If I thought April 7 ….
If I thought April 7 created lots of concern, it just moved ahead to the 13th. Outside of it being my first anniversary of being here, it turned out to be quite the day.
Sue had just been to court and was awarded full guardianship of Shelly. That released me from the burden of financial guardianship when it became impossible for me to drive.
The court time was 1:15; then she and Shelly came here to pick me up. First thing, she stopped for a milkshake treat and we were off for Loyal. Saw an Amish plowing just west of town, so spring must be here.
Drove by my house and Savanna was out in the yard. She came running with my first dandelion of the year — an old family tradition. Used to pick it for Mom when I was a kid.
Then to the bank. Haven’t been inside since the day I sold my bank shares. That little trip cost me almost $2,000 in capital gains taxes. All I can say is it was a good investment and I’m so proud of the bank for serving the community.
As I sat in the bank the other afternoon, the temperature kept flashing 80 degrees. I remember the bank bags with a picture on them showing a temperature of 100 and recall the day I took that picture. Yes indeed, it was hot. Thankfully, I didn’t have to go far to take it.
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Spring must be officially here. I saw Randy Cook going by a couple of times with his little green tractor with a trailer load of broken branches. Then today Tami walked by with her clippers. Guess that meant Randy had better get there and pick up the results.
As I look out at the lawn now, it looks great. Thanks, Randy and Tami, for keeping everything shipshape.
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Turtle Lake is getting ready to celebrate its 150th anniversary. Every week The Times newspaper runs an old picture from the community. This week was one of the train depot. According to the cutline, the first depot was destroyed by fire in 1902. The one rebuilt was a two-story structure and I often climbed up to the top as an uncle worked for the Soo Line. We don’t think much about trains, but it said there were 26 trains a day at one time. Hundreds flocked there for a mustard plaster treatment, one of the locals sold.
That depot lasted until about 1944. I was just a freshman in high school and recall the mess when we came to school the next day. A daily freight train on the eastbound Soo Line had stopped to pick up a carload of butter at the creamery.
While it was picking up the car, a freight train from the north came through on the other tracks. The depot, what was left of it, was patched up. That lasted until the trains quit running.
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I read or heard something the other day about naming a community just by mentioning some product. What came to mind was Cumberland, which is also called the Rutabaga Capital.
If I remember correctly, there was a Hines family that owned a lot of property in town. On one end was the S.W. Hines Store, and The Company Store on the other. There was also a large warehouse just for rutabagas.
They named their summer celebration The Rutabaga Festival, which at one time held a rutabaga eating contest.
Just like our Corn Fest continues after the canning factory closed, they still call it the Rutabaga Festival, but feature peppers instead. I don’t quite get the connection, but if it works, why change it?
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I spent the afternoon Saturday watching the funeral being held for the Cameron and Chetek police officers killed last week. What a tragedy. It will take years for those communities to recover the loss.
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It is just wait and see. Writing this on Sunday, the forecast doesn’t look good. Rain, changing to snow this afternoon and tonight. I guess I can thank the miracle of the internet for delivering this so I don’t have to drive it down.
