and ditches where it grows more and more with every passing summer.  I am still not sure how it has proliferated…..maybe by rhizomes underground or maybe by birds who eat the seeds and "deposit" them via bird poop in so many locations away from the original buffer strips where it was deliberately planted.  

The verbal description of the undisturbed prairie grass that the early pioneers crossed in southern Minnesota and the  Dakota territories comes to my mind and I can hear the description of the grass blowing in the wind:  "Swish-ah…..Swish-ah……" as the covered wagon passes over it.   I read this description years ago in GIANTS IN THE EARTH by Ole Rolvaag….a classic pioneer novel of early  settlement in the Dakota territory by Norwegians who came from an island off the coast of Norway.  What a cultural shock to encounter the Big Bluestem prairies of the Midwest by people who only knew of fishing along rocky island shores in northwestern Norway!!   If you love complex pioneer novels, you should read GIANTS IN THE EARTH,  at least once in your life.  I have read it over and over through the years, especially in the deep cold and desolation of winter when I read about Beret’s increasing melancholy as she is trapped inside a sod hut with black walls and one small window.  Having experienced the effects of S.A.D.(Seaonal Affective Disorder) I can understand her desire  to get into her mother’s trunk and curl up inside, waiting for……….I better not give it away in case there are those who want to read the novel.

Yesterday in a burst of newfound energy and stamina (due to the gorgeous days of sunshine and cool air) I mowed a good part of the lawn that cannot be reached by the big lawn tractor that MBF uses to mow the acres of grass he cuts.  I also did the best I could to discourage the lawn grubs that might be under certain parts of the grass and turned on and moved a sprinkler multiple times.  I should have done this job in June but since I did not see any "June Beetles" I neglected to spread the lawn grub treatment.  Usually in the early fall, if there are grubs under the turf, familes of skunks show up in the dark of night and dig up the lawn and feed on the grubs.  They are good natural pest-reducers but it is a lot of work for the people involved to repair the skunk excavations on the lawn grass.  MBF has trapped so may skunks this summer that we may have seriously reduced the skunk population around the Bluff.     Time will tell.   If I get up one morning and look out on the lawn that resembles a mini-plowed field, I will know.   Speaking of plowing, I saw my first chisel plowed wheat field this morning and felt sad at the sign of oncoming Fall and Winter seasons.  Our springs and summers are much too short around here.