I went to the Wargo Nature center with my son and his friends recently to learn about how to tap maple trees and make maple syrup. It didn’t take long before I was back in third grade, remembering when I did the same thing on a school trip. The third grade field trip I remember featured thick gooey mud on the trail to walk out to the trees. It was so thick I ended up having the mud pull my boot right off my foot and stepping right into some very thick mud in my socks – twice. Thinking about those old rubber boots with felt liners and Julie’s post about “the in between” made me think about how and why this time of year used to be my favorite.

I lived in Richland Center, Wisconsin from kindergarten through third grade. The streets had quite a high crown and very deep gutters. When spring came we would get these fantastic overhangs of snow and ice from the edge of the street extending into the street a few feet. By March there would be water running underneath these ice ledges. Every day after school we would wander around town jumping up and down on these ice shelves and in the process damming up the streets with water that could no longer run to the storm sewer. I would come home soaking wet, head to foot but full of sheer joy that can only come from jumping in puddles and damming up the streets.

Last weekend I kept a sharp lookout for street ice shelves like that but couldn’t find any proper ones to jump on.

This weeks annoyance has been brewing for some time.

When I go out shopping I’ve been noticing this trend towards casual clothing that resembles the clothing that working men and women wear. The finish on the jeans look like the finish you could only get when you actually were working in a greasy envoronment. The rips, no doubt hand ripped by kids with real jobs in Indonesia, look like the kind of rips you get while working as a lumberjack, at a junkyard, in a railroad or in a mine. The trucker hats now even come pre-stained and frayed.

So who is wearing this stuff? Kids who never worked an honest day in their lives. (At least I know what honest work is, even if I type for a living now.)

So here’s to all of you kids from an old fart, “You can wear the beer logo trucker hat with pride when you’ve changed a tire at least once, wondered where your next meal was coming from and had a job where you were actually exhausted and dirty at the end of a day. Until then you are a poseur.”

There is a company in Lino Lakes that sells culverts. In addition to selling industrial goods, they create these amazing pieces of folk art which change with the seasons.

It’s hard to drive past this thing without smiling back at the snowman.

Here is a list of things I’ve cooked in the last week.

• Roasted Turkey
• Turkey Stock
• Veggie Spring Rolls
• Cholle
• Chili – btw this turned out severly blasè. Don’t use this recipe without modification.
• Cold Soba Noodle Salad with Salmon.

This is in addition to the normal things I make for survival like oatmeal, salads, peanut butter & jelly sandwiches or bacon & scrambled eggs.

I can’t figure out why I am cooking so much. I figure I must be sublimating something. Maybe it’s my pent up desire for spring.

I need a lot more practice making the rolls look right. My burritos loook lousy too.

Do these guys rock or what?

ColdFront, everyone’s favorite Twin Cities heavy metal cover band, will be playing tommorow night with L.A. Guns Saturday, March 25th at Star Central in Columbia Heights. I’ve got my ticket.

Every once in a while an online quiz tickles my fancy. Since my birthday is coming up next month, I figured I would take this one entitled, “What Age Do You Act“.

You Are 28 Years Old

Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view – and you look at the world with awe. 13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world. 20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what’s to come… love, work, and new experiences. 30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You’ve had a taste of success and true love, but you want more! 40+: You are a mature adult. You’ve been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax.

[Link courtesy of the next chapter.]

It’s very bad form to ever post poetry on a blog.

I came across this poetry writing exercise that seemed to good to pass up. This was inspired by a poem by Goerge Ella Lyons entitled “Where I’m From“.

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I am from _______ (specific ordinary item), from _______ (product name) and _______.

I am from the _______ (home description… adjective, adjective, sensory detail).

I am from the _______ (plant, flower, natural item), the _______ (plant, flower, natural detail)

I am from _______ (family tradition) and _______ (family trait), from _______ (name of family member) and _______ (another family name) and _______ (family name).

I am from the _______ (description of family tendency) and _______ (another one).

From _______ (something you were told as a child) and _______ (another).

I am from (representation of religion, or lack of it). Further description.

I’m from _______ (place of birth and family ancestry), _______ (two food items representing your family).

From the _______ (specific family story about a specific person and detail), the _______ (another detail, and the _______ (another detail about another family member).

I am from _______ (location of family pictures, mementos, archives and several more lines indicating their worth).

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My take on this is beow the fold, read it for laughs. Send me yours or blog it f you aren’t chicken.

The inspiration for this came from the blog don’t eat alone.

Read the rest of this entry »

It turns out that blogs aren’t the best way to get your message out. It might be much better to just tape stuff on the outside of your car or truck. These “car logs” or “clogs” don’t require the reader to have certain kind of web browser, no knowledge of CSS, HTML, RSS or any other technobabble.

[Special thanks to Amy and glt for the photos.]

I didn’t end up making it the the Bryant Lake Bowl last night, but I thought I would share some thoughts from the last show.

[Photo by glt]

When “Halloween, Alaska” appeared at the Triple Rock Social Club, they were headlined by These Modern Socks and Mystery Palace, iirc. The first band was a little too electronica for my tastes, occasionally incarnating the spectre of video games past. I found myself liking one song but feeling some dread that the song would never end — thankfully it did. The second band was a little closer to music I like. They weren’t afraid to experiment with musical form and had no interest in the typical verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus arrangement. Unexpectedly, one song appeared to be composed entirely of clever and interesting sounding bridges. I dubbed it, “The Bridge to No Where”. I liked the second band better than the first. Both opening acts have a lot of potential, but wouldn’t go out of my way to see either one at this point.

Somewhere past midnite, came the main act. (Note to self, grab chair first thing when entering the performance space at the Triple Rock.) They were everything they were the last time I saw them. I love the sound these guys produce. The drumming was spot on and full of showmandship(like always), the vocals were haunting and well matched (just like before) and the keyboard/powerbook guy seems to have a gift for making electronica sound organic. I feel bad I never really notice the guy playing bass. Must be the curse of playing bass, people only notice when you are bad. The stand-out song for the evening was the LL Cool J cover, “I Can’t Live Without My Radio”.

I still have yet to hear them play “State Trooper” live. With my luck they probably they played it last night and I missed it. I can’t wait to hear these guys play again.