Independence Days Remembered Part II

In looking back over the years the thing that stands out from my youth is the absence of big fireworks displays. Growing up in Florida I do not recall ever going to a big fireworks event ever. That was something we saw on TV, but never in person. It's not that we didn't go, it just didn't happen. There were plenty of sparklers and firecrackers, cherry bombs and M80s, buzzing things and flying things, things that exploded and things that soared. But none of the really big stuff. 

Thus, I have no big kid memories of the 4th. Except for the time that Bill Leap and I soaked a bunch of cattails in gasoline and lit them as torches. I was about 13 or so. We soaked them for a week and they made a nice display in his back yard. 

Others. As an adult around 1982 I helped fire off the big stuff for the Pine Bluff Arkansas Jaycees event. It was fun launching them and seeing the fear and excitement on the face of my toddler daughter. 

Mid 90s. Richmond Virginia, with friends. One of the kids got sick, I recall. 

Mid 90's St. Louis. Watching at eye level from a conference room in the Boatmen's Bank building with colleagues and our families. 

2005 Approx. Lake Minnetonka. Excelsior Minnesota. Nice display and I remember the traffic and parking being not near as bad as expected. 

2010 I was in Buenos Aires on July 4th. Odd to be somewhere when this is just another day. 

2022 I better be able to remember last year's. Watched a nice display sitting in the back of my now gone Ford F150 with my wife. Parking lot of target store in Waconia, MN. 

Note: As I was writing this I recalled writing a similar post in the past. Here it is. https://midnightdiner.blogspot.com/2011/07/independence-days-remembered.html

The boat is in storage, the dock and lift are in the yard

 I know the best fishing is usually in the fall but I just cannot keep the boat setup much past Labour Day. Once we get to mid-September I am ready to pack it all in for the season. I have moved on, summer is over and it is time to get started on the whole long list of chores that must be done before the first snow flakes fall. 

I'm missing something, I know. There is a special time here in Minnesota to be out of doors and I am ditching it. Yes I am. Autumn is a trickster. It deceives. It looks like it will linger, yet rarely does. I don't think it actually exists. 

I have heard people who are natives say that they love the four seasons of this country. They cannot count. Knoxville has four seasons. St. Louis has four seasons. Baltimore has four seasons. Minnesota has two. Summer and Winter. There are three phases to winter. Cool Winter, followed by Deep Winter, followed by Soggy Winter. Summer has three phases as well. Soggy summer, Big Summer and Harvest Summer. Harvest Summer and Cool Winter overlap by about a week. Same for Soggy Winter and Soggy Summer, which only the lengthening of days allows one to distinguish between them. 

My boat is in storage in Scott County. Here is my boat lift and dock. Until May (Soggy Summer).

Labor Day

Since moving to Minnesota this day always turns my mind toward winter. Labor Day brings the mental checklist of things I have to do between now and the end of October. This year was no different.

• Bring the boat off the lake
• Pull in the dock and lift
• Plow under the garden
• Store the lawn furniture
• Put away the hose
• Get Christmas lights up
• Cut the grass one last time
• Fertilize the lawn
• Plant spring bulbs
• Schedule the snow plow guy
• Store the hammock
• Find the snowshoes
• Get plenty of blue stuff for windshield washers
• Crank up the snowblower
• Set out the jack o' lantern and other fall stuff

It is also the day when I eat my one Cinnabon of the year.

Identity

Off to the Cardinals/Twins game.

I have to confess that although I was born a mammal, my identity as a vertebrate has for many years been with a member of another animal group.

This guy....

I want to be hot

More snow is on the way this week. I am ready to be miserably hot.

T-shirt sticking to the back hot, sand in the wallet hot, walking on the sides of your bare feet hot, can't hold the steering wheel hot, 5am with sweat beads on your forehead hot, sunburn on the top of the head hot, bramble and stickers on your jeans hot, dust devils on a dirt road hot, asphalt melting/trout killing/blister raising hot. Yeah, nice and toasty.

I want to get burned by nails in my deck, I want to see roses shriveled up and brown in my back yard, I want birds to flock to my sprinkler, I want to need mosquito spray, I want to see flies around old watermelon rinds, I want to see blood mixed with sweat when i do yard work, I want to run out of cigars, i want bandaids to not be able to stick to me, I want to look like I just got out of the shower when I walk across a parking lot.

I want to cut the grass, clean out the garage, smoke a pork roast, slap a bloody mosquito onto the side of my neck, I want to sit in my back yard in shorts and a t-shirt and listen to baseball.

Aroma

I was walking through the Minneapolis skyway the other day on my way to work and passed a Subway restaurant that had just pulled out a tray of fresh baked bread. Immediately the smell reminded me of the lunchroom at Myrtle Grove Elementary School in Florida, where the lunch ladies made fresh rolls for the kids every day. Funny how certain smells, good or bad ones, can take you back to another place. Got me to thinking about other great smells,
2. Babies
3. Newly cut grass
4. Sun tan lotion on skin at the beach
5. Cigarettes and coffee, early in the morning
6. Gasoline
7. Old Spice after shave
8. Tomato plants in the South in July
9. A baseball glove

The Minnesota State Fair - I had to go

I realized over the weekend that I have lived in this state too long. It's growing on me.

There is an attraction to the Minnesota State Fair that is hard to explain. I suppose in every region there is some activity that people go a bit overboard. Some good, wholesome activity that people seem to take in just a bit too much. But if you don't do it, you somehow don't fit in with the natives. In St. Louis it had something to do with restaurants in the Italian section of town and/or grilling pork steaks, in Arkansas it was football. Here, it's the state fair.

Everyone goes, and I'm only exaggerating a bit. It is a topic of conversation at church, the beauty shop, bars, baseball games, business meetings. The questions is not "are you going to the fair this year?", it's "have you been to the fair, yet?"

I went this weekend, early, and watched the crowds roll in. I suppose in many ways it is like any other state fair, full of home baked pies, eating contests, 4H kids with prize animals on display, sideshows, junk food.

What's different is that the people here are some predominately Minnesotans. Few from out of state would come to this for a vacation. Only the toddlers are here for the first time, the rest of us have been coming year after year after year. Mom and Dad have baby in a stroller and you sense they are here not just for the fun but almost out of a sense of obligation. They have to bring junior to the fair, even if he can't hold his head up yet. They have to immerse him in this Gopher State stuff, and the fair is a big part of that. Somehow they might get in trouble if they don't. The state police will show up at the house, bag of cheese curds in one holster, a few rolls of lefsa in the other, and start asking questions, dontcha know.

My junk food foray this year was a simple one. Lefsa and butter, followed by an ice cream cone, and then about an hour later another ice cream cone. Speaking of butter.... all my trips to the fair have included a stop by the Dairy exhibit which includes the butter sculptures of the fair princess, Princess Kay of the Milky Way, and her court. This year I actually got to see a sculpture in progress. You hang around Minnesota long enough, you see people do all kind of things with butter that you wouldn't have thought possible, or necessary.

Punk Landscaping

My attempt to trim back our crabapple tree took on a life of it's own over the weekend. My punk landscaping turned this twenty foot tall orb of lush green leaves into the humble totem you see before you.

I have been known to take out trees from our yards over the years, usually because they are too close to the house. I hate for trees to touch my house, which is like installing an escalator and red carpet for squirrels.

On Sunday I started out by trying to take out some of the higher branches that were squeezing up against the roof. I thought I might be able to actually trim it, like a shrub. Deep down inside, I knew this was impossible, and that the tree would eventually end up as shown in this photo. Anyway, this was how I spent my afternoon, chain saw in one hand, tree limbs in the other. I filled 15 lawn waste bags and also got assorted knicks and scrapes on my legs, head and arms. I am betting that by August it will be looking somewhat like a tree again. My spouse is skeptical.

Also a photo of the house in June as we enter our brief, but welcome, summer. New landscaping in and starting to come alive. Eventually those electical boxes will be hidden, at least that is the plan. It was 102 in Minneapolis today, though with the windchill it only felt like 99. Nice to have a little taste of true summer, which is rare here.

Summer?

It looked much better in person. Taken today in Excelsior, MN

House - Early September

Not much in the way of falls sign from this picture. However, the tree in the front yard has been trimmed. The shrubs along the left side of the front yard have been replaced. Here and there in the neighborhood a few trees a showing color, but with the exception of a drop in temp, it still looks like summer.

The flowers below are from our side patio.

Roan Mountain II

I spend a part of each summer in Roan Mountain, Tennessee. Roan Mountain State Park to be exact. You can travel all around this country, and the world, and find few places to spend a weekend better than this. The most recent stay was a collection of events that made for another memorable trip...

Thursday - A beautiful drive from Charlotte, up one side of Jonas Ridge and down, driving to the cabin.  A special afternoon to cherish with my mother and later share over coffee that evening with two of my dearest cousins. Grocery shopping for the weekend at Ingles in Newland, NC, which sounds routine, but never is.

Friday - Another year and another grueling run up to Miller's Homestead and back. A prayer of thanks at the top that I have lived to return to this spot one more time. Creating my annual version of breakfast, complete with grits, biscuits, my amazing sawmill gravy, eggs and bacon.  Hiking the beautiful Balds at Carver's Gap, which straddles the NC/TN border. For the second year it includes Laura, this time her status elevated from my son's girlfriend to his fiance.

Saturday - A picnic at Elizabethton's Covered Bridge over the Doe River with the four main women who watch over me - my wife, my daughters, my mother. Can't leave out a special niece, the only one on this side of the family who will ever call me "Uncle". Watching my brother assemble one of the best meals of my life. The greatest steak in the world from the worlds greatest family chef. His is the only cole slaw that you can make a meal of. His baked beans could almost be served as dessert.

Sunday - This day begins with a sermon from a local minister shared at the park with fellow campers and believers. Hiking Linville Falls and losing three of our party who were in search of a bathroom. Missing the goodbyes to relatives who left before we returned. A hilarious re-telling of Aunt Bill's reaction to Aunt Inez' experiences in the death of Uncle Harry Goforth.  Finally, a Sunday night gathering of all the leftover kin and leftover food for one last feast and sharing of memories.

Along the way there were games of Scrabble, Dominoes, Catch Phrase, and Take One. Discussions of wedding plans that finally get my attention as they have something to do with my family. Empty bottles of Dr. Enuf rattling around in the bottom of the trash. The morning clean up of trash cans attacked by raccoons. Nights spent staring up at the Milky Way, which you never see in the city. Frosty mornings that really do call for a roaring fire in the stove.

In a flash it was over. In a wink, it will be back.

Midday Minneapolis

 

Downtown Minneapolis is a good place to work. In my initial draft of this post I said it was "great". An overused term. It's good.

In the summer there are multiple sites competing for your attention. Occasionally, I ride the light rail out of town at lunchtime, as I did today. 15 minutes out, 15 minutes back. A nice diversion. My office is somewhere in the background of this picture.

State Fair Minnesota

The State Fair is a big deal in Minnesota. Bigger than in any state I have ever lived. It is part of the culture, part of being Minnesotan. I know people who plan their vacations around it, who will take off work for a week and attend every day. For some, it's a bigger deal than Christmas. I have a friend who is currently agonizing over the fact that the eminent delivery of his third child may keep him away from the fair.

It's a huge production, one of the biggest in the country. For some it's all about a favorite ride or some form of fried junk food on a stick. For me the big thing is the butter sculptures in the dairy exhibit. This picture was taken as a parade was passing through the fairgrounds, though I didn't get much of the parade.

Summer wanes

There is a crabapple tree in our backyard. It is one of the heralds of spring, the first to show a fat buds in April and the first to be covered in a dome of white flowers in May.

It is also the first to shed leaves and send the first hint that the long warm days will end very very soon. Unattractive little sailboats of brown and yellow that soon spread in a arc around her branches, like those shown in the picture below, taken today. The rest of the yard is oblivious to this. The grass has that slightly overcooked August tint of brown. The daylilies, rose bush and daisy are cranking out new flowes daily. The hummingbirds hum while the swallows dive in and out of the garage.

When the maple bursts in a glory of red and gold, we will acknowledge that fall is here and winter close behind. But the unglamourous crabapple knows already that the days are running short.

Golden Eagle

We moved here in 2003. One of the things we miss the most are the peaches from Calhoun County, Illinois, just over the Mississippi River and about 30 miles north of our old neighborhood. From downtown St. Louis it's about the quickest way to get real rural real quick. If I was ever running from the law, I've always thought Calhoun County would be a good place to lay low. It's a maze of cornfields, peach orchards, hills, gullies, farm roads and thickets. (Of course, I can't do that now, its the first place you'd look for me. )

Nearly every August we would take the Golden Eagle Ferry from St. Charles, MO to Golden Eagle Illinois and load up on peaches. Like you, I've eaten a lot of peaches in my life, many from Georgia and South Carolina. They're good but cannot match these.

Since leaving Missouri, every summer the topic of peaches comes up, in particular these peaches from this one county in Illinois.... how good they are, how much we miss them, how juicy they were. The taste of a fresh peach is the taste of summer. And every August when the peach harvest was at its fullest, I'd say "let's drive down there some weekend". The response from the family was always, "that's crazy". Drive all the way to St. Louis for peaches!?

That's what they said but it's not what they mean. What they meant was. wouldn't it be great if one summer someone in our family was that wacko and would do the crazy, the weird, the bizarre, and actually make the 1000+ mile round trip for peaches.

The house was empty this week and a Saturday was approaching with nothing on the schedule. 4 am Saturday morning, i'm on the treadmill, getting in my run. 5am I'm in the car, heading south on I-35. Just over the Iowa border, I picked up the Avenue of the Saints and headed for Calhoun County.

The drive down was perfect, but rainy on the Minnesota section coming back. Most of it was through Iowa. Every American should drive across Iowa in the summer. It won't help you understand the country any better, but its a part of America that gets this special beauty when the crops are nearing their peak. The winter drive is not so nice. But in the summer.... Cornfields that make the term "amber waves of grain" come to life. Silos, farms, farmers in every direction. And there were many other little things that wove through the day. On the way down, doughnuts at the BP station in Floyd, IA. On the way back, a meatloaf sandwich for supper from the same place. Thoughts of Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper and Richie Valens while driving through Clear Lake, IA. Nice, medium size places like Waterloo, Cedar Rapids, Iowa City. The town square in Quincy, IL, where Lincoln and Douglas debated the fate of a nation. A stop in Missouri at the "largest fireworks store in the world", which I had all to myself.

By 1pm I had finished the mission and headed back. I returned with a bushel of the worlds finest peaches. Also, the triumvirate of fireworks, firecrackers, roman candles, bottle rockets, unfortunately banned by the Minnesota politburo. 10:30 pm I'm back at home. Sunday was spent on a 12 mile run from Mall of America to the house. This was followed by an afternoon of blanching, peeling and freezing peaches, and watching the PGA, which was just down the street a dozen miles or so. I had a much better day than Tiger Woods, though I did not make near as much money.
Great trip and great to do another one of those "why don't we's" that we all have on our mind. I should do more of them, and I will.

A summer without Churchill

My family and friends know this image. The Onyx Churchill cigar. Linked to me and my summers for the past ten years or so. Not this year. Of the physical things that bring pleasure to life... food, clothing, and other comforts, I would put this cigar at or near the very top.

In order to get back on the non-smoker rate for my company life insurance I am enduring a year without this old friend. There is no middle ground with my company's insurance provider, Minnesota Life. You are either a smoker or you aren't. Any use of tobacco of any kind during the year and you are a smoker. A few more months to go.

I haven't been a habitual cigar smoker but have been a long standing one of some twenty years or so. I never had a problem setting it aside when the weather turned cold and it was impolite to bring the use indoors. Generally something for the summer months. A good cigar is a great pleasure and must have been what God had in mind when he invested tobacco. Not a constant habitual use, but the occasional hours long indulgence that clears the mind, brings friends together, seals important life events. Similar to how the indians used it.

Most notably this year it has been absent from my yardwork. I used to joke about how the lawnmower wouldn't start unless I had a good cigar going. It will also be absent from our family gathering in September in Tennessee. At least one neighbor has noticed and commented that it doesn't seem the same for me to be mowing the yard sans cigar. Tell me about it.

The weekend

Where I was: Willmar, Minnesota High School.
Mascot: The Cardinals.
What I did: Attended the last day of Sonshine Festival, a festival of christian music.
The Expected: Corn dogs, t-shirt sales, funnel cakes, prayer groups, mosh pits, headbangers, tents, RV's
The Unexpected: A wedding/christening combo. Bride in white dress with baby in tow, harmonica-playing priest. (How someone can make such a mockery of virginity and all the other symbolism of the marriage ceremony is lost on me. But I am being judgemental. I don't have all the facts.) Middle aged people hesitantly jumping up and down during the concerts, imitating their children/grandchildren.
The drive: A couple of peaceful hours past miles of corn, wheat and soybean fields.
Lunch: Classic road food, cup of coffee, potato chips and a doughnut.
Why I went: To catch the last day of an event that has become a big part of the summer for my teenage daughter.
The drive back: There is no place to stop for coffee after midnight between Willmar and Minneapolis.