You can’t chew up here.

Those were some of the first words I heard as I settled myself into a chair outside The Commander’s latest abode at WMH this morning after an ice-trek down the hill in the dark. It was a CNA addressing a patient. For a few nano-seconds I was puzzled. Why couldn’t the patients chew? They had to eat, right? And then I remembered the Copenhagen Chewers of America!* That esteemed group attended my old yooperland high school back in the Jurassic Age. If I remember correctly (and I may not), they managed to get away with chewing in study hall, which was a horrible hour of hanging around in the dilapidated auditorium in the decrepit old building in which I spent my first two years of high school. I HATED study hall! I can’t begin to count the reasons why. An hour of hanging out in a hard wooden auditorium seat without any, uh, *studying* to do? An eternity. And there were, you know, the chewers. They loved study hall. I never signed up for a study hall again. What on earth had I been thinking?

So once again we are luxury camping in the Squatter’s Paradise up here in Siberia. The Comm is still in the hoosegow and I am not going to provide the details of that on the blahg. Instead, I will give you a few shots from our travels in and around Sault Ste. Siberia area today. We’ll start with Lex’s Barber Shop. Lex used to cut my old coot’s hair and we won’t talk about The Commander’s reaction to one “summer haircut”. The GG now sometimes goes to Lex and one day My Dear Uncle Harry went to Lex and ended up getting stranded in town because the parking lot his vee-hickle was parked in was locked down because of a murder at the nearby newspaper. My Dear Uncle Harry has many of these kinds of wondrous little adventures. (Ask him about the time he got hit in the face with a wet washcloth.) And yes, Lex does have a terlet plunger on top of his barber pole. I fergit why. Maybe the GG can edify us.

I think Siberia is about the only place in the Great Lake State with any snow (I admit I have not checked the central and western regions of the yooperland). Still, it is not a lot of snow and this is about the best snow heap photooo I could get. It only sorta dwarfs the Frog Hopper. Sorry but this snow heap in the Glen’s parking lot is the best I can do.

If there was ever a year that Lake Superior could be open for year-round shipping, it seems like this one would qualify. They tried that once. I think it was in 1976. It was so cold that year that the big lake froze completely over and so they gave up on the year-round shipping thing. The locks will close sometime this month. I could look it up but I’m too lazy. Oh, and you can’t go on a boat tour right now either. Cap’n Pete and the rest of the crew are on their winter hiatus. See you in the summer.

A need for some downtime took us out to the Moominbeach, where there is not a lot of snow…

…but ice is beginning to form.

Our day is not yet finished but here is a view of the sunset we were served from the Squatter’s Paradise. It’s a little fuzzy but you get the idea.

Good night,
KW

* Disclaimer: I have no idea who this patient was or if he was ever a member of the Copenhagen Chewers of America or if that club even still exists. I’m gonna guess not. I think today’s teenagers might have different drugs of choice. But who knows. Apparently this patient had sneaked some chewin’ tobaccy up onto the second floor of the hoosegow and finally got caught out. Also, I am sure my high school didn’t have the only such club. In fact, if you type “copenhagen chewe” into google search, one of the suggested search terms is “copenhagen chewers blog”. But still.

2 Responses to “You can’t chew up here.”

  1. Margaret Says:

    That doesn’t seem like much snow and ice–compared to last year. Weren’t you all frolicking around on the ice? Hope the Comm gets sprung soon. Hospitals are no fun, although that one seems decent.

  2. GG Says:

    The BIG STORM that sank the Edmund Fitzgerald also spread damage around the Lake Superior region. The storm damaged Lex Weber’s barber pole. He repaired it by putting a toilet plunger on top of the pole sans handle. The plunger topped pole is still there and so is Lex Weber. Look carefully and you will see both in first picture on today’s blog.