Time to Answer Quesitons

Today is truly a day to celebrate – the sun is SHINING for the first time in over two weeks – and it’s NOT raining. So I’m going to make this a quick entry and then hop on the lawnmower and make hay. I just checked the weather radar and there’s another weather system building about a hundred miles from here so I have to take advantage of the time between “rain events.” We’ve had some horrible rain storms over the last two weeks – it’s like the sky opens up and Lake Superior falls down on us in just a matter of minutes. So far the river is managing to stay within it’s banks, but that won’t last if we keep getting these huge amounts of rain. Oh, well, in the words of Scarlett O’hara, I’ll think about that tomorrow.

I want to say thanks to all my lovely Readers who have let me know that I’m still loved (sniff). Now I can go on with life and know that I’m not a failure and still have the ability to entertain you on occasion.

Now I need to answer some questions.

First of all for Art: No, Minnesota isn’t as liberal anymore in handing out all the welfare money and food stamps; thank heavens for us taxpayers. The county I live in was one of two counties that didn’t require that a 6 month residency be established before they would hand out the goodies. That’s now been changed – prior to that people used to flock here by the thousands, collect their money and pass on to other locations. And now the State of Minnesota only allows you to collect welfare for so long – I think it’s five years and then you’re off for good. If you haven’t found your way to a job by that time then you better move on.

For Boxx9000 and Yankee Chick: Yes, I suppose a different location could have been found for the firepit and the flower garden could have been kept in tact, but my idea was to lessen my workload. Since Ole retired I’ve closed up two large fish ponds and seven large flower beds. We live on five acres of property, so you can see that everything has been done on kind of a grand scale. We travel so much now that it’s difficult to keep everything up. And when we’re gone the weeds get really sneaky and grow really tall, darn weeds. And every one of the flowers from that flower bed is currently growing very happily in the flower beds of several friends. I’ve attached a montage that I put together last fall of what my gardens used to look like several years ago. When Lovely Daughter got married back in 1999, she was married in my backyard and it was quite spectacular.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

For Yvonne: The little family of ducks are Mallards. Mama is quite drab, but Dad is spectacular with his emerald green head. One of the interesting things about Mallards is that they mate for life. We’ve also got wood ducks, Canadian and Snow geese on the river and occasionally see a swan or two. They’re so majestic when they come sailing down the river.

And Capitolady is wondering about the origin of the word UFFDA. Well, I’ll do my best. When the ScandiHOOvians first came to American in the late 1800’s they wanted very much to fit in and learn English. When my father started school he couldn’t speak any English because only Norwegian was spoken at home. He had to repeat first grade because he couldn’t speak English. Also, as frequently happened, he brought English home and taught his siblings and his parents. To the day he died he had a heavy Norwegian accent. However, one of the expressions the ScandiHOOvians found difficult to give up was the word “Uff da!” It’s a perfectly polite expression that could be used in front of children and still get your point across. You might use Uff da when:

Losing your wad of chewing gum in the chicken yard.
Trying to pour two buckets of manure into one bucket.
Having a mouse crawl up your pantleg when you’re hauling a load of hay.
Getting swished in the face with a cow’s wet tail.

Well, anyway, you get the idea. Hope that answered your question.

Well, Folks, I better get up from this computer and go make my hay!!

Ta ta for now – love you all,

Lena

Uffda - my aching back

UFFDA - my back is killing me. Ole and I have been busy changing the "face" of our backyard. We tore out a very large flowerbed and replaced it with over 200 pavers and built a firepit. I guess I proved to myself that I can still work like an old plow horse - even if the temperatures have been in the 90s over the last two days. And those of you who live in other parts of the world don't understand what a temperature of 90 means in Minnesota - because the humidity is at 90% at the same time!! And that makes it VERY HOT!

Below is what that area looked like last year. Quite a transformation, don't cha' think? And a lot less work this fall and next spring.

And we have 13 new little family members that actually managed to hatch!! This is one very busy mama duck. We have ducks on the river every year, but no mama has managed to get her eggs to hatch for years because of the instability of the river level. Every time it rains the river rises several feet and floods the nest out. This year the river level has remained high throughout the spring so she must have built her nest on a high spot and lucked out because the river went down instead of up.

They're so busy peeping and pecking for bugs and worms every morning and evening. And Mama is ever on guard watching and protecting. I'm going to throw some grain out in that area to keep them coming back.

Well, we're having another "rain event" today. That's what the local weatherman has started to call them - "rain events." We don't just get a nice shower now and then - we get deluged for days at a time. It's getting really old and very depressing.

I got an email from someone named Rhea this morning - asking whether or not there are still any hoboes around (reference yesterday's entry.) Well, Rhea, I currently live just a half-mile from where I grew up next to Bum's Jungle and haven't seen any hoboes back in that area for years. A few years back there was a hobo convention that took place on the east side of the state, and that summer we had a ton of Folks on Foot that were making their way to the convention. Minnesota is noted as being a really easy welfare state, especially the county that I live in. So at that time, all the hoboes would hop off the trains in the city, go to the welfare office and collect $360 and then hop back on the freights and head for the convention. At that time you didn't even have to establish residency in Minnesota - they would just give you money. If I remember correctly there were several thousand hoboes that attended that convention - so I guess the answer is "yes" - there are still hoboes around. But at this point it's a very rare occasion that I see one riding the rails. My buddy, Art, used to ride the rails and has an interesting story posted on his blog. I'm sure he's got more to tell, he's just got to pull them out of his memory banks.

By the way, Rhea, I don't recognize your name - what's your blogger name?

I'm really disappointed in you folks - I guess my blog isn't as well-read as I had thought - or are you just trying to keep me from getting a big head (snicker). Only a few people have signed my Notify List that's WAAAYY down on the bottom of the page. If you would like to continue to read Lena's Latest Gossip and be notified when I update, please sign up so I don't have to cry and feel really bad. (sniff, sniff, pulls tissue from box.)

Hoboes, Tramps, but No Thieves

I referenced Bum's Jungle in my previous entry, and how the hoboes would hop on and off the steam trains that would go by, spend the night in the hobo camp in the woods that were behind our house and then move on. Fortunately, we never had any come to the door asking for food or money.

My mother spent her younger years growing up in southern Minnesota on a farm, where it wasn't uncommon for men to come walking up to the farmhouse looking for a handout. Some of them would offer to fix things in return for some food, others just wanted to be fed. She said her mother always managed to find something to feed them regardless of the time of day, just to make sure that there would be no trouble. She would make them fresh coffee, sit them down on the back porch and give them a plate of food. My Mom always remembers them as being polite and saying thank you for whatever they were given. Occasionally there would be one or two that her father would hire to help with the field work if needed. They would sleep in the barn in the hay and considered it to be pretty comfy and warm compared to sleeping in the boxcars on trains.

Apparently, they had their own sign language and would leave "marks" in conspicuous places for the hobos that followed to let them know what the conditions of the area were - where you could always get a good handout or where you might be met with a shotgun.

My parents were married in the early 30's, during the Great Depression. My father tried to farm in central North Dakota where things were pretty dry. He said he put seed in the ground for seven years before he finally got any kind of a crop, and there were times when his cows had to eat thistles because there was no grass.

Because of these conditions there were a lot of men moving about the country looking for work, using any method of transportation they could - the railroads being the most common. My Mom was always a shutterbug and I think must have carried her Brownie Box Camera with her wherever she went. I found this picture in one of her scrapbooks.

She said it was taken in the spring of the year and the top of the train was full of young men headed west. She had gone to town to sell some chickens to get some cash to buy groceries and managed to snap this picture as the train went through town.

Apparently their farm was far enough away from the railroad tracks that they had very few hoboes approach the house just for food. If any one of them managed to go that far into the country they were looking for work, and of course with no crops, there wasn't any work to be had.

A movie that you might find interesting on this issue is called Emperor of the North. It stars Lee Marvin and Ernest Borgnine. Marvin plays "A" Number One, a famous bum who rode the rails, and Borgnine plays the part of a railroad cop whose mission in life is to keep "his" train clear of any freeloaders. It gives you a good peak into what life must have been like back then for these people.

Times - they sure were different back then.

PLEASE NOTE: WAAYY down on the bottom of this page I've put a "signy up thingie." If you would like to continue to read Lena's Latest Gossip, please sign the Notify List. I THINK I've finally got it figured out now - Sometimes I'm just not the brightest lightbulb in the box. Anyway, I've been notifying through a regular email and sometimes I worry that I'm sending things to people who really aren't interested. So if you are - just sign your name - er - email address and you can become one of my very exclusive Groupies!!