Category Archives: Uncategorized

2025, Art, Gatherings, Travel, Uncategorized

Mazatlán!

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Today’s post is from Krista.

I’ve traveled internationally more in the past year than ever before in my life. I’m not used to it. I get anxious over airports and flying, but I’m getting better at it.

My friends, Jim and Nancy, invited me to join them for a week in Mazatlan. They extended the invitation last fall. I’ve been trying to get some of my older friends to go places with me since I retired, but it’s been like herding cats, so when Jim and Nancy invited me I accepted immediately.

I arrived at Mazatlan on Saturday afternoon. Jim provided detailed instructions, and I had them in hand, for getting through the airport, getting a taxi, and getting to their place. I was able to give the driver the address in Centro Historico in Spanish. After an exciting cab ride through the city, Jim and Nancy met me at the gate of Villa Serena. It’s a block of apartments with a maze of tiled outdoor hallways, pools, birds and trees. Their apartment was on the third floor and had more windows, fresh air, and natural light than most. They told me it was the biggest apartment in the place. I had my own room and a shared bathroom.

There were hummingbirds and orioles at a feeder hanging outside the windows. The red tiled areas in front of their white washed apartment were open to blue sky, and the tops of palm trees. It was colorful and lovely. There was a view of a central courtyard in front of a large, golden cathedral. There were bells chiming frequently throughout the day, often on the quarter hour, especially on Sunday. No one can figure out the pattern for the chiming, or the reason.

One evening, just after sunset, there was a tiny gecko on the window screen. It was only about an inch and a half long. It charmed me to my toes.

Jim and Nancy are friendly, outgoing people. They have lots of friends there. Most of the people I met were from Mexico, followed by British Columbia. There was one couple from Prince Edward Island. I didn’t meet any other Minnesotans. Some of the people who stay at Villa Serena gather for a daily happy hour. Jim and Nancy attend it sometimes, but not while I was there. I met lots of people and learned lots of card or dice games, including a fun game called Mexican Train.

We walked a lot. We walked to the Mercado several times. Nancy bought lots of fresh food there: fruits, veggies, spices, and some large pieces of red snapper. I was fascinated by all the things there were to see, including a pig head with eyes.

We walked a few miles to a beach called Stone Island one day and spent the day there. It was lovely. There were stray dogs who were friendly but so thin. It wasn’t hard to give some of my quesadilla con pollo to a sweet dog with warm brown eyes who put her chin on my lap. I wanted to bring her home with me. I looked for sand dollars but didn’t find any. Some people swam in the ocean. I didn’t swim, but I did wade a little. I identified some birds, including an American oystercatcher, an orchard oriole, and a cinnamon hummingbird.

Nancy and I walked to the “Malecon” one day and just walked along the beach. I was struck by the persistence and determination of the many people who approached us asking if we wanted refrigerator magnets or sunglasses or blankets or ball caps with visors. A young girl selling pistachios said “Pleeease?” We gave a little boy some pesos but didn’t take the candy he offered. He ran away calling, “Mama! Mama!” I learned to say, “No, gracias,” and keep walking, even though the disparity was hurting my heart.

They’re getting ready for Carnaval there. There were huge, colorful, papier-mâché statues on the Malecon. Nancy took my picture with my arm around a bronze statue of John Lennon, the other three lined up behind me. I don’t think the likenesses were very good, but it was a fun memento of the trip.

We went for gelato in the evenings. It was really beautiful walking through the squares at night. There was music and light everywhere. The gelato was delicious!

There was a lot of noise, all night, every night. There was music, people laughing and singing, dogs barking, horns honking, and roosters crowing. It took three nights before I could sleep through it.

I brought my mandolin along, packed tightly in my big checked bag, so Jim and Nancy and I played music a few times. One day we took our instruments and walked a mile or so to a friend’s apartment. He played fiddle and we had a great time playing music together.

On Friday late afternoon, we began hearing the explosions of fireworks. It was very close and loud. Jim said it was probably coming from the central square area in front of the cathedral (an area that we passed through often). There was still daylight so we couldn’t really see the fireworks, but we could certainly hear them. That was followed by some up-tempo music, then a very loud, very long and colorful parade. Nancy thought maybe they had chosen the princess for Carnaval, but we really didn’t know for sure. The festivities lasted two or three hours.

We played Yahtzee every afternoon, then played music, then went out for gelato. They told me they weren’t very exciting and had a routine they followed. It was fine for me. I’m just glad to go somewhere like that. I liked that we were in the central historic district. I got a big dose of culture, language, music, and art, and I enjoyed it very much.


What activities do you enjoy with your friends? Ever played Mexican Train? Where in Mexico would you want to visit?

2025, Art, Farming Update, Health, home, Uncategorized

ABCDEFG

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Today’s Farming Update comes from Ben.

I never used to drink coffee. Notice the past-tense there. This week I’ve had it two different mornings. It started about a month ago with a morning meeting and all they had was coffee, so I had some in a Styrofoam cup that was more cream and sugar than coffee. I learned coffee in a foam cup gets cold really fast. Like, REALLY fast.
And then this past Tuesday at the college was AED day. Nope, not the defibrillator thing even though that’s what we all thought of. All Employee Development day. And again, coffee. In a foam cup. I do tend to drink it fast in this case. When I make tea at home and put it in my 20-ounce travel mug, I might not finish that until 2 o’clock in the afternoon and it’s still warm-ish. But the coffee I drank fast because I didn’t want it to get any colder. And then on Thursday morning, I stopped at Kwik Trip, and there I was looking at all the coffee flavors. I tried a machine that was supposed to mix French vanilla and caramel and something else, but when I hit the ‘dispense’ button, I got about 2 drips and that was it. Even their cardboard cups with a lid on it didn’t keep it warm for long. I don’t know that I need to get addicted to coffee right now. I’m not sure that’s what I need in my life at this moment.

I heard an ad on the radio say something about remember when the hardest thing in your life was whether to file your Marshall Tucker album under M or T?

I had the crate full of records. I may have even had two crates. And while I never had Marshall Tucker, I remember a few bands and not being sure how to alphabetize them. Pink Floyd, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin. I never alphabetize my CDs, but the records I did. I kept the plastic on them, the vinyl went inside the sleeve, placed back in the jacket with the opening to the top. Yep, I had to take the sleeve out of the jacket to get the record out. But that was OK, because I always liked the liner notes.
Certain record album covers were pretty racy. Was it Queen’s, ‘Jazz’, that opened up to all the naked girls on bicycles? Pretty hot stuff for a teenage boy. The Car, Candy-O was another good one.

It seems like our bathroom and laundry room construction is pretty well done. Waiting on the countertops, and of course the plumber and the electrician to do their final connections. They did the countertop measurements on Wednesday and I think they said a week to 10 days for that. And there will be some tile to finish once the countertop is installed.
We’re just hoping to get the washing machine back soon. We’re down to rationing our socks and underwear. We’re all kind of tired of this disruption. It sure does look nice though. It doesn’t even look like it belongs in this house. I think Kelly’s plan is to paint this weekend. I’ll post a picture once it’s finished.

Out in the shop, I installed Snirt Stoppers on Monday evening. See the header photo. A Snirt Stopper to keep out snow and dirt is just an extra piece of weather stripping that can go all around the garage door. At this point I only needed it on the bottom. The concrete that I had poured in the shop is not exactly level or flat. When I met the guy that did the concrete, Matthew, he had a real good business going and I used them at the theater for a couple jobs. When they got to doing my shop, he was starting a new branch of the business down in Florida and had left his brother, Max, in charge. It’s unfortunate that Max was not up to the task. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m still thrilled to have concrete in here, but they didn’t do a perfect job by any means. Sounds like Matthew is now divorced, the company went out of business, and Matthew went to Florida and started over. So, a bit of a gap in a spot of the floor and the need for a Snirt Stopper.

I have been getting things cleaned up in the shop. I even revealed part of the workbench the other day! I moved out some stuff I’m not using, vacuumed a big part of the floor, and my fancy dancy lights were delivered on Wednesday, so I just need to get the electrician back to get the garage door opener and the lights all connected. It’s all coming together.

https://youtu.be/crMeSKCCkjo?si=NeCKlkijkaQtNoKq

TIPS FOR DRINKING COFFEE?

FRAMED ALBUM COVERS?

2025, Family, Health, History, Kids, Uncategorized

Running In the Family

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When our daughter was in college, it never failed that every time she came home at the end of a semester she would spend at least a day lying on the sofa with a low grade fever. I attributed it to her body’s reaction to the stress of finals and assignments.

Last Saturday after my last full time day of work, I was felled both by a flare up of sciatica and a low grade fever that has lasted all this week. Hmm? Could daughter and I have similar reactions to stress? I think so. She probably inherited it from me.

Both our children teasingly blame me for their propensity to Generalized Anxiety Disorder. From their father they inherited flat feet. I have lumbar scoliosis like my maternal grandmother. So does one of my cousins. I did not inherit my father’s athleticism, but I did his musicality. Goodness only knows where I got A- blood type. I did not inherit my maternal grandmother’s ability to do complex math in her head. Our grandson seems to have that ability, and is proud to tell me that in Grade 1 he can do algebra in his head and is in an enrichment Math program. It is hard at times to know what is nurture and what is nature, but however our forebears hand things down to us, it can make our lives interesting.

What did you inherit or wish you had or hadn’t had inherited from your forebears? Ever read Running In The Family by Michael Ondaatje?

2025, animals, home, Nature, Uncategorized

Close Encounters

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Husband has been keeping the bird feeder in the back yard full this winter. Once he fills it, the sentinel chickadee who sits in the lilac hedge and watches him sounds the news, and pretty soon the feeder and the ground below are full of birds. They swoop into the feeder area in groups, and others wait their turn in the lilac hedge and the grapevines on our deck.

We have two very tall spruce trees in the front yard, and many birds hang out there, especially the Eurasian Collared Doves. They also visit the feeder and eat the seed that falls onto the ground. They nest in the spruces and we hear hungry baby doves all summer.

One day last week I was backing out of the driveway when I spotted an American Kestrel sitting on the ground in one of our flower beds right by the sidewalk. It was devouring a dove. The kestrel didn’t seem to mind me at all. It was intent on the fat dove. It always amazes me how small kestrels are. I love the bluish grey on the head and the checkerboard pattern on its underside and legs. It finally flew off with the dove in its claws.

This is not the first kestrel we have had. I have seen them swoop into the spruce trees on one side and emerge seconds later on the other side carrying off a squawking dove. It gets pretty exciting here sometimes!

Any close encounters for you this past couple of weeks? What is your favorite raptor?

2025, education, Gatherings, Music, Songs, Uncategorized

School Dance

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Our community of 28,000 people has four Catholic churches and a very large parochial school system. The churches were originally started for and attended by the various immigrant groups who settled here. The Germans from Russia and the German Hungarians attended St. Joseph’s Church on the south side (less affluent section) of town by the railroad tracks and stockyards. The more affluent Czech immigrants attended St. Wenceslaus, north of the tracks, and the most affluent attended St. Patrick’s Church in the downtown area. The 1970’s oil boom led to a need for another church, Queen of Peace, built in the area of new houses near the interstate.

The Catholic School system has a big Mardi Gras celebration/fundraiser every your during the first weekend of February, ostensibly close to when Mardi Gras happens, although this year it was way earlier than Mardi Gras since Easter is so late this year. The festivities take place at the Catholic High School, just a block from our house. We have never attended, but I understand that every year it is the same with games of chance, big dinners, cakewalks, and fun activities for children. This year, however, they added something quite surprising-dance lessons.

Local dance teachers came to teach Line dancing and Swing dancing, and most surprising, Salsa dancing. We have a fair number of immigrants from Central and South America, and a group of them started a Salsa dance company that is apparently very popular and booked way out for for engagements. They also perform every December 12 at Queen of Peace in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe. I found a video of Salsa dancing, and it just doesn’t fit the conservative stereotype of our Catholic community.

Can you imagine this happening at a Mass? It sounds like everyone at Mardi Gras had fun learning the moves. What next?

What are your memories of school dances? What is your favorite way to dance?

2025, animals, education, pets, Theatre, Travel, Uncategorized

Home Away From Home

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Last year our local college terminated the Theatre, Music, and English departments. There is a rather fine auditorium at the college that has remained pretty silent and unused for the last while. It is in the main building on campus and is surrounded by the library and classrooms. There are multiple ways of accessing the other rooms and hallways from the auditorium.

The Badlands Opera Company is putting on Into The Woods in a couple of months. They often use our church sanctuary for their productions, but this time they are using the college auditorium. Last week the Opera Company folks paid a visit to the auditorium to scope out the place and see what they would need to do to get it up and running. There is a loft above the stage that was used for costumes and props. It was left in incredible disarray by the theatre faculty as a sort of “screw you” to the college administration. Much to the Opera Company folks surprise, they noticed a cat sticking its head from out of the loft ceiling. They also noticed a litter box and the personal effects of someone who had been squatting in the loft.

They phoned the police and campus security, who secured the auditorium and found another cat. Both cats were taken to the city animal shelter. They also figured out who had been living in the loft and had him get his stuff out. I don’t know how long the guy had been living there. The college is upping its security. The Opera Company folks decided that they would only go to the auditorium in groups of three from now on. It was interesting that public comment indicated more concern about the welfare of the cats than the fact that someone had been living in the theatre loft. I hope they are comfortable in their new digs at the animal shelter.

What is the most memorable hotel you ever stayed at? What hotel would you like to stay in if you got the chance.?

2024, Government, Uncategorized, Words

The New Normal

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Well, today is my last day of full time work. I will be off for a month, and then start part time work at my agency doing evaluations after March 1. I am quite happy about this. I have no unfinished  paperwork, and my therapy clients have been transferred to other therapists. Husband will keep on with his part time work. He is housed at my agency but is employed by the Human Service Center in Bismarck.

The past several months have been stressful because of getting all the necessary paperwork in to the the State Retirement office, applying for Medicare B and Social Security, and tying up loose ends. I had to formally apply for the part time position that was only advertised at my agency. I was the only applicant, as expected, and I had to dredge up my old resume, something that I haven’t had to use for a couple of decades. My colleagues are upset, and I find myself comforting them and reassuring them that I will only be gone for a month and then I will be back. That is getting tiresome. I feel  like a parent having to reassure anxious children. They also kept asking if I wanted a retirement party, but I said that since I was returning in a month that would be sort of silly. 

Everyone keeps asking me what I am going to do when I retire. My stock answer is “Clean the house”.  I have discovered that at my age I can either have a clean house or work full time. I can’t do both. People seem to expect that I will do exotic travel. My new normal will be to have more time to sort through our things preparatory to moving and feel less stressed.

How do you handle life transitions? What do you miss the most from your longest held job? What don’t you miss at all?

 

2025, Kids, pets, Uncategorized

Birthday Balloons

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YA doesn’t like a big fuss made about her birthday.  This year she did request a birthday breakfast at one of her favorite places – The Lowbrow – but that was it.

This is hard for me as I love making a fuss.  In my old job, everybody was in charge of someone else’s birthday.  Card and treat.  For the last several years of my employment, I had Norma’s birthday.  Norma loved having a fuss made over her almost as much as I loved making a fuss; we were a match made in heaven.  I miss those days.

Anyway, YA doesn’t ever want a gathering, a cake, a fuss.  About five years ago I made a banner that I hung up in the dining room and then I added balloons for her age.  She allowed this so that’s my go-to these days…. I hang up the banner and put up the balloons.

I figured out that year that I could extend the festivities a bit by celebrating the dog.  YA is 20 years older than Guinevere so all I had to do was take down the “2” balloon, leaving the “5” balloon up for the dog.  It’s the only fuss that Guinevere gets; she doesn’t even like the balloon.  If you take it down to show it to her, she runs out of the room. 

This year, with Guinevere turning 10, I did have to get a “1” balloon to make her age correct.  Seemed a little silly to buy a balloon for the dog, but I did it anyway.   Since I’m not making a big deal about Norma anymore, I guess the dog gets the attention!

Have you ever celebrated a pet’s birthday?  How?

2025, Government, Technology, Uncategorized, Weather

Jury Duty – Big Bust

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My guess is that I’ve thought more about jury duty than most folks.  With my dad being a trail lawyer and our shared love of Perry Mason, I’ve known about juries from childhood. 

About 35 years ago I got a summons for jury duty but despite sitting patiently in the basement of the Government Center every day for a week, I didn’t get impaneled.  On Friday afternoon they released me and said I didn’t need to return.

Right before Christmas I got the Summons in the mail.  Things have changed somewhat in 35 years (doh!).  The biggest change is that you don’t have to show up on Monday morning and sit all week.  You get assigned a group number and twice a day you check online (or call in) to see if your group needs to go in.  One thing that hasn’t changed much is the stipend.  It’s not enough to pay for parking downtown (which is just outrageous) so if you are on a fixed income, if you drive and park, it’s like you’re paying to get on a jury.  I took the bus.

My group didn’t get called in until mid-day on Thursday (12:15 notice that you have to be at the Government Center at 1:30).  The waiting area is now on the 24th floor and is referred to as “The Jar”.  Hmmmm.   There were 33 of us in the room; orientation took 15 minutes and at 2 p.m.  they pulled the first group of 22.  That left 11 of us, not enough for a jury. I assumed at some point 10 folks would come back and then there would be enough of us if they needed to call a new group.  Nope, at 2:15, the 11 of us left in the room were sent home and told we didn’t need to come back in the morning or the following week.  Our service is complete – we won’t be eligible again for 4 years.  (This puts me above the required age limit so I can decline with no reason if I get called again.)

45 minutes of jury duty.  I spent more time on the bus than doing my civic duty.  And if you add all the time I spent researching how it works these days, rates at downtown parking ramps, bus routes and senior discounts not to mention the weather….. way more prep time than jury time. 

I’m not begrudging the time – I do actually think of it as my civic duty.  I know I wouldn’t want to be on trial and have it go wrong because you couldn’t find enough folks for a jury.  Although I do think it would have been more fun to actually get impaneled and see a real trial!

Any good jury duty stories?

2025, Business, Travel, Uncategorized

House Sitting

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A high school classmate of mine has found a really interesting gig lately. She has become an international house and pet sitter. I had never heard of this before, but there are companies you can sign up with who certify you as a good and responsible person, and then allow you to travel to house sit for people. You have to pay for travel expenses, but you stay for free in the home you are caring for.

My friend is currently in the south of France in a lovely old farm house caring for a couple of dogs, two cats, and some chickens. She is working remotely at her job in the States while she is there. The most difficult part of her current stay is firing up the stoves that warm the house. This place has no central heating. When she isn’t working or hauling wood and coal, she is traveling to quaint villages and markets nearby. The only down side to her current trip is that her luggage first went to the Canary Islands before it came to her.

Her previous stay took her to Montreal for two weeks. There, and now in France she stated that the neighbors take a keen interest in her and take her all around to show her sights, feed her, and socialize. I don’t think she speaks French, but that hasn’t been a problem. I am curious where she will go next.

Where in the world would you like to house sit?