SNOWED IN

I have gently made fun of my friends in colder, snowier climes in recent days.  So I thought I'd give them a chance to get even.  This is a photo of my car parked next to my house in Bismarck, North Dakota in 1966.

When I left the house preparing to drive to work, I found that an overnight massive blizzard had left a snowdrift that completely covered the car.  I walked the mile or two through the continuing snow storm to get to work, where I remained for three days.

When the snow finally stopped and I was able to get home again I wielded a snow shovel and a broom for some time in order to dig out the rear of the car and access to the interior through a passenger door.  Then I started it and just backed it out of the drift.  A large portion of the snow clung to the top of the car as I drove slowly down the streets.  It must have been quite a sight.

You can read more about the blizzard here.  This is why I now live in Arizona!

By the way, there's a clue in the photo to my upcoming Throwback Thursday picture.

WINTER GROWTH

I decided a few days ago to grow out my beard.  I've had a goatee and moustache for a long time and I've had a full beard in the past but it's been awhile.  Since my goatee has turned nearly fully white I thought I'd seen if I have a white beard, as well.  It seems to be taking its own sweet time.

I trim the goatee down to make it more resemble the rest of the growth so I don't just look like a homeless person.

Back in my younger days it was all reddish-brown.

But over the years it has gotten more Hemingway-esque.

This time around I'm hoping for the Santa Claus look.

By the way, here's where it all began, back around 1970.

My first selfie!

I remember in 1991 when we were about to move from Mexico back to the United States and I decided my face would get us back across the border easier without a beard.  So I shaved it all off.  I was stunned to find my father staring back at me in the mirror!  I think I've had facial hair of some type or another ever since.

I'll keep you posted on the current crop.

LEFSEPALOOZA!

If you come from a Scandinavian family* you've probably heard about lefse.  You've probably heard about lutefisk too but that's all I will say about that.

Lefse is kind of like a flour tortilla only thinner.  Wafer thin.  It is made from mashed potatoes and other ingredients but the potatoes are the main thing.  Balls of the dough are made, then rolled out and grilled on a griddle.  There are various ways to eat them but I always liked the ones I ate with butter and sugar, then rolled up into a tube and munched.

In Minot, North Dakota, where my brother and a couple of his kids and their kids still live there's a lefse-making tradition nearly a decade in the making.  They and other members of the extended family who gather there for a Thanksgiving feast call it Lefsepalooza.  It occurs on Black Friday and takes the place of shopping.  Here are some photos of this year's activity, courtesy of my nephew Barry's wife, Amy Fredregill.

Barry shows off one of the finished products.  Next to him is Amy, rolling out another and behind her is the host, Larry and his sister, Loretta.  The event features personalized aprons for everyone.

You may also notice what appears to be a bottle of some adult beverage on the counter in front of Larry.  The event is held in his garage and one must have sustenance to keep one's bodily warmth up to par.

And here is the outcome of the day: 194 lefses!  Amy says that's LESS than usual because they increased the rounds to 14 inches.

A job well done by these descendants of Norwegian immigrants. 

*The maternal side of my family came from Norway many years ago to farm in the rich soil of North Dakota.  

I grew up eating lefse. 

And avoiding lutefisk.

LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW, LET IT . . .

I know some of you folks have been fighting snow and ice and cold temperatures for days now, way ahead of the traditional first day of winter.

I just thought you'd like to know why I live in Arizona.

This is the street in front of our house on Thanksgiving Day.  We sat outside on the patio in shirtsleeves enjoying a 70+ degree sunny day before having our feast. And, no, it doesn't get too hot in the summer where we live.

But for the rest of you folks . . . here's Deano!

FRIDAY FUNNIES

I trust you all had wonderful Thanksgivings and are recovering comfortably.  Today a very special edition of the Friday Funnies. It's my first pre-Christmas special and it's ALL CATS!  What a surprise, eh?  So without further ado, let's get to it.

And with that, a tip of the nog and/or wassail to you.  Many thanks for the contributions, have a great weekend, folks, and keep chortling.  

(I wonder how many of them noticed the name of the bar.)

THANKSGIVING - 2014 AND TBT

Well, the big day is upon us.  Since it's also Throwback Thursday I searched my photo files for a Thanksgiving picture from my past.  I can't be sure if this one was from a past feasting day but it has all the qualities.

Presenting the Taylors.  Adults (left to right): Me, my older Brother Wayne, my Dad Franklin.  I'm holding Wayne's second son, Tim, and my dad is holding my second son, Scott.  Kneeling in front are the oldest boys, Wayne's Larry and my Troy.  We kind of look like toy soldiers, don't we?

And flashing forward to Thanksgiving 2014 . . .

Happy Thanksgiving, everybody.

THANKSGIVING - MINUS ONE

Yesterday's post about Thanksgiving encouraged some debate about when it all started. Tom and Phil both weighed in with historical perspectives of the Great Southwest celebrating Thanksgiving long before the Pilgrims and Puritans of New England.  Tom noted a Feast of Thanksgiving in New Mexico in 1598 following an arduous exploratory journey north from Mexico.  And Phil reminded us all that Santa Fe was an established town in New Mexico by the time the Pilgrims landed.

But wait!

A couple of Florida scholars say the first Thanksgiving actually was celebrated by Spaniards in what is now St. Augustine, Florida in 1565. (Presumably in Spanish, one of the official languages of Florida these days.)

So the debate goes on and on.  But it first became an official government mandated holiday way back in 1941 when President Franklin Roosevelt signed legislation (y'all remember legislation, don't you?) naming the fourth Thursday of November every year as the day we celebrate, eat ridiculously huge meals and, if we remember, give thanks.

And, so says Wikipedia and who would argue with them, modern day Thanksgiving goes back to those Calvinists in New England. Just never mind the Spaniards and Mexicans and Indians who went before.  

Kind of like how we tend to forget or ignore our history even today.