The cat went here and there And the moon spun round like a top,
And the nearest kin of the moon
The creeping cat looked up.
Black Minnaloushe stared at the moon,
For wander and wail as he would
The pure cold light in the sky
Troubled his animal blood.
Minnaloushe runs in the grass,
Lifting his delicate feet.
Do you dance, Minnaloushe, do you dance?
When two close kindred meet
What better than call a dance?
Maybe the moon may learn,
Tired of that courtly fashion,
A new dance turn.
Minnaloushe creeps through the grass
From moonlit place to place,
The sacred moon overhead
Has taken a new phase.
Does Minnaloushe know that his pupils
Will pass from change to change,
And that from round to crescent,
From crescent to round they range?
Minnaloushe creeps through the grass
Alone, important and wise,
And lifts to the changing moon
His changing eyes.
My wife, Diana or Di, to her English family and Charlie to the rest of us is still teaching. This year she had the whole of Thanksgiving Week off. A good week to relax and veg-out.
Saturday – relax, watch college football, and fix spaghetti for dinner.
Sunday – as above, but pro football and took Charlie to have a mani-pedi.
Monday – relax, we went to MNF dinner at Mike and Sandy’s (nice tradition as Mike and I have been doing this for somewhere around thirty years).
Tuesday – took Charlie to her “pain management” doctor and had one of her “heavy” meds dosage reduced—less med in the same number of pills for the same cost.
Wednesday – one of Charlie’s good, retired friends came over to visit for several hours and I then took Charlie to another doctor’s appointment.
Thursday – the two of us had a quiet Thanksgiving dinner together: turkey, mashed potatoes and peas. Her brother called and was quite chuffed that he had prepared a good batch of roast potatoes. I’ve found that a 16-pound turkey has plenty of meat for the two of us for dinner and several days of leftovers—oh, yes, gave the cats a bit of turkey, too.
Friday – quiet day with leftovers and football and Charlie grading English class essays (7th & 8th grade). When I see her doing this I give quiet thanks that I was able to retire when I did.
Saturday – basically a copy of Friday except I started out watching Premier League “football”—Go Arsenal!
Sunday – should be a copy of Saturday except for the angst of Charlie having to go back to work tomorrow and the Grey Cup is on this afternoon.
The above list is not an exhaustive one. There was grocery shopping to do, including the purchase of cat and bird food. Clothes washing, dishes, general cleaning, etc. that needed to be done. The gardener came by yesterday and the front yard and backyard gardens are beautiful, if lacking in summer flowers.
Charlie finished reading the latest Aloysius Pendergast book, Blue Labyrinth, by Preston and Child. She is now on the patio reading Relic and drinking her second cup of tea. We actually have dark clouds overhead so, maybe, we’ll get some of that promised rain this week. (Maybe, even today.)
I’m a half-dozen chapters into Heritage of Cyador by Modesitt and it promises to be a good read.
I’ve written the first eight chapters of my book, two more full chapters and two partial chapters farther on in the story. My goal is a hundred thousand words but I’ve got more story than that in my head and will have to do a “bit” of trimming.
Downloaded Annie Lennox’s new album, Nostalgia, marvelous. I’ve got 18,000+ songs and tunes on iTunes and have music playing in the house most of the time—on Apple TV and playing through our stereo. (Still waiting for Diana Krall’sWallflower.)
The OC Register is again a no-show today—haven’t had a copy delivered since Thursday a week ago, but I still get their emails. The LA Times hasn’t missed a day or been late. (This really bugs me as the Times does not cover Orange County high school football. It’s playoff season now.)
School Teacher Alert
—and anyone else who has ever had a “pointy-haired” principal or boss: Today’s Dilbert (with apologies to Scott Adams).
Principal: Would you like some feedback on your (teaching) performance?
Teacher: No.
P: You’re supposed to appreciate feedback because it makes you feel valued.
T: How does listening to you belittle me about things you don’t understand make me feel valued?
P: Well, I don’t know. It must be an indirect thing.
P: Maybe we should just try it and see how it feels.
T: Whatever.
P: I don’t actually watch you (teach) work, so I’m mostly guessing about the things you do wrong.
P: I accuse you of being slow and disorganized!
P: Is it working yet?
T: Yes. If that makes you go away.
I don’t know if this accurate for your current situation, but, if you’ve been a teacher long enough, you’ve had at least one, and maybe several “pointy-haired” principals. (I know I have. I, of course, won’t mention any names, but, if you’ve taught with me, you will probably name the same ones.)
Etc.
Charlie’s sister, Tricia, has confirmed that she’ll be here for Christmas. (She lives in England.)
Sunday Morning Company
The cats are keeping me company: one on the back of my chair, from which position he sometimes washes my hair, and the other atop her castle.
And, as I look around at all I possess and think on all I am thankful for one thing stands out: Charlie, without whom nothing else seems to matter.
And, one more note, Charlie reports that it is now raining.
Alas, a week and a half before Charlie was due back at work it was time for us to head for home. Having done most of our packing the day before, it would seem that we would have little to do. But we still didn’t leave before noon.
Sky-Vu Drive-In
Those who never closed a residence for a Minnesota winter don’t know about draining water. Turn off the water supply, turn off the water heater, open all the faucets and then drain the water heater. You don’t want water in the pipes to freeze and burst. Leave the heaters on low to prevent freezing the pipes and put RV antifreeze in the drains (after all the power might fail and the house freeze).
Travels and Motels
We said goodbye to Warroad a few minutes after noon and began our journey west. Roseau, Greenbush, Karlstad and then south at Donaldson as the construction/repair detour was still in effect (still unknown to OnStar and Waze). When we reached Warren we turned west once more and stopped at the Sky-Vu Drive-In Theatre. The current film showing was Tammy. We stopped, took a few pictures and resumed our journey to Moorhead.
Sky Vu Admission
Again we stayed at the Moorhead Travelodge, second floor smoking, cats. Nice room, good soundproofing as the motel is backed up to a busy rail line.
The next day it was I-94 across North Dakota to Wibaux, Montana and the Beaver Creek Inn (same room we had before). This time Charlie went with me to have dinner at the Shamrock Club, excellent meal and great atmosphere. Of course, she had to buy a Shamrock Club hat as a souvenir.
On to Bozeman, Montana and the Holiday Inn. This time the room was downstairs next to the back exit and it was a lot easier to move our luggage. Good room service dinner. This time we ordered three appetizers between us and no entrees, just the perfect amount of food.
Elk at rest with birds.
Stopped in Haugan, Montana at the Lincoln’s World Famous 50,000 Silver $ Bar for a break and souvenir shopping. Stayed the night at the West Spokane Super 8. They messed up our reservation for a smoking handicapped room and I ended up toting our luggage up to the third floor (dirty word, dirty word, dirty word).
The next day it was south through Washington and then west along the Columbia River to Portland and south to Albany. A nice, easy day without too much Portland traffic.
Our last motel day was south on the I-5 to the Umpqua River and viewing elk at Dean Creek, a stop at the Mill Casino for an hour of slots and shopping for Charlie and the on to Arcata. The Arcata Super 8 still had not correctly fixed the handicapped room shower, but, otherwise, the room was fine.
Friday, it was south to Gilroy, California and Bill & Artie’s place. Artie had a good rib dinner from Nob Hill waiting
Elk at rest.
for us (and I, of course, ate too much of her macaroni salad) and we had a good talk and rest.
Saturday, it was south on the I-5 to L.A., with some stop and go traffic and home a little after six, a Subway sandwich for dinner and a sigh. It was good to be home.
Three days to get the house organized and luggage unpacked and Charlie was back to work (and I embarked on my third year of retirement).
Aside from the Super 8 screw-up in West Spokane the only negative about the trip home was the condom wrapper. At one of the motels, whose name I will not mention, Mist found an open condom wrapper under a bed missed by housekeeping. I mentioned this to the desk when I turned in our keys the next morning and they halved our bill. Quite nice; we’ve stayed there before and will again.
We arrived in Warroad, Minnesota late on a Friday afternoon and found the house in good order with the
A view of a Minnesota sunrise from our deck.
exception of the water being turned off. I had thought that the water was on because the new garden was in and had been watered. My mistake. The gardener had put a pump in the golf course water hazard, with two long extension cords connected to our outside electrical outlets, and a long hose.
I made a phone call to the gentleman who owns the water system that brought him out to the house after 5 pm and made him late for a family dinner. With his aid and that of a neighbor my wife and I had running water and
Smoke and Mist dream of a walleye dinner.
did not have to spend the night in a motel.
I brought the outdoor furniture from the living room to the patio deck and we now had a little room to move in. I connected the various electrical appliances and lamps and fans as well as getting the wi-fi up and running. HUG, Inc. had put on new storm doors and a new kitchen before we got there and they looked good.
It took a couple of days to unpack the large containers of kitchen goods, foods, cleaners, tableware, etc. and get the upstairs livable. That and a trip to Doug’s Supermarket for milk and fresh food.
Smoke and Mist soon found they liked the house. Plenty of new nooks to explore, carpet on some of the floors and stairs to chase each other up and down.
Gas Price Warroad, MN
Ahhh . . . summer vacation in a town with only two stoplights and non-California gas prices.
No golfing this summer but I drank coffee, ate breakfast, “worked” crossword and Sudoku puzzles, read books and watched the world go by on the golf course from our second story deck. Charlie read, played on her iPad, worked on lesson plans and spent a couple of hours in Seven Clans Casino most days. Pleasant and Relaxing.
We put in an air conditioner—yes, in the Summer it gets quite warm and muggy in northern Minnesota. G&B Carpet and Furniture put in new flooring in the kitchen and bathroom upstairs and in the office, laundry and entries downstairs. Charlie also bought a table and an electric recliner from G&B. (Next year we’ll get a new bed.)
Saint Peter’s is the Episcopal Church Charlie attends while in Warroad. The congregation is small so services are
St. Peter’s Altar Window
held on Wednesday evenings with a traveling vicar who is in charge of several like parishes. The people are friendly and a potluck dinner is served after services every couple of weeks. There is a large stained glass window behind the altar that Charlie likes and had me take pictures of. (As the window is in the east it really needs a morning sun to be seen at its best—ah, well, maybe next year.)
I’ve found a number of small churches in northern Minnesota with character and plan on doing a photo-essay of them in the next year or two.
Ate dinner at the Lakeview Restaurant one night and had a delicious plate of walleye (Walleyed Pike). Lots of sandbags around and streets closed as the lake (Lake of the Woods) was at near record levels (or setting new records).
Doug’s Supermarket is undergoing renovations and what used to be their video section is now a Caribou Coffee shop. Charlie has become addicted to their scones that are much like those from Starbucks. So far as I know, it is the only location that has an actual caribou head mounted inside.
Pelan Pioneer Chapel
Drove to Grand Forks one day to do some shopping and that same detour was in effect from Donaldson west. So we went south intending to catch the I-29 later. The drive took us through Warren, Minnesota which has an operating drive-in theater; I didn’t have one of my “good” cameras with me that day so I took pictures a couple of weeks later on our way back to California.
During the last week of our stay, I took a drive by myself. (Charlie was enjoying the casino that afternoon.) I took some pictures of the
Our vacation got off to a late start this summer as both Charlie and I had dental issues with which to deal—mine was a cracked tooth into which I could insert a fingernail.
We loaded up our new Buick Enclave with a Thule carrier on top. Great car with a smooth and quiet ride. Gas mileage is 15-16 in town and 20-26 on the open road. We took the cats, Mist and Smoke, with us; they were quite noisy the first couple of days but eventually became good travelers and, for the most part, stayed out of the front seats.
We spent the first night in Gilroy (via I-5 and Cal 152) at a friend’s house; they were on vacation and out of town at the time but mailed us a key and we enjoyed a quiet evening there. The next day we drove to Arcata on US 101. A very nice drive although we went a bit slower than in the De Ville as the Enclave is both heavier and has a higher center of gravity.
Stayed the night at the Arcata Super 8 (on “motel road”), which has one smoking, handicapped room (and allows cats with fee). The original adjustable handicapped shower handle/head was broken and not properly replaced. (I informed management; the problem was not fixed by the time we returned several weeks later.) Otherwise the room was fine.
The next day we drove to Albany, Oregon via Coos Bay/North Bend and the Umpqua River route and I-5. We stopped for an hour at the Mill Casino and Hotel in North Bend but did not spend the night. (Charlie loves their casino and gift shop and we both like their restaurants.) They do not take cats although they do take dogs, some of them very large.
While Charlie was in the casino, I put the cats on their leashes and walked around the hotel and fell into conversation with a security guard. I explained why I was outside and why we were not staying at the hotel and he expressed surprise at the no cats policy. He told me he would speak with management about the issue and we exchanged email addresses.
After Charlie’s hour and a half were up, we resumed our travels and stopped and watched elk for a few minutes at the Dean Creek Elk viewing area on the Umpqua River. Then on to the Super 8 in Albany on the I-5. (Handicapped, smoking and cats with a Subway a half mile’s walk away.)
The next day it was the I-5 to Portland, east along the Columbia River and north to Spokane, actually the Super 8 in West Spokane. (Smoking, cats but not handicapped equipped—more about which later.)
On to Bozeman, Montana and the Holiday Inn. (Cats, smoking but not handicapped equipped.) We like their restaurant but it is too far a walk for Charlie and we didn’t feel like getting back into the car and driving around to the other side of the hotel. So, we had a room service dinner: two appetizers and two dinners—too much, but delicious.
Mist and Smoke asleep in hotel.
The next day it was a “straight” shot east on I- 90/I-94 to Wibaux, Montana where we stayed at the Beaver Creek Inn and Suites. Cats, smoking but their only handicapped room is non-smoking. The room was comfortable and the staff (owner) friendly. Charlie did not feel like going out to dinner so, on the motel owner’s recommendation I called the Shamrock Club for a take-out dinner—delicious and, once again, too much food.
Then it was across North Dakota to Moorhead, Minnesota and the Travelodge. A very nice smoking, cats but not handicapped equipped room and a Subway sandwich dinner. (Charlie usually has a tuna with onions, tomatoes and avocado and I have a Subway Club with just about everything, including lots of jalapeños.
Last day of travel was north on the I-29 and the east on ND 66 and MN 11. (Neither OnStar nor Waze was aware of the too long detour on MN 11—dirty word, dirty word, dirty word. (Or bleep, bleep, bleep, if you prefer.)
Aside from this it was a nice, easy journey with no weather problems and very little delay for construction.
Travels: Postscript
I received an email from Suzann Anaya, Director of Operations for the Mill Casino Hotel on the reason for their no cats policy: “Our main concern with cats in the hotel rooms is the allergens they leave. We have many other hotel guests who have severe feline allergies.” I can quite understand this but still . . . Super 8, Motel 6, Travelodge and Holiday Inn allow cats.
