Looking for blood

is not nearly as romantic as it sounds. I headed out the other day with my beloved, searching the leaves and areas that looked like deer beds, for some sign of "Lucky". It was a no go.

It struck me as odd that this husband of mine who was hunting for something as small as a speck of blood on a bed of leaves, is also the guy who can't find his glasses.

Orange is the new black but it isn't very slimming!

Normally I can understand the information in our twice a week newspaper in Grand Rapids.

Like the headline "India based Essar Global acquires Minnesota Steel". This is a big deal for the Iron Range - it's a 1.6 billion dollar project. In a rural community where good paying jobs are scarce, this is huge.

Or take the headline "Blue Jackets Down T'Hawks". Though I don't understand "the sports" all that well - I can see from the photo that it probably has something to do with the swim meet between Hibbing and Grand Rapids.

In the most recent edition there was a page I did not understand at all. I read things like:

Game Cleaning Glove
Big Buddy 2 Man Stand
"Estrus" Bleat Easy Call
Ultimate Scrape Dripper
Allen Gambrell & Hoist System
Lansky Diamond Benchstone
Tikka T3 Bolt Rifles

Sometimes I think I'm missing out on the culture of Northern Minnesota. Maybe I need to get involved with "the deer hunting" with my husband so we can spend more time together. After all, he is a bow hunter which doesn't seem nearly as violent, and I like walking in the woods and special clothes and makeup as much as the next guy.

Just now he called from work with a proposition.

"I'll be home about 2. If you want to take a walk with me in the woods you could..."

How sweet! What a softy! He wants to hold hands and talk about our feelings.

But he wasn't done yet.

"I figure we could look for a blood trail. We'll check the beds for traces of blood."

It's that time of year again

Fall has come to Northern Minnesota. The time of contemplation and renewal where I get a gentle reminder of my gender deficiencies. I'm not talking hormones or weak biceps... firearm deer hunting season is almost here...where groups of men will descend on our town.

Next Friday begins the giant calvade of guns and bad clothes in this sleepy community of 7,764 people. Each year approximately 500,000 hunters harvest 200,000 deer in our fine state...for us that means beer goes on sale, pop prices go up and deer hunter widow events begin to happen at the Judy Garland room or The Sawmill Inn.

I interview authors for a living, and a year ago or so I was on the phone getting the spiel from another book publicity person. Her book was a new and innovative take on traffic. She talked on and on about the average commute travel time and the alarming new trend of increased suburb-to-suburb commutes. When she finished she used her pr techniques to engage me in conversation.

"How is traffic where you are?!!?"

I really wasn't trying to be quaint or Minnesotan in my answer. I just said what came to my mind.

"Oh not too bad. I mean, at 3 o'clock you don't want to go over by the civic center or the fairgrounds because the kids are getting out of school - and 38 gets tough to cross, 'specially at the four-way stop if you are trying to get to Ogle's.

She said nothing.

I continued, "Oh, and opening hunting and fishing weekends are REALLY bad!"

There was so much silence on the end of the line that I can't really explain it. It wasn't so much that there wasn't noise, there was almost a sucking of noise out of her big city cubicle.

She laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed some more and asked if she could tell her coworkers. I told her sure, as long as I could tell mine.

Barber shops and shoe repair, why so many?

Maybe Grand Rapids is a place where hair grows fast and boots don't last.

Today I passed 2 boot/shoe repair places.





AND, one is for sale and could be a good business for someone. Be your own boss! For only $45,000! OBO!

Barber Shops in The Rapids

I don't know why, but we are a town full of barber shops. Every day on the way to work I pass this place...

If you take a closer look you'll see it's a pretty good deal -


8 bucks for a butch, and 16 bucks for a shave. And cripes, only $5 for a kid's butch. Not bad. And military discounts, cool.


The other strange thing about having so many barber shops in Grand Rapids (more pictures to come) is that THIS particular shop is hiring SIX barbers.




It seems like a pretty fair place to work too, without the usual petty work jealousies.

in my fridge, part deux

The deer camp was not successful on the island yesterday, in terms of deer that is. Any recipes for rabbit out there? Anyone WANT some rabbit?

Help?

not very wordy lately

Life has been whizzing by, and No, that's not Cheese Whiz brother. First I was at this jam-packed conference, then I was catching up from being gone at a conference, and now we're in the last 2 days of our fundraiser... oh yeah, Tom is hunting every moment he gets, and I am, as always, trying to catch up on my reading.

I'm getting ready for an interview with the South African writer Zakes Mda. His book is called Cion. Already I'm off kilter because I don't really know how to pronounce his first or last name or the title of the novel. And the book begins with the word "sciolist". My head is swimming. The good news is the guy is a beekeeper, so perhaps I can ask him lots about bees.

Anyone know the definition of sciolist? I mean without looking it up.... I've already done that.

And Happy Birthday Dad! Hope you enjoyed the nuts!

this is in my fridge

It's a bag of deer. Yes, that animal that wanders in front of my car 3-4 times a week is now in my fridge.

I'm not sure how I feel about it.