'Tis the Season--Almost!

Had our first--of many--holiday get togethers today. Went to the nearby resort for lunch and to take our Christmas photo. We had a good turnout, so it was a large group--difficult to pose. Everyone was in good spirits and most had holiday colors on (and most were patient with the amateur photographer). Hopefully, the photo and cards will turn out just great. Our loyal readers will have to wait a bit to see it here on our 'Blog.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving from the Walkie Talkies!

The Snow Has Been "Flying"

We do not have much, if any, snow on the ground.

However, on one end of town there is a great deal of snow and lots of noise. We have a local business that most people know little about--Scheuring Speed Sports. People from all over the world come to our little town with millions of dollars worth of snowmobiles and trucks and trailers to test their machines and to train on the race track there. Currently there are over 100 drivers (plus the entourage that accompanies each driver) in the area. Most of them stay at the local ski resort. Most of them eat at our local restaurants.

They have their own snow-making equipment so the snow has literally been "flying." Most of the WT's live near the business and have had some of the fog from the snow-making (and lots of the noise from the snowmobiles!). Today at coffee Mary said that we have to think of the noise as dollars dropping into our town. It certainly does help the businesses in our community!
The racing season starts in Maine in two weeks. Today we talked to some drivers who were having breakfast while we were having coffee. They were from New Hampshire (They were heading back and had a 25-hour drive). We asked them why they come to Minnesota rather than go to Wyoming or Colorado where they have tons of snow already. The reason is that we are at "normal" altitudes and they don't have to re-tune their machines for racing and training here.

They also have other racing in the summer.

For more information, check out the link for Scheuring Motor Sports.

What's A (Good) Wife To Do???

Subtitle: "The 'Scent' Caper"

Tomorrow is "The Opener"--the firearm deer season opens in Minnesota. It is a big "holiday" around here. Women hate to go to the grocery store the week before because the "amateurs" (hunters) are shopping for food to cook at their hunting shacks and many of them aren't familiar with the grocery aisles and they take forever trying to find items. It is such a popular time that sons fly in from all over the country to hunt with their fathers at the hunting shack.

So--what is a (good) wife to do? Some of us end up with a houseful of men sleeping on the floors and getting up at the crack of dawn to go out hunting. Driving around town and through the countryside for days before, one sees blaze orange clothing hanging outside "airing" to get rid of household or garage odors. Some wives even re-wash their husband's hunting clothes in unscented soap to get rid of "human" smells. One wife has been following this for a week and wonders why they have to air out their clothes. Her husband leaves his long johns and socks in the house so they'll be warm in the morning to put on. He will also have a sandwich made with sausage that is full of garlic. She wonders, "If the clothes need to air out so the deer won't detect human smells, why won't the deer smell the garlic in the sausage and the human odors on his undies?" She also refuses to re-wash the clothes and asks, "After all, if the deer can't smell the garlic from 200 yards away, how on earth can they smell the Downy?" One wife who hates to mend, has ended up mending her husband's backpack. "The presser foot would barely go down enough to sew it right," she said. But he was happy as could be about it--no need to buy a new one as the old one has worked for many years already!

One of the WT's (who will remain nameless) even went with her husband today to put deer scent around the area where he hunts. He was going to go out alone because his hunting buddies were all working and she was a little concerned about him being out in the woods alone so she made the decision to accompany him. After all, she has had a cold and would not be able to smell it! Deer "scent" means putting doe and buck urine (!!!) on cotton pads and hanging them on a tree. The bucks are attracted to the smell and head right for it. This is all legal and, evidently, is quite a big business in the state. In addition, he put the scent pad on a string on a stick and dragged it in a zig-zag method to simulate a buck searching for this wonderfully-smelling doe to hitch up with (or another buck to fight with!).

At any rate, it was quite an educational morning for her. Since this was her first trip to his deer hunting area, he had to point out all the spots where he had shot deer (this from the guy who can't remember what he went downstairs for!).

The doe scent gets used first. It is put on the wick on the left.

Then he dragged it in a zig-zag path along a deer trail that led to a clearing where he has shot deer in the past. The hope is that a buck will smell it and think there is a doe that is pining for him and waiting for him to appear!

Another wick with buck scent gets put in a tree where one had been scraping on the bark and pawing at the ground. The buck hopes that there might be another buck to fight for the lady of his dreams!

A real "find"--a scraping on a tree!

One has to wonder about the kind of person that collects these specimens and how they do it! Then again, maybe we don't need to know!

Next year this just might have to be a field trip for the WT's! It is pretty interesting. Who knows when we might have to use these techniques ourselves???