YA: I’m going to Costco. Do you want anything?
VS: Can you get me a box of my sausages? (Vegetarian – good price at Costco)
YA: (rolling eyes, clearly hoping I hadn’t wanted anything).
VS: Wait, I’ve got a $20 you can take.
YA: Can’t you just Venmo me? (Online money transfer app)
VS: But I’ve got the cash right here.
YA: I don’t want cash.
VS: What? (You have to imagine the incredulous tone of voice here.)
What has surprised you this week?
Daughter got an 8 week old kitten last night to keep her very needy 3 year old tabby company and, well, because he is adorable. You can see him in the header photo. His name is Percy.
The older cat was not too happy, as you can imagine. She hissed and hid. Daughter is keeping them separated, bonding with Percy while Pippin is locked up, and then lavishing Pippin with love and treats while Percy is locked up. She plans to gradually introduce them this weekend. Pippin is already showing some benign interest in the little one as the day has progressed. The little one is playful and cuddly and wants to climb everything.
We successfully integrated cats and terriers into our home. Our only failure was trying to bring a young Fox Terrier into our home with an elderly Welsh Terrier. The Fox Terrier turned out to be an anxiety biter who attacked the Welshie at every opportunity and who nearly killed the older dog one night. The vet recommended putting the Fox Terrier down, and we did. The whole situation still makes me sad.
What have been your experiences integrating creatures (even two legged ones) into your home?
Husband grew up in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, where there are lots of people with German, Dutch, and Eastern European names. That does not help him for my challenge to try and pronounce names in the Rock County Star Herald. This week the paper listed all the high school graduates in the county, and he again marveled at the weird and contrary ways names are pronounced in southwest Minnesota.
There are a lot of people of Dutch and German heritage in the area, yet the rules for name pronunciation are different than in Sheboygan. Why, for example, is Stenenga pronounced “sten en gay”, yet Steensma is pronouced just like it is spelled? Other vowel combinations with “ui” also are also different than in Wisconsin. He finds the pronunciation of “ue” even more vexing. In Sheboygan, the “u” would invariably be silent, and the pronunciation would be the same as long e. In Rock County, the “e” would typically be silent, with a long “u”. Names with two identical vowels, like “aa” and “oo” are pronounced the same in both places. I think one reason is Rock County’s settlement by immigrants from Ostfriesland, in northern Germany/Netherlands, where the language is a mixture of Dutch, German, and old English, and where Plattdeutsch is a popular dialect. There are also lots of people of Norwegian heritage in Rock County, unlike in Sheboygan. Husband grew up with people who had names like Hopfensberger and whose ancestors came from Bavaria. I find the lingering linguistic differences fascinating.
Husband noticed, too, that many of the graduates had East Asian, South Asian, and Hispanic names, and he described Rock County as a crucible in which disparate peoples are all mixed up together to make something good. He just wants to make sure that if we move there, he will know how to pronounce the names.
Tell about your linguistic challenges and the linguistic oddities you notice.
Husband loves to grill. Until last Thursday he had three grills. One is a classic Weber. One is a Kamado ceramic grill. The third was a large Charbroil that he has had for about 30 years. He discovered last week that the bottom was rusting out, and that it needed to be replaced. All the grills are fueled with wood or charcoal. He dislikes gas grills, and I would be afraid for him using such volatile fuel. He uses each grill for different grilling purposes. I don’t even try to understand.
The Charbroil was too heavy for us to get in the back of his pickup to take to the landfill, so he got a local moving company to take it away. It was a sad day. He has an emotional attachment to his grills. He had a new grill in mind, and in about 11 weeks, a fancy, schmancy, Yoder Cheyenne griller/smoker will arrive from Kansas City. It will arrive all assembled. It looks like a train engine, weighs 315 pounds, and has a separate compartment on one end for the fuel. It has a chimney. He got all the bells and whistles on it. Happy Father’s Day!
I like grilled food, and he is expanding his repertoire to make his grills do smoking and tandoori cooking. We aren’t big picnic people and we don’t eat outside much but sometimes food just tastes better out of doors.
What do you like to take on a picnic? What do you like to grill? Got any good barbecue recipes or stories?
On this day in 1896, Henry Ford drove his first Ford through the streets of Detroit. I can only imagine what people thought when they saw it. I wonder what the horses in the city did and thought when they saw it.
My first car after I got my license was a little Nash Rambler that was missing the pedal on the foot feed, so I had to press my foot on the metal bar the foot feed would have been attached to had it been there. My first real car was a Chevy Chevette that my parents got for me when I was in college. Now we drive a Honda van and a Toyota pickup. My father loved to buy and sell cars, and the last car he bought was a Subaru when he was 93. He said it was the nicest car he ever had. I am glad he got a chance to drive it.
What was your first vehicle? Do you have any vehicular prejudices?
The wooden frame in the header photo is one of three that Husband and I constructed on Sunday. They will have poultry netting stapled to them and then will be connected to posts in the garden and will serve as pea fences. They are 12 X 5 feet and we constructed them with cedar slats, bolts, washers, and nuts. I got a new Dewalt battery operated drill out of the deal.
It took us somewhat longer to construct them than we anticipated, as we had the invaluable help of a 4 year old boy and his 6 year old sister, our next door neighbors. (Their dad was constructing wooden planters in his garage, and I think he was glad the kids were with us.) They find whatever we do to be absolutely fascinating, and they were so excited to help us. They fitted the bolts with washers, put the bolts through the holes, waited impatiently as Husband and I fitted the slats together, and then they secured the bolts with another washer and nuts. It took some patience on our part to make our instructions clear and wait while those little fingers got everything connected and screwed down, but they were having so much fun!
The 4 year old is quite a conversationalist, and asked lots of questions about all sorts of things, each question beginning “Mrs. Dr. Boomgaarden, what is . . . .?” His sister assured me that they would help us when ever we needed them, and would we be home working outside tomorrow, and then her brother cemented our friendship by asking when we were going to have a sleepover at our house? He seemed to think that it was a very reasonable thing to do. I told him we couldn’t because Husband snored and no one would be able to sleep, but I was very touched. We must be friends!
Tell about some of your friends and what makes them special. Who were your favorite adults when you were a child?
We were asked to go fishing on Lake Sakakawea on Saturday with a colleague and his sweetie. He is in his 70’s, still works at my agency as a psychologist, and loves to fish. He has a rather nice boat, about 20 feet long, with a live well, windshield, and comfortable seating. It had been a couple of years since we had gone fishing with him, and he was excited to spend some time with us. He has been working from home since the virus struck, and has felt rather isolated. It is a two hour drive up to the lake on oilfield highways, and we planned to leave about 6:00 am. We were in charge of the lunch, and I had prepared Baboon Joanne’s Southwest Salad, rhubarb muffins, banana bread, and ham and beef sandwiches.
At 5:00 AM, our friend phoned and said he was in too much pain from bone spurs in his neck, and he had to cancel the trip. I felt sorry for him, but I was so happy we didn’t have to go. I don’t like boats, I especially don’t like boats on big lakes, and I find fishing unutterably boring. Husband likes to fish, and I didn’t want to disappoint him or our friend, so I was prepared to go along and do my best to have a good time. I may not have had any siblings, but I don’t want to act like the stereotypical spoiled only child. (Only children aren’t any more spoiled and self centered than any other children, as a rule, but we have to combat these inaccurate stereotypes.)
We spent the day in the garden Saturday and got a lot of things done around the house. We had lots of good food already prepared. It was a good day.
When have you been relieved lately? What do you put up with out of love and affection?
Last summer, we had some torrential rains, and our downspouts were clogged with leaves. The water poured over the side of the rain gutter on the southeast corner of the house and made its way into an egress window and damaged the drywall and carpet in a basement bedroom. We made certain that the downspouts were clear after that, and I checked as recently as last month and they seemed clear.
On Saturday night, we had a thunderstorm and sure enough, the water was again pouring over the rain gutter on the southeast side of the house, so I alerted husband to come and get the ladder and the nifty, ratcheted downspout cleaner and help avert a disaster. Before he would go out, though, he insisted on finding and donning a certain 40 year old jean jacket. He says it is good for keeping the rain off. So are his other coats, but no, it had to be this one. I was frantic, and he wanted to be dressed for success! We cleared out the gutter in time. I suppose I should be grateful he risked life and limb on a metal ladder on the roof when it was raining and lightening, but honestly!
What article of clothing has or had special significance for you? Averted any disasters lately?
Photo credit: Justin Casey
My sister is grumpy today.
For the first twelve years of her life, her birthday was a holiday. No school or parents working on her day. Her day. Then in 1971, Memorial Day became one of the “Monday holidays” which means that her birthday only lands on a holiday every seven or eight years. This year, when it falls almost a full week before her birthday, is one that she particularly dislikes. Even after five decades, she still takes this personally.
It never bothered me as a kid that she had her birthday on a holiday. My folks didn’t actually make a bigger deal about it because of the holiday and I still got to go to the pool (in Missouri, the public pools
usually opened on Memorial Day). I still got the dinner of my choice and a birthday cake with lots of frosting. All good, even with no holiday in sight.
My birthday is in August. There are only two months during the year that don’t have big, recognized holidays in them. August is one of them. June is the other, but I always thought June redeemed itself by having the end of school. And, of course, since I moved to Minnesota, I have always counted the State Fair as a holiday, thereby making August one of the best holiday months.
Even though we won’t be having the Great Minnesota Get Together this year, I don’t hold August responsible for that. But my sister probably would.
If you could move your birthday to a holiday, which holiday would you choose? And why?
William and Kate say the kids are out of control. Kurt and Goldie are fighting in public and have called off the wedding. Mutant wasps have arrived in the country via Washington – the same as Covid-19. Hillary has just six months to live. Ted Cruz’s father linked to JFK assassination.
Where was I?
Trail Baboon 