Daily Archives: July 9, 2010

Aging, Garden, Humanities

S…L…O…W

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Summer                                       Waning Strawberry moon

Engine turning at low  rpm’s.  Latin today and my tutor.  Greg (tutor) thinks I’ve gotten past the barrier I experienced before he took for Portugal.  Getting back up to speed after a two-week lull was not so easy, the mental machinery does not spin up for action quite as quickly as it used to.  So, I’ve got to stay at it to get it.  The new way.  Life changes our learning pace and perhaps our style, but it doesn’t diminish our capacity–or so I’ve read.  It’s also my experience.

Ear infection taking attention my body might otherwise devote to the fact that the grandkids are coming either tomorrow or Sunday.   We’re ready.  Sort of.

The garden will get some attention tomorrow after I buy an umbrella, umbrella stand and a new firepit for the brick patio.  Field trip to Fleetfarm.  I love Fleetfarm.  It’s one of those crazy places you probably don’t know about unless you use the stuff they sell: electric fencing, watering troughs, ivormectin.  Lot of fun.

Well, it may go slow, but I’m gonna get on the treadmill.  Now.

Minnesota

A Blank Spot on the Map?

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Summer                                           Waning Strawberry Moon

I found this on the Minnesota Conservation website.  It is the last of five questions asked of John Camp, aka, John Sandford.  It’s hard for me to get a grasp of what people think of Minnesota since I imagine, and I think Sandford confirms, people often don’t realize we exist.

When you travel to promote books, what do people ask you or tell you (if anything) about their perceptions of Minnesota, its climate, and/or its natural resources?

Mostly people ask why I live there, when it’s so cold. The perception of Minnesota involves climate and a kind of backwoods fishing culture. There’s also a perception that we have good cultural facilities, probably because of the constant banging of the drum for the Guthrie. But that’s about it.

When I talk about it, people are really curious about why anyone would choose to live there. I tell them that we live much better than the average person in California or New York City — that we have much nicer houses for the prices we pay, etc., but they really don’t pay much attention. I’ve told them that I live in a house that if it had the same conditions (size, view, water, dock) would cost $10 million in California, but I bought it for about $400,000…but they really sort of don’t believe it. For a lot of them, I think, the Upper Midwest is a kind of blank spot on the map.