kissalostsoul

I had compiled a list of seven oddities I wanted to see today with the help of my Roadside America investigations that I made late last night.  Jack was up for the adventure, so early this morning I drove over to his campground on the outskirts of Detroit Lakes.  The first place we stopped wasn’t open yet, but the Chamber of Commerce Visitors Center for Detroit Lakes was, so we stopped there and I picked up a bag full of information on interesting things to do in the area while I am here for the next four months.                      Then we were off to the town of Frazee, MN, to see the World’s Largest Turkey.  It was located in “The Best Lion’s Park By a Dam…Site”!  As we arrived, we both needed to visit the rest rooms first.  Interesting… no door to the restroom and no doors for each of the three stalls.  I was sure glad it wasn’t a busy day at t...

Landgrave Moritz of Hesse died on the afternoon of Thursday 23.05.2013 at the age of 86 after a longer illness of the throat.  He was the head of the House of Hesse and an internationally respected businessman with the best contacts for European nobility. Now Landgrave Moritz of Hesse has succumbed to a serious illness. Dr. Mark Miller , director of the Hessian House Foundation , our confirmed rumors  the death . The Landgrave was suffering from a lung disease for some time. "It's terrible. He was a great boss , "Miller said in a shaky voice. The news of the death came as no surprise . "We know  that it was in very bad health  ," Miller said . For health reasons, the Landgrave last week did not attend the garden party at the huntiong Castle Fulda for which he is patron. Later, his condition deteriorated further . Moritz Friedrich Karl Emmanuel Humbert, Prince of Hesse was born in 1926 in Racconigi castle in Piedmont. He...

Spent a good share of the day doing some laundry and going to town for birdseed.  I’ve just been using my on board Splendide washer/dryer rather than hauling everything up to the bunkhouse.  It takes longer, but it saves all the trips back and forth up the road.  I wanted to get things in order for my afternoon visitor. Along about 4:00 in the afternoon, my good friend Jack (the Bugman) pulled into my site.  He’s staying about 20 miles away outside of Detroit Lakes for a week, so we have some fine adventures together planned since I don’t have to be back to work until Tuesday. We sat outside chatting for a while, and then I put him to work!  First up, he thought he could straighten my bird feeder pole by sticking into his hitch, and bending it back to upright.  It worked like a charm. Because of all the rain since I arrived and my reluctance to get up on the roof, I haven’t taken off the zip ties that were holding my awning in place.  Jack to ...

Even though it was still drizzling out this morning, the intrepid kindergarten teachers of Roosevelt Elementary brought all of their charges to the refuge for one last field trip before school lets out for the summer on Friday.  It was cold and wet, but three full busloads of little people burst forth eager to enjoy the morning’s activities.  I sure could use some of their youthful energy.  I helped out with two camouflage hikes, and then reported back to the picnic area to help get their lunch ready.  The refuge manager, Neil, was grilling hotdogs for everyone.  My job was to get the dogs into the buns as the 120 or so students and teachers arrived to eat.  What a busy morning.  I was pooped already, but still had a half day of work to go.  After lunch, the skies finally cleared and the sun came out for the first time in five days.  Janice, the volunteer coordinator, asked me to spend the afternoon refilling several kiosks around the ref...

For the fourth day in a row, it was raining when I woke up.  The weather didn’t dissuade the first grade classes from Frazee, MN, from coming to do their annual tree planting on the refuge however.  They came to create an environment. For the past ten years, the Frazee first graders have come to help turn a former farmer’s field into a white pine forest.  Amazingly, the rain quit while these youngsters were here.  You could not find a more enthusiastic group of young arborists!  I think there were about ten volunteers here this morning to man the shovels and help the youngsters.  I made sure I had a father in each of my four groups because I just couldn’t get the shovel through the dense sod.  It gave me a true appreciation for those first white settlers in the area that built those Soddy houses to live in.  Hard work for sure.  Imagine the pride these youngsters will have when, in the future, they bring their children here to the refuge ...

Tonight’s post will be somewhat of a hodge-podge of the happenings since I arrived at Tamarac NWR.  The rain continued throughout today, and we’ve received close to 3” of precipitation during the last several days.  It was bad enough today that the scheduled school group cancelled.  I’m glad they did.  Everyone would have been miserable.  Looking at the forecast, I’m not sure the tree planting first graders will show up tomorrow either. With the school group cancelled, I was able to attend the weekly staff meeting.  This refuge manager includes the volunteers in that meeting.  I appreciate that so I have an idea of what is going on for the next week.  I took a bit of a good natured rashing for abandoning the bird tour early on Saturday, but it was all in fun and others wished they had done the same.  I also found out that the bear is still hanging around each night, so there will be no more putting out of the feeders during the day for a ...

Soon Fürst Carl Philipp  zu Salm-Salm will celebrate a milestone birthday.  The festivities take place on White Monday. Friends, relatives, employees and representatives of the authorities are invited to a reception in the water castle. Together with the entire population Anholter a thank worship will be celebrated at St. Pancras Church. Also the castle garden is open free of charge.   The celebration with the entire district is the foi the Fürst of particular concern. With Anholt and the Water Castle he feels connected. "I was born here and went to school," says Carl Philipp zu Salm-Salm. He graduated in 1954 at a  Jesuit school in Bad Godesberg in 1954  from high school. "After the war there were only a few schools," the 79-year-old says. The war years were formative time for the boy and frightening at the same time. His older brother died in a bomb attack, his father was a prisoner of war. In addition, the possessions of the family were packaged after Görin...