Today’s post comes from Verily Sherrilee

I love the Fair.

I’m unapologetic about my love of the State Fair. I know that it’s not everyone’s cup of tea but from the first time I walked through the arches on Snelling, I was hooked.  I love the animals, I love all the educational buildings, I love the butter heads, I love the art, I love the parade.  But most of all I love the people-watching.

This year I went to the Fair three times: once all by myself, once with Young Adult and once with friends for Garrison Keillor’s show. I have a fun memory from each day.

On opening day, as I was sitting on the curb, waiting for the parade to start, a father and son came to sit in the space next to me. As they sat, the son (probably 11 or 12) let out a huge groan.  I couldn’t help but laugh and so did the dad.  I said to him “I expect to hear that kind of groan from myself or from your dad, but not from someone your age.”  Without missing a beat, the kid leaned over and said “I’m a catcher.  I have old knees.”  I almost snorted by water up my nose.

On the day with Young Adult, we did the Bunny Barn first. I call the Young Adult “The Bunny Whisperer” because she has a way with the rabbits. Most of the rabbits sit near the back of their cages so that they can’t be reached.  Young Adult slips her hand into the cage and then waits.  One after another, the bunnies move to her side of the cage and let her pet them.  She probably has an 80% success rate.  It’s amazing.   Of course this means that we spend A LOT of time in the Bunny Barn and she usually suggests that we go home with a rabbit.  At one point I turned to her and said again “No, we can’t have a bunny.”  She replied, “I know, it would just be fodder for Guinevere.”  I was so excited that she knew the word “fodder” that I almost wept!

On Friday I got to the fair in time for the parade. As the little kids’ farm train went by, in the last car I noticed a little boy (probably 8 or 9) doing the Vulcan salute.  I quickly flashed the salute in return; his face lit up and he gave me a huge thumb’s up.  Finally my ability to do “live long and prosper” has come in handy!

It was the best fair ever!

 Are you a fair person or not?

Today’s post comes from Clyde in Mankato

My mother took this picture in about 1954 or 5. It shows yellowstone mallets, among the largest steam engines ever built, right before they were replaced by diesels. This is in the railroad yards in Two Harbors. The ore docks would be behind my mother and me as she took this picture. I remember being there when she took it.

The end of the daily rain of soot on the town was appreciated after they were gone. But I missed their pulsing throb as I went to sleep at night, on those summer nights when the wind was right and my bedroom window was open.

Very few of these engines are left, none working. One sits just to the right of this picture. If you have been to Two Harbors, you have likely seen it. Another is in the wonderful train museum at the old depot in Duluth.

Are you a lover of trains?

Shoreline of Lake Sakakawea by David Becker CC BY 2.0  via Wikimedia Commons

Today’s post comes from Renee in North Dakota

I have little experience with lakes, despite being born and raised in Minnesota. Rock County is one of about three counties in Minnesota with no natural lakes. We have gravel pits south of Luverne that have been turned into fishing holes, and where I caught my first sunfish with my dad. My dad loved going up to Lake of the Woods to visit his uncle and catch walleye, but I was seldom involved on those trips, so I had very little opportunity to enjoy the delights of lake life. In my imagination, a real lake is one surrounded by trees and quaint summer homes with docks leading down to blue water and little boats.

I now live in a part of the country with no natural lakes. We have dams out here, little ponds on dammed up little rivers that have been stocked with fish. People love to go fishing on them, except now that the blue-green algae season is upon us. They also have “lake homes” on some of them, which usually turn out of to be mobile homes set on grassy plots with no trees for miles. Many of these dams were built  by the Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation  in efforts to control flooding and improve agricultural irrigation and water supply. The grand example of our “lake” here is Lake Sakakawea, formed by the Garrison Dam.  According to Wikipedia:

” In order to construct the dam, the US government needed to purchase 152,360 acres  in the Fort Berthold Reservation that would be flooded by the creation of Lake Sakakawea. These lands were owned by the Three Affiliated Tribes, who had been living there for perhaps more than a millennium. Threatened by confiscation under eminent domain the tribes protested. The tribes achieved remuneration, but lost 94% of their agricultural land. in 1947, when they were forced to accept $5,105,625, increased to $7.5 million in 1949. The final settlement legislation denied tribes’ right to use the reservoir shoreline for grazing, hunting, fishing, or other purposes, including irrigation development and royalty rights on all subsurface minerals within the reservoir area.  About 1700 residents were forcibly relocated, some to New Town, North Dakota. Thus Garrison Dam almost totally destroyed the traditional way of life for the Three Affiliated Tribes.”

The lake is big and butt ugly.  There are no natural beaches. The 1300 miles of shoreline  are rough and abrupt. The depth can change suddenly  from 10 feet to 70 feet. Sometimes when the water is low you can see the roofs of buildings that were submerged when water filled the dam.  It is the largest fish hatchery in the world. I was fishing there a couple of weeks ago with fishing-fanatic friends. All I caught was a tiny perch and the trolling motor.  My line was wrapped so tightly around the motor we had to head back to shore and go home. People here think this “lake” is just wonderful. They call it “the Big Water”. I want to yell at them “That is not a lake. It is a big tub of water with fish in it”!

The Corps of Engineers recently decided to give many thousands of acres of shoreline back to the Three Affiliated Tribes. These are the tribes husband works for, and the families of many of our native friends were displaced and lost land when the Dam was built. There is a certain amount of anxiety in the campers and fishers about this. The Tribes are trying to reassure everyone, saying that people will still have the same access to the lake.  It interests me how differently people see the lake. Some see it as a sportsman’s paradise. Others see it as a constant reminder of trauma and loss. People in communities down stream depend on the dam to keep the Missouri River from flooding their homes. I see it as a fake, a sham. I admit I also depend on it, as it is our city’s source of really good water. The lake leaves me conflicted. 

What is your favorite lake (or fish) story?

Today’s post comes from Verily Sherrilee

One of the places that Young Adult and I like to visit together is the Zoo. We like all kinds of zoos and animal parks, but our favorite is what I still refer to as “the new zoo”, meaning the Apple Valley Zoo. Even as a small child, YA loved the zoo and was always well behaved as well as pretty flexible about changing schedules, mealtimes and even nap time.  I wish I could take credit for her great behavior, but I think it was all about her!

Unfortunately many babies and toddlers aren’t up to a long hot day at the zoo. I feel a lot of sympathy for these families that are melting down and I stay out of everybody’s business. Nobody needs a stranger telling their children how to behave.  I even keep my mouth shut when people nearby are spouting nonsense like when we were standing at the moose exhibit and the woman next to me said to her child “Look at the reindeer.”  (I’m not making that up.)

So it surprised me when an adult started knocking on the glass of the Amur Leopard enclosure and I immediately turned and said “Don’t do that!” in a loud voice. It just flew out of me and when he immediately said “OK” I felt bad that I’d been so quick and loud. Then he turned to the group he was with and groused “There aren’t any signs saying not to do that” in a voice just loud enough that it carried over to where YA and I were standing. My bad feeling evaporated immediately and my behavior started to circle the drain.  As we walked out of the area I said “What kind of ADULT needs a sign to keep him from knocking on the glass and disturbing the animals?”  Of course I raised my voice for all to hear.

As we walked back down the Grizzly Coast, I wondered if Young Adult would give me grief, but as she always does, she took the stranger’s AND my bad behavior in stride!

When do YOU want to correct the behavior of others?

I’m not a sports person. While I know the difference between the teeny white ball (golf), the small white ball (baseball) and the large white ball (volleyball) as well as few of the other kinds but that’s about it. Don’t ask me about drafts or leagues or even what team plays from what city or state. With the exception of the Vikings and the Packers, I’m clueless.

So it surprises me every four years that I love to watch the Olympics. When I was a young married person, we had a little bitty TV in our little bitty apartment and we actually rented a big console job for the 2+ weeks of the Olympics. I usually root for the USA, but if we’re not in a particular heat or contest, then I go for the underdog. Over the weekend, I cheered big time when the Serbian rowers came back after their catastrophic boat sinking the day before and I really want Catalina Ponor (the only Romanian woman gymnast this year) to do well.

But I do have a few questions:

Beach volleyball.  Why do the women’s teams wear what are basically Band-aids as their uniforms but the men’s teams wear big long shorts and tank tops?

Gymnastics.  Why do the women wear leotards that look like they’re painted onto their bodies while the men wear loose baggy shorts or long pants?

Diving.  And reversing the trend, how do men keep on those little tiny speedos when they’re hitting the water at 30 miles per hour?

Grunting. Why do men tense up their arms and shoulders and grunt/yell when they win a point or match like Maori warriors? (I’ve noticed this is a man thing – very little grunting/yelling from women.)

Commentators.  Why don’t they vet the commentators before they go live?  You’d hardly know that Nastia Liukin is there; seems like she doesn’t speak unless asked a question. Why is Ryan Seacrest in Rio? I didn’t realize he had beach volleyball knowledge to impart. And don’t get me started about Al Trautwig and his adoption comment.

Waiting around. Why is so much TV coverage spent watching athletes wait around?  I really don’t need to see 15 minutes a night of Michael Phelps wearing his headphones and scowling off into space.

What questions do you have about the Olympics?