Lupines Galore

The Duluth paper today mentioned that we could "leave the fall foliage to busloads of tourists" because the time to see some neat colors in the Northland is right now--the wild lupine are nearing their blooming peak. These photos are from the hill behind the house of one of the WT's.

Lupine are tall, spiky flowers with a peppery scent. They are usually blue-violet, but you can also see pink, yellow or red ones. They grow wild along the highways and in the woods. The birds help to "transplant" them when the seed pods form.
From the Duluth paper: "Lupine derive their name from lupus, which is Latin for 'wolflike'. It was so-named because it was thought to 'wolf' down soil nutrients. However, lupine, which is a member of the pear family, actually enriches the soil by taking nitrogen from the air and instilling it in the soil . . .They are the only known host plant for the endangered Karner blue butterfly."

They are certainly gorgeous at this time of year. We are lucky to be living in the Northland!

Saturday--It's The Shopper News!

We'll take a break from the Outback because, once again, we have all that is new and good from The Shopper.

Our own WT, Laurie, is the weekly winner of the Community Spirit $50. We wonder who sold her the winning ticket???? Will we get a free cup of coffee this week?

As the Relay For Life draws closer (June 23-24) there are more ads for fund-raisers and other information. The Community Dinner will be held on Wednesday, June 21, at the Community Center. This year they are serving Swedish meatballs, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, beverages and cake. The cost is only $5, so that is a great deal for a wonderful cause.

Must be summer--the beach is opening (Of course, one is closed due to lack of applicants for lifeguard positions!).

The Chamber of Commerce has its quarterly meeting on June 15. The list of members is listed. It is interesting to see which businesses are in the Chamber and even more interesting to see which ones did not join. One always wonders why!

The "Spruce Up" Committee has been busy planting the gardens and boxes around town. They are looking for volunteers to "weed wack." They all really do a great job in making our town so beautiful with all the flowers!

There is a summer salad luncheon on June 21st in a neighboring town to sponsor their Water Carnival, which is held at the end of July. The Water Carnival is a great event for everyone.

The Utility Department will be flushing the hydrants and they are warning us to be prepared for some discoloration of the water. All we have to do is run the faucets until the water clears. We are blessed with good and plentiful water.

Fishing Contest: A 7-pounder won the walleye division and a 13-pounder won the northern division. There are plenty of good prizes each week. The Sport Stop does a great job with this during the summer. Just noticed that he is advertising bug jackets and pants on his reader board. This has been a terrible year for mosquitoes and, especially, "sandflies" (a little bug that lives on the blood of humans. Many of us walk around during May and June with wonderful looking bites!). This, too, shall end!

There's a meeting of the Youth Hockey group. They need to get a group together to decorate a float for the Fourth of July. Thank Heavens! For a minute, this writer thought we must have skipped summer!

There's an ad for Black Dirt and it indicates that we should get "the REAL stuff!" We wonder what that is! Is there a "Wrong" stuff???

Looks as if the theatre didn't place an ad. How will we know if "Prairie Home Companion" will be here soon? What should we do?

Sorry it's so short this week. We all have to save our strength to get ready for the Fourth! Have a good week!

More from Australia by Joan

While we were in Melbourne, we visited the Shrine of Remembrance. It was originally built to honor WWI servicemen but has been changed to include all wars. Upstairs in a rotunda area lies a tomb of the unknown soldier situated such that on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month each year the sun shines directly on the tomb inscription. We watched a reenactment of this. It was quite impressive. This will happen for 3000 years. The picture above shows the tomb with its incsription.


Of course, when you visit Sydney, you must have a photo at the harbor showing the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbor Bridge, so here we are. Lorraine climbed the bridge along with about half a dozen others from our tour group. I was not one of them!


While we were in Sydney, the Bears for Understanding, were on tour and set up at the Sydney Harbor. Each bear is designed and decorated by one of the member nations of the United Nations. They are on world tour to raise money for UNICEF and when they are finished will be actioned for more money for UNICEF. The idea came from Einstein's quote; "Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be acheived by understanding". The bear above is the Einstein Bear with the quote inscribed on it.


Here is the US Bear.


A small section of the display showing a few of the bears. There were 124 in all.

More on Australia by Joan

Guess it is past time to get in a few more photos and comments from my trip Down Under. I showed you our visit to Uluru and the sunset. We also attended sunrise but since it was somewhat cloudy, the pictures of Uluru were not spectacular. However, I caught a couple of the sunrise that I liked real well so I will post them. We also visited another rock formation which is also sacred to the Aboriginies and I have a nice picture of that which I will post. The formation is called The Olgas.

Lorraine and I also met up with some of the wildlife while in Australia and I will share some of those photos with you as well.



Sun just beginning to rise



A few minutes later




The Olgas



Lorraine and me with our friend the Koala



Me, up close and personal with a Roo. We also saw kangaroos in the wild.



At the hotel where we stayed in Cairns, the egrets roosted in the tree outside our room every night. Here they are.

Disney World Revisited

Joan has returned from a week at Disney World with all of her children and grandchildren. Following is her report of the trip.

The trip was prompted by my youngest son's inquiry as to whether I had ever been back to Disney since I took the family there in 1977. The reply to that question was no. Son then said, "you should go again sometime". My reply was, "I'd like to". Soooo, on my 70th birthday last fall I received a Micky Mouse with the note, "We are all going to Disney World in May". Three children, their spouses and all 7 grandchildren made the trip arriving on Thursday evening May 18. Also joining us was son Brian's in laws, Charlie and Sharon Guthrie. We stayed at the Carribean Beach Resort and rode a bus to any and all attractions. We all spent a whole day at the Magic Kingdom together and another day at Animal Kingdom together. On the third day some of the folks went to a water park. Daughter Holly and family left Sunday night to go to Cocoa Beach so Kelsey could see the ocean. She had never flown and had never been out of Minnesota so this was a big adventure for her. On Monday those of us remaining went to Epcot for the day. Dan and family left on Tuesday morning. The remaining troops spent Tuesday at MGM. On Wednesday, I returned to Epcot by myself to take in the World Villages. Since Epcot was the main reason I wanted to go to Disney again, this was a most enjoyable day. I had a cheese and wine snack in France and Bratwurst and Kraut for lunch in Germany!

Besides the regular stuff at the parks, our group took in a couple of special events. On our first morning in Disney we had breakfast with the princesses. A real treat for the little girls. A good breakfast too. On Saturday night we took in an event where we went by boat to watch the fireworks. That was a great excursion. We rode the monorail as part of our transportation to that event and the older grands.....5 and up..... were invited to ride in the drivers cab. What a thrill!

In a pole of everyone, the favorite ride was the new one at Epcot called Soarin'. You sat in chairs buckled in and then lifted off so you felt like you were flying while an Imax type of movie of sites in California played out all around you. I found myself raising my feet so I wouldn't his the Golden Gate Bridge and ducking when the golf ball came at me. I almost kicked a surfer and thought sure I was falling off the mountain in the snowing scene.

The weather was very hot while we were there but we survived and did have a wonderful time.





In the first photos grandkids Sarah, Rachel, Jacob and Anna pose in front of a Nemo display. Next is Matthew looking over Captain Hook. Third photo is Natalie and Kelsey visiting with Snow White at the Princess breakfast.

A Brief Shopper Report

This will be a very short report from this week's Shopper:

The front page this week is a full-page ad for a local watering hole/restaurant. They will be offering delivery service 7 days a week. That makes it kind of nice for some of us who want to stay home after a full day of work in our garden/yard and want to shower and clean up and then eat in our "jammies."

There are several ads for employment opportunities for young people. It almost is starting to appear that our young ones might not be very interested in looking for jobs this summer because the ads have been in for several weeks--the life guards at the beach, cooks and counselors at the 4-H camp, etc.

A cute ad for a class reunion mentions that "If you are the parent, sibling or feiend of a 1986 graduate, theis is your chance to get even for all those gray hairs caused by your adult child during his or her teenage years." The ad suggests that we send in the best and most embarrassing photos to the committee. Are we that nasty? Yes, we can be!

The Relay For Life fundraisers are still in full swing. The night of the event is coming up soon.
The local bank team had many items to "raffle" and cookbooks for sale. One of the teams is hosting a concert. Another team is hosting a midnight bowling, poker tourney, and food raffles coming up at a local bowling alley. Guess we'd better play our favorite Polka Pal Don song--"Grab Your Balls, We're Going Bowling" and take off. By the way, he played a couple of songs for the WT's on Saturday on WELY.

The big softball Memorial Weekend is coming up. The Swiss Steak Dinner on Friday night should be well-attended--a good break from spaghetti feeds! It's only $6.00. Doesn't get any better than that!

Vacation Bible Schools and day camps are being advertised. The kids sometimes get bored right away??? Have to keep them busy early on. There are more that are scheduled for August. Parents could be really ecumenical and send their kids to several of them!

Some of the beaches are opening on Saturday, June 10th. It has been warm lately, so the water must be warming up. However in this area, the definition of "warm" might not be the same as that in the banana belt south of us!

The Fishing Contest: A 6 pound, 10 oz. walleye and a 3 pound northern won this week.

Cruise Night at the local A&W is June 20th. It is amazing the number of folks that show up in their classic cars for the event (one in June and one in August). This is about the16th year of the Classic Car Cruise night at our A&W, which is the old drive-in style place with carhops and no electronic ordering. The WT's always have a good contingent that attends this event!

Playing at the movie theatre: "Over the Hedge" and "The DaVinci Code." "Poseidon" starts on Friday.

Until next week . . . Stay out of a little bit of trouble but get into enough trouble to say that you have had a good time!

WT's Always on the Move

It seems as if someone from our group is always on the move:

Joan is back from a family trip to Disneyland in California. She came back full of some kind of bug bites. They had a great time and she'll be adding photos and information to the 'Blog in the next day or so and we'll be anxious to hear/see more about it.

Laurie is winging her way to California today to visit her daughter. The two of them will also spend some time in Rosarita, Mexico.

Pat and her husband cruise to Alaska beginning on Friday. She'll come back with many tales also.

Mary leaves this morning for Virginia where she is doing a seminar. She left equipped with many stories about all of us folks in the small town.

Irene has been back and forth to Duluth to the hospital as her husband had lung surgery. He is now home and doing well (and so is she after her foot surgery), so she is walking once again. Jodie will be following that trail to Duluth beginning on Monday when her husband has hip replacement surgery.

Emily is still trying to fit in a trip to Salt Lake City to see their new grandson. Looks as if June 12th might be the departure date.

We never let any grass grow under us.

Loved Today--Cursed in One year???? By Jodie

This little beauty was born yesterday or last night. This morning, I glanced out the window and saw it stand for the first time. When fawns are born, they have no scent so the doe leaves to recuperate and the fawn is protected because predators can't smell it. The doe will probably be back tonight to be with it and then they'll stay together. I think our little "grandbaby" is gorgeous today and I will enjoy watching it grow and frolic this summer, but I'll probably curse it next year when it is grown and starts eating my flowers!

Note: I was not close to it--just using a good telephoto lens. It ignored me completely as it did my husband as he washed the outside windows on the house today.

There's a mallard's nest up on our hill with 15 eggs in it. My husband keeps wanting me to go to check it out with my camera. The problem is, hen mallards will chase me. I am not fool! (or am I?--check again!).

Memorial Day, 2006

We will never forget their sacrifices!

This Week's Shopper News

The fishing contest will be big news every week. The walleye this week was over 5 pounds and the northern was almost 10 pounds. Both were caught in a lake about 5 miles away. Congratulations to the winners!

Graduation is on June first. There is a two-page ad congratulating and listing all of the seniors along with the program for the commencement exercises (Will that be jumping jacks or what?). A tradition is the Congradance following graduation (from 10:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m.). This is a celebration for the graduating seniors and for the other students to help celebrate in a positive and chemical-free environment. This has always been a very positive event and they are looking for volunteers to help chaperone, decorate, etc.

There are MANY graduation open house announcements this week. It is a real tradition for families to have graduation parties around this time to honor the graduates. It is good for the catering business, the card business, the floral business and the decorating business (this gives mom a chance to get new carpeting, draperies and painting/wallpaper!). We'd better stock up on graduation cards and crisp ten- or twenty-dollar bills!

The beach in one of our towns will not be available this summer for general swimming because they were unable to find lifeguards. That is a very unfortunate development. Perhaps seeing the announcement will get parents to give their lifeguarding teens a little prodding to apply for some summer work.

There is a big softball tourney coming up on June 9-11. It is in memory of Tee' brother (also Laurie's brother-in-law) who died of cancer in January. The proceeds from this volunteer event will go to two of Jim's favorite events--the Fourth of July (fireworks) and the Music Festival. There is a Swiss Steak Dinner on that Friday night followed by music by a local dee jay. The tourney will be on Saturday and Sunday at the local park. We are looking forward to a big turn-out for this event.

While I'm on the subject of Jim--many people in town will miss him. He came from the Cities for the entire summer and stayed at his brother's house. He was very active in community and church activities and events during the summer and came downtown for coffee every morning. He was quite the picker of wild blueberries. Many people who were recipients of gifts of these berries will especially miss him as will the many very elderly widows whom he helped by doing little chores for them and washing the windows in their houses (all voluntary!).

There's a 3-person golf scramble next Saturday. Folks need to sign up soon as it is open only to the first 18 teams that register.

There are many recreation programs being set up so that we can keep the local youngsters busy: Pony league baseball, T-Ball, Girls Softball, Arts and Crafts and Golf. Lots to do and lots of fun! The churches are also starting to list some of their day camps.

The Relay For Life is coming up soon and many of the teams have ads for various fundraisers. The event will be here before we know it! We've gone from raising $10,000 the first year to almost $66,000 last year!

I do not see the ad looking for manure this week. Either they found it or just gave up!
There are many ads, however, for items for sale--looks as if many folks have cleaned out their basements or garages. Perhaps once they got their boats out, they noticed some unneeded items!

At the theatre this week: "Over the Hedge" and "The DaVinci Code." Good choices!

That's all for now, folks! Until next week . . .

End of the Road #2

Polka Pal Don will be back on Saturday, June 2, for his five hours of polkas and waltzes on WELY radio. We did not know that he would be gone for 3 Saturdays. We apologize, but we hope that you enjoyed the music if you checked it out.

Check out the link for "End of the Road Radio" on the right and listen to the streaming audio. Perhaps you'll hear the Walkie Talkies mentioned at some point. 'Phone in a request if you would like. Enjoy Polka Pal Don. As he says, "It's a time to let down your hair! That is, if you have any hair to let down!"

A laundry Day Dilemma

It's a difficult decision: Monday is usually laundry day--Yes, it still is for some of us! However, when there is a Monday holiday, what should we do?

Most of us still like to put our clothes out on the line rather than in the dryer since we love that ozone smell (Some start hanging them out so early in the spring that the clothes freeze on the line--now that is some heavy-duty ozone!). Do we put them out on Sunday? What will our church neighbors think of that? Do we put them out on Memorial Day on Monday? Is that unpatriotic? Should we do them on Sunday or Monday and use the dryer? Yuck! Of course, with all the pollen in the air, perhaps we should do them in the dryer instead of outside. Will we then feel guilty? We have many things to ponder and worry about . . .

Another tough decision for the WT's in our small part of the world!!

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

We have had several beautiful days this week--highs near 80 degrees and a couple of mild nights.

Do we dare plant our annuals at this point? Most of us have purchased them already. Some of us have planted them and cover them at night. Some of us have them in our garages overnight and put them out in our driveways during the day to "harden" them. If we guess wrong and plant them, we will be covering them nightly for awhile. There are some that think we should not plant outdoors until after the first full moon of June--but most of us can't wait. Sometimes it helps out the local greenhouse if we plant too early--then we have to buy the same things twice!

Is it safe to put the boxes out at the cemetery yet? The cemetery crew has been busy--the city crew has been cutting the grass. The volunteers have planted grass on new graves. Today the city crews were trimming around the stones. A drive past indicates that some folks are taking the chance and putting their pots out (no plastic flowers allowed). The floral shop will be putting out the planters on Friday so they are all set for Memorial Day. It is a great service that they provide: for a certain cost, they plant them, put them out at the gravesites, bill us, and then pick up the planters in the fall (painting them in the winter). The cemetery crew--all volunteer--works hard all summer to keep them all watered and looking good. We are so lucky to be living where we do! We WILL be ready for Memorial Day and all the services on Monday.

Such is life in the northland!

Another Birthday

Today we celebrated Anna's birthday with a luncheon at a local resort.

The birthday girl. She is the one that usually harmonizes so we did not do justice to the birthday song!
L-R: Dorothy, Anna, Tee, Lorraine and Pat.
L-R: Sharon, Helen S., Jodie (back), Lil and Jo.

Front: Sharon and Jodie.

Back: Lil, Jo, Dorothy, Lorraine, Tee (hiding), Helen S., Pat and Anna.

Shopper--Out of Luck

Sorry--the Shopper reporter was on vacation (is it still "vacation" if one is retired??), so there has been no news for two weeks.

Very short summary of our news:

Memorial Day is a big deal in our area. On Monday, May 29, there will be the Formation of the Color Guard and the raising of the flag at the American Legion Club. Then the group goes to several of the surrounding cemeteries for the services to honor those who have served our country. Of course, there will be lunch following the services at the Legion.

The music department has its Spring Concert on Thursday, May 25th, at 7:30 p.m. in the school gymnasium. We have some very talented students in the 6th grade and the junior high bands. We must go to see these youngsters!

There is a Finnish American Summer Festival in a community near here on June 3rd. That should draw many folks. Of course, there will be a Finnish meal served from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

There is going to be an all-city picnic coming up for all five communities. The committee is looking for volunteers.

There are several graduation photos congratulating some of the grads and announcing parties for these grads.

When we had our Centennial a couple of years ago, there was a special Pioneer Monument put up at the Community Center. Memorial bricks with individual and/or family names were placed on the walkways. There is an ad indicating that if we place our orders by June 1 the bricks will be in place for the Fourth of July celebrations.

The Fishing Contest is in full swing. Looks as if the winning walleye was 7 pounds. The winner did not indicate which lake he caught it in! Looks as if the Opener must have been pretty good.

It appears that the person who was looking for rotted cow and chicken manure still has not found it because the ad is still in print! Very interesting.

Looks as if The DaVinci Code is playing at the theatre. There will probably be lines for this one!

Sorry this is so brief, but the laundry and ironing are calling (Yes, some of us still iron!). Until next weekend . . .

Shopper News

A follow-up from last week: The big 100th celebration at the local bank was a real hit. Two WT's each won $100 bonds in the drawings. Congratulations to Helen S. and Elsie. Does that mean they have to buy coffee for all of us? No--we can just bask in their glory!

The bank gave $1,000 to the Northern Lights Music Festival (their third year of support for this event). There is a photo of the bank president presenting the check to Laurie's husband. Don't forget to check out our link on the right for the festival which will be held June 28th through July 16th. There will be ten concerts and they are free of charge. These concerts are phenomenal and folks should try to make it up to our area to enjoy them!

Two big holidays are coming up. One is "legit" and the other is unique to Minnesota:

First of all, Mother's Day is coming up next Sunday, May 14th. There are several ads for that celebration. The floral shop has a big ad: "Say Thanks fo your Mom." There are floral arrangements and gift certificates available for the big day. "The Ben" (Ben Franklin) has some gift ideas plus Hallmark cards.

The local restaurants have buffets, brunches, lunches, and dinners. The A&W has a free sundae for Moms.

The other "holiday" is the Fishing Opener and there are several ads for that also. The sporting goods store has its Summer Fishing contest. We can weigh in our catch each week and prizes will be awarded for the largest fish in several categories. Prizes are then given by various local businesses. The grocery stores have some specials for the fishermen and fisherwomen. We can "hook" a bargain at the local liquor store and we hope the fisher folks wait to imbibe until they are off the lake . Most of the ads wish all the anglers the best of luck!

On Saturday, May 13th, Laurie's niece Bobbi Jo, is being feted at a party. Hers is a wonderful success story: When the mines laid off everyone and closed down, there were many people who needed to find different options. Bobbi Jo had been waitressing at the WT "Club House," when she started thinking about going to college. We encouraged her and now, 6 years later, she has completed her Master's Degree and is a Speech-Language Pathologist. We are all thrilled for her and have enjoyed wathcing her blossom throughout this endeavor! Congratulations, Bobbi Jo!

The First Annual Jazz Concert takes place at the school next Sunday, May 14th, at 2:00 p.m. We are encouraged to "Jazz up" our lives and attend and enjoy the concert. Many of us will do just that.

The Bike Rodeo is coming up this Friday, May 12th, at the park (rain or shine), sponsored by the local PTO and area businesses and organizations. There will be bike safety information, bike inspection, prizes (the Lion's Club is giving away a new bicycle!), and, of course, refreshments! Sounds like a great community event.

There's a Smelt/Fish Fry at a nearby community center sponsored by their Volunteer Fire Department. That's a little different than the usual spaghetti feeds, so it will probably be well-attended. This year Lake Superior produced quite a few smelt.

The local communities are trying to organize an all-city picnic and there is an organizational meeting for that on Wednesday, May 10th.

Saturday, May 13th, is the annual USPS Letter Carrier Food Drive. Can't tell if it is for all three communities or just the one. We'll have to check on that.

There are some meetings set up to plan class reunions. Most of the reunions happen around the Fourth of July when most folks come "home." Speaking of the Fourth, they are still looking for donations for the celebration. This week they have an "Honor Roll"--those who have made donations to the event. This is a smart move as most people like to get their names on such a list!

Someone is selling an electric sauna stove with rocks for $250. Most purists prefer a wood stove, but this sounds interesting. Someone else is still looking for that rotted cow or chicken manure, no dirt/straw, please. Hope they find it soon since we are all starting to get our gardens ready.

"R.V." is playing at the theatre and "M:I:3" starts on Thursday.

Have a wonderful week. Get out and enjoy the spring weather. We can almost hear the grass growing these days--for sure, we can hear folks muttering already about having to mow! We don't dare plant our flowers yet as there will probably be several frosty nights--probably well into June!

Apologies

Sorry--Just found out that Polka Pal Don was not on WELY today so there were no requests. However, the music was just as lively. Try again next week to tune in to hear Polka Pal Don and to hear the requests. Enjoy!

The End of the Road!

People sometimes wonder what on earth we find to do to keep busy in our small towns. We keep very busy, as the readers of our 'Blog know. There is a small town near us that is very unique that we would like to share with our faithful readers:

Ely, Minnesota, is about 40 miles from where we all live. It is the "gateway to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW)," and the home of the International Wolf Center and the Dorothy Molter Museum (the famous Root Beer Lady). U.S. Highway 169 goes right through Ely and ends about 10 miles north--the end of the road! The WT's have spent time geocaching in the area, Emily and her husband have a home there, and we all love to attend concerts, eat out and enjoy the annual Blueberry Festival in late July.

One of the most fun things about Ely is the radio station--WELY, "End of the Road Radio." Most of us are lucky enough to be able to pick up the station on our radios (94.5 on our FM dials), especially on Saturday mornings when we listen to five big hours of polkas, waltzes, and requests and dedications. Polka Pal Don keeps us entertained for the full five hours. He mostly plays ethnic (eastern European) polkas, but this past Saturday he played two interesting polkas--"Don't Get Your Shorts in a Bunch" as well as "Grab Your Balls We're Going Bowling." People from all over the country call in or email their requests and many dedicate songs to couples who are celebrating anniversaries or to the memory of those who are no longer with us or to folks who are celebrating birthdays. All in all, it is an enjoyable morning for many listeners. Some who are new to this area cannot understand our fascination and love of this kind of music.

The station reminds us of the radio station in the old television program, "Northern Exposure." There is Trader Craig who is on every weekday morning at 9:00. It is WELY's own mini-version of eBay for those without computers. One can find many things of interest to buy or sell. Birding with Bill is on at 7:00 p.m. on Sundays (unless there is a Minnesota Twins game!).

Another unique part of the station is the Emergency and Personal Messages program. It is broadcast at noon and at 5:00 p.m. It serves the purpose of getting messages to folks who live or are camping in remote areas without the benefit of cell 'phone towers. The messages are often short, informing parents that the kids have arrived home safely or that they are going to be late or that Aunt Sally has picked enough blueberries to make a pie! There might be birthday and anniversary wishes also.

Charles Kuralt did a piece on Ely once for CBS and ended up vacationing there for many years afterwards. In fact, he even owned WELY at one time. They still run some ads/promos that he did. In one of them, he says, "You never know what you're going to hear next. In fact, we don't even know what we're going to say next!"

The station is now owned by the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa and there are many Native American programs on throughout the week and some very interesting music.

We invite you to click on the link for "End of the Road Radio" on the right. You can listen to streaming audio on your computers. Tune in on Saturday mornings to listen to Polka Pal Don and think about the WT's that might be listening. As Polka Pal Don says, "It's a time to let your hair down--that is, if you have any hair to let down!" Perhaps you might end up 'phoning in a request for a song . . .

Busy Week for the Walkie Talkies

Some weeks are quiet and others are very busy in terms of news for the WT's.

On Monday, we celebrated Helen J's 86th birthday. Our tradition is to buy the birthday "girl" a muffin or roll as part of the celebration. As it turns out, that person generally cuts it into small pieces and we all share (kind of like the loaves and fishes!). Joan always creates a personalized card on her computer and we all look forward to what she will come up with next.

Helen said she wants to live long enough to see the Democrats win the next election. Jodie, our resident Republican, suggested that might be the best reason for everyone to vote Republican!

The above photo is from one year ago at the Relay For Life Rally that the WT's hosted. Helen was one of the speakers telling us about her experiences fighting cancer. That year we all put Relay tattoos on our faces.

Lorraine is back once again. She and her husband were off to Great Lakes Naval Base for the graduation of their grandson. Davin grew up in Duluth and used to watch the ships come in to the Lake Superior harbor. He recognized all of the shapes of the ships. He was a Sea Cadet in Duluth and it seemed that he was destined to join the U.S. Navy. His goal is to be a Navy S.E.A.L. We wish him well and congratulate the proud family on Davin's accomplishments.

On Tuesday the group is going to lunch with Lil who moved about 15 miles from here. She seems to be enjoying her new apartment. Another WT, Jo, also lives there so, at least, Lil knows someone there. When we plan WT outings, we always include those who have moved.

Irene has been at coffee a couple of times. She is recuperating just fine from her foot surgery. In fact, she and her husband were out dancing on Saturday night!! We are a hardy bunch!

Back from the Outback by Joan

As Jodie reported, I am back from Australia and did indeed have a wonderful trip. We started out in Melbourne (Aussies say 'Melbin') where the Commonwealth Games were wrapping up. Needless, to say the town was busy, busy. We noted some of our neighbors to the north (otherwise known as Canadians) having a pretty good time at our hotel. Melbourne is a lovely city with lots of parks and a trolley you can ride around the center of town to get you to all of the tourist spots.

From Melbourne we flew to Alice Springs to begin our Outback experience. There we learned about the School of the Air, Flying Doctors, and the early telegraph communication system which headquartered in Alice Springs. While there we also went ballooning over the outback at sunrise. After ballooning we had breakfast in the outback.

From there it was on to Uluru or Ayres Rock. We viewed it at sunset while we sipped champagne and then again at sunrise. Some rode camels to view it at sunrise, but I opted for the bus!




Ready to go!

Breakfast of Mimosas, chicken legs, quiche and fruit.
















Our group at Uluru getting ready to view the sunset while sipping champagne. Does champagne seem to be a theme here??









The sunset at Uluru was gorgeous.