Good Afternoon, Friends, Compatriots, Crafters, Non-crafters, and any Aliens who happen to be listening in!

I greet you from a sunny Minnesota afternoon and pose a conundrum to you: I can’t decide if it could be possible or not.

I know that I often talk to machines. I am not the only one. Clerks often say that the computer is slow today. I have heard office staff coax the copier for fifty more copies before having to add toner. And have heard the hubster urge more than one motor.

I fear we have tipped the balance. The machines are becoming more human.

And this is my reasoning: the fridge in the camper has acted up since we bought it.
(note: we are getting a new one)

However, now our kitchen fridge is also not functioning.

Have we been talking to our machines so much that they think they’re human and are now passing an appliance virus similar to Covid?

Talk amongst yourselves. Let me know what you decide.

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On a brighter note, we did have another glorious weekend camping, this time at Dalrymple near Bayfield, WI.



Here we are at the top of the ramp to the dock where for years we packed our packs to the boat that would take us to Stockton Island for the weekend. It’s one of the Apostle Islands, has no roads, no cars, no stores. If you don’t pack it in or filter it, you don’t get it. We dried our own food and the hubster made the most wonderful turkey jerky stew among other things. Water was filtered by hand pump at least twice a day from Lake Superior. The lake water in front of our site was 4 feet deep for about 100 yards, so the normally frigid waters were mitigated. We packed bagels because they didn’t squish as much as bread did. We also packed a cucumber to eat as a treat for lunch on the last day, being our only fresh food for the trip. On the Fourth of July we could watch the fireworks displays in La Pointe on Madeline Island, Bayfield, and Ashland. 
Good times.  That’s why I asked the hubster for a picture at the top of that ramp.

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And speaking of the hubster, I do have his permission to tell you this story. When we go camping, we always have to visit the surrounding area’s hardware stores. Why? Well, we usually have an ongoing list of improvements to make—–he is the hubster after all. 

And so, on this last trip, we set off to Washburn and Ashland to find a meat thermometer and supplies with which to make a puzzle keeper for the camper.

First stop was Washburn where I told him that while he was visiting the hardware store, I would visit the bookstore. A-okay with him and he dropped me off.

Now, let me explain the significance of this bookstore. It is located in an old brownstone building on the main street in Washburn. The same street that we have been driving for years on the way to Bayfield to get to the boat to Stockton.

The same building that we have been passing in a hurry to catch said boat or to capture a site at Dalrymple. And it’s a BOOKSTORE.

In other words I have been watching it fly by the car window for years,  just itching to go in.

Now, I had the opportunity. And I took it.

I swear there was a choir of heavenly voices singing as I walked into that building. Wood floors, stacks of books as far as the eye could see, good lighting, chairs in the aisles, a children’s section, and NO DUSTY, MUSTY SMELL.

Ahhhhhhhhhh.

I asked for a copy of Leaves of Grass and the clerk walked me down between the stacks, telling me that they needed to make the store bigger—

Wait for it—

for their poetry section.

Ahhhhhhhhhh.

She comes to the end of the brownstone building and the beginning of the addition, points up  and says, “The poetry section is on the mezzanine.”

I love it.

I find my hardcover, then a few more, and then a whole bunch of children’s board books and take my purchases to the counter.

Where I see the t shirts.

” Do you have an extra large in long sleeved?”

“Yes, I do. And I’m going to give it to you for free because we are celebrating our 40th year of being in business.”

This is my new favorite bookstore. Anywhere.

And, on the front of the  t shirt? Two black bears reading.

Perfect.

By this time, the hubster has joined me but is empty handed. He didn’t find anything. 

But, he did share with me his response to any clerk in any hardware store who, seeing him for the first time, asks if he/she can help him.

“I’m just here to commit your inventory to memory.”

Un hunh. That’s what he says. I asked him what the clerk says and he said “Usually nothing.”

So if you hear that we’ve been detained for questioning in a small town hardware store, you know why.

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When I had the chance to pick a grandma name, without hesitation, I picked Nana. I fell in love with the name when it was the name of the big shaggy dog  who watched over the kids in Peter Pan.

You may think this is strange, but I don’t. I felt a connection then and I’m acting on it.

So, Science Woman has been helping me out with prompting the baby now toddler by calling me that.

As in many things, though, when it comes out of the toddler’s mouth, it is altered slightly.

To Nene.

I don’t mind. It is the Hawaiian Goose, the State Bird of Hawaii. I’m honored.

 

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Oh, and we did not have to cobble together a puzzle saver because L&M Fleet Supply in Ashland had one in the toy section. Seriously! The hubster was so impressed with the size and inventory of the store that he said if you couldn’t find what you came for at that store, you didn’t need it!!!

High praise.

So, it was a good trip, other than the little cat peeing all over the quilt in the car on the way up. Trying to wash the quilt in the camper’s kitchen sink and then drying it on the railing at the campsite didn’t work.

So we just enjoyed the view and washed it in the washing machine when we got home. Worked just  fine. 

Have a wonderful weekend coming up! Enjoy these fall colors! Bake something tasty!

Love,

Janet