“April showers bring May flowers,” the old saw goes. A quarter of an inch of rain last Friday and Saturday, April 27 & 28, and another .1 of an inch on the night of Monday, April 30, have kept the green things green, while temperatures moving up from a cool 36 above on the morning of Thursday, April 26 to 75 and muggy on Tuesday, May 1, have kept them growing. May flowers are not far off. Pleasant conditions in the late afternoon of Monday, April 30, prompted Bruce Peterson to vow that he would get the Peterson’s family garden planted when he got home. Well, at least he would get it tilled and get started planting. Well, at least he would look the situation over and give it serious consideration. The problem is that gardens always look so much better in the seed catalog than they do in reality. The seed catalog only shows the final product, but never the stiff knees, sore back and calloused hands that a garden usually produces even more abundantly than zucchinis and cucumbers. Some of the Assembled Wise Men have noted that it is a good thing to have your own garden, but it is even better to have a neighbor who is a good gardener and produces a surplus.
Steve Wyum reports that he and Sheila vacationed at a resort in Cancun, Mexico, from Thursday, April 12, to Tuesday, April 17, and witnessed the marriage of their youngest son, Paul, and his fiancé, Brittany LeClerc, in a beach ceremony at the resort there on Sunday, April 15. Others from this community who made the trip to Cancun for the wedding were: Kenny & Tanya Hamilton and family; and, Paul’s cousin, Jesse Wyum. Steve states that the resort was lush, plush and luxurious. One of the memorable activities he and Sheila participated in during their stay at the resort was “Zip-lining,” a method of traveling from point to point by hooking onto a cable line while wearing a sling similar to a parachute harness, and then “zipping” through the jungle along the cable for several hundred yards, from tree house to tree house, ala Tarzan and Jane. The zip-lining traveler wears a heavy leather glove on one hand, in order to brake their speed by grasping the cable behind them. Attendants are stationed at each station along the line to make sure that travelers don’t slam into walls or trees, Steve says. On one occasion, Sheila braked a little too soon, and stopped short of the next treehouse, leaving her dangling above the jungle floor. The attendants had seen this happen before, though, and quickly retrieved Sheila from her predicament. At the conclusion of the Zip-line trip, Steve noted, the traveler has the option of releasing the harness and plunging into the lagoon below from a considerable height, an option which he exercised. He was not quite prepared for the impact, though, and observed that the plunge has the capacity to turn a bass voice into a soprano if done incorrectly. Steve still has a fine bass voice, friends note. The bride and groom, Brittany and Paul, are making their home in Fargo where both are employed. Their many friends here extend congratulations to the couple on their marriage, and best wishes for a long and happy life together.
Read More »
The Rooster Crows – May 11, 2012
With crashing thunder, flashing lightning, pounding hail and destructive winds, the storm on the night of Wednesday, May 2 marched from west to east across Sargent County, tracking along Highway #11, with Rutland on its south edge, leaving a trail of wreckage in its wake. Rutland and its immediate vicinity received .3 of an inch of rain out of the tumult. The storm did its worst damage in Cayuga, where many trees were down and the power line was damaged south of Cayuga, along County #12. The cupola on the westernmost of the 2 old grain elevators in Cayuga was blown completely off the building, turned 90 degrees and then dropped straight down on the east side of the structure, leading to some speculation that a tornado may have been at work in the midst of the storm’s action. The old elevators have been abandoned and unused for more than 15 years, and the only regret about the damage is that the storm did not complete its work and remove them entirely.
Lenny Runyan reports that his father, Warren Runyan Sr. of Reading, Michigan, passed away on April 9, 2012, at the age of 77. Reading is in the southeastern corner of Michigan, near the Ohio border. Lenny had spent a couple of weeks in Reading, tending to his father’s estate before returning to his home, here. He reports that the recovery of the auto industry has the economy looking up in Michigan. Lenny also states that raccoons and skunks have been decimating his chicken flock this Spring, but he has plans to alleviate the problem that may not be conducive to the survival of raccoons and skunks. Lenny and his wife, Kathy, reside on the former Francis & Rozilla Maly farmstead, in the hills south of Rutland. Read More »