Skip to main content

Things I never knew before moving to rural Minnesota- Part I

If you know me, you know that in my life I've lived in a variety of environments- especially since I've been a professional.  I've gone from living the urban life, to a suburban life and recently a rural life.  Very rural.  Very very rural.

I've learned a lot about myself in this process, but in the past 2.5 years of living in rural Northwestern Minnesota, I've also learned some new words, more than I ever wanted to know about farm animals and other things I may have never learned in the city.  

This will be the first installment of "things I never knew."  So grab your favorite latte, sit back and enjoy.  Who knows...you may just learn something too.

  • oh fer is a phrase that can occur before a variety of words. I had never heard of this incredibly flexible two word phraseology before. In order to use it correctly however, you have to have the inflection of voice in just the right places.  For example:
    • "Look at that puppy... oh fer cute!"
    • "The large mouth bass pulled you into the frigid water of lake Bemidji...in March?...oh fer funny!"
    • "Did you see that palm tree growing north of town? Oh fer strange!"
    • "Oh fer gross!  Is that actually a deer carcus hanging from that tree?"
    • "You brought your tapioca pudding to the potluck didn't 'cha? Oh fer nice!"
  •  Nordagully.  This term actually means "north of gully" (a town close by). Go figure.
  • Saw this on the way to Fargo:
    • Supposedly this is an animal tracker. Still not sure what the tin hat the guy was wearing was for.








  • Potato Klub.  If you would get clubbed over the head with this stuff, you might just be knocked out. Apparently, this is an interesting mix of flour, water and maybe other stuff rolled up into a big ball.  It's solid.  It's white. And you eat it. Um, yeah.
Not sure what the mystery meat is on this either.

  • Cows will lay down and squirt milk all over the place.  I'm totally serious. This happened to a friend of mine last week. No lie.  I couldn't stop laughing.  The visual image I have in my head still makes me smile.

And oh, there's so much more friends... installment #2 coming soon!










  




Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

Beauty of Love Divine

Check out this Sonnet by Michelangelo: The course of my life has brought me now Through a stormy sea, in a frail ship, To the common port where, landing We account for every deed, wretched or holy. So that finally I see How wrong the fond illusion was That made art my idol and my King, Leading me to want what harmed me. My amorous fancies, once foolish and happy What sense have they now that I approach two deaths The first of which I know is sure, the second threatening. Let neither painting nor carving any longer calm My soul turned to that divine Love Who to embrace us, opened His arms upon the cross. - On the Brink of Death ,  To Giorgio Vasari,  Sonnet LXV WOW. This reminds me to think of life in reverse. It may seem weird, but looking at the end - or starting with the end in mind - can give us perspective. When we think (like Michelangelo did here) from the perspective of death, suddenly many things we chase after seem insignificant and deceptive. Things...
Read more

New Year Resolutions Worth Keeping

I can hear the audible sigh already. New year resolutions – why bother?   Here’s the thing… often we trip over them because of our internal baggage. We start out with good intentions, only to end up in self-sabotage. • We want to be gentler on ourselves, but continue with negative self-talk We want to start (fill in the blank), but have no plan • We want to change a behavior, but don’t deal with underlying, contributing emotional issues • We want to get out of debt, but don't really want to do what it takes • We want to take steps towards a goal or a dream, but allow fear to hold us back   What if we made our internal lives a priority this year? What if we focused on what we can do to build our character and energize our spirits instead of yearly external resolutions?  A rich internal life makes us a better, more mature person.  After all, everything trickles down from our inner lives anyway. This is why God makes the “heart” a priority - for all attitud...
Read more

Character Over Comfort & Control

Control. We all want it. We don't always get it. Sometimes we get it, then decide we don't want it. Sigh. In my life I've come to recognize control as an old familiar acquaintance, continually proving that my sense of having it is simply an illusion. Just when I think I have it, it's often yanked from my groping hands and there's not much I can do about it.  When we feel like we are in control, we often feel pretty comfortable with it. You may tell yourself you've earned it. You may snatch it away from someone else and justify it. You may hoard it, thinking no one can hurt you. You may sacrifice pieces of your character to have it. You may hide behind it. When we feel out of control, we often feel frantic. Why are we afraid to let go of it? we feel weak we feel uncomfortable we feel ineffective we feel frustrated we feel exposed we feel like we are floundering, grasping we wonder what will happen and how we...
Read more