North (Well actually, South) Dakota: Storybook Land

Craig's mom planned a fun little side trip to Storybook land while we were there. It had a train to ride, a playground and lots of fairy tale and nursery rhyme statues to explore. Craig and his sister remembered going there as kids which was neat and Lucy's on a big fairy tale kick right now so it was perfect.

North Dakota: Lucy feeds a cow

After looking at the cows, Lucy decided they were hungry and needed some hay. Luckily she knew where the hay stacks were.

Apparently the third time is NOT a charm, or the Christmas Curse Strikes again

For the third year in a row, I got sick for Christmas. Our first Christmas together, spent at home, I got a horrible cold. Our second Christmas, spent with my family, I got the stomach flu (as did 50% of the household, but I had it the worst). And I didn't write much about it but I will let you know that stomach flu and 2-day car trips across the country do not mix well.

I was so optimistic that this year I would beat the curse. Or perhaps just have a bit of morning sickness that would technically count but not be so bad since I'm used to it. But no, the fates were against me. I have now been sick at all our house, my family's house and his family's house. Apparently I am an equal opportunity sicko.

Saturday we start off our on two day drive to Craig's family's farm in North Dakota, with a stop over at my parents midway up the country. By Saturday night, he was coughing and sneezing. I really did try to stay as far away from him and his germs as possible, but that is quite hard to do in a car. So I wasn't surprised when my throat started hurting Sunday night. But he only spent one day feeling yucky and recovered quickly so I thought I might escape with the same fate. I should have known better. By Tuesday, it was bad. I spent Wednesday, Thursday and Friday mostly in bed. I probably would have made Craig take me in to a clinic yesterday if it wasn't Christmas day in a small North Dakota town, with no clinic for miles, during a blizzard. It was probably all for the best as today, I'm feeling slightly better.

But at least the Christmas curse didn't really ruin Christmas. Craig's sister, Steph, had to fly home on the 23rd so we celebrated early with his immediate family and we won't be celebrating with my family until later next week when my brother, his fiancee, Craig and I all arrive there. And yes, we didn't make it to the Christmas Eve service or either of the two big family dinners planned but that was due to the big blizzard that hit.

I kept hearing about this big blizzard and honestly, when people in North Dakota get worried about snow, you know it's gonna be bad. Then it stopped snowing and it didn't look too bad so I wasn't sure. But that was before the wind. I didn't realize that the big blizzard problem isn't the snow, it's the wind. There isn't much to stop it so it just blows the snow all over the place. It reminds me of scenes from a dust bowl documentary we watched a few weeks ago, only prettier. The piles are huge.

I'm currently sitting in the living room looking out over more snow that I think I have ever seen in my entire life. Craig got up this morning and went out to "shovel." There I was feeling sorry for him, up to his knees shoveling snow trying to clear the garage, thinking that it would certainly take him hours when I look out the window and see that most of the work is being done by a large (insert name of big farm equipment thing here). I guess shoveling means something different up here than it does in Texas. I wanted to take a picture of it but I didn't feel like subjecting myself to the cold air.

We are supposed to leave tomorrow but as of now the highways are still all closed. Craig is optimistic but I'm not counting my Christmas eggs before they hatch. After all, the Christmas curse still hasn't ruined my Christmas yet. It might try a new tactic.

TTFN

It's 3:30 am (or it will be when this automatically posts). That means Craig and I should have just left for Austin to catch a plane to North Dakota to see his family! I'm not excited about being awake at this hour, but I am excited about having five days of no working in a row, seeing his farm in the springtime when I don't have to worry about frostbite (I have only ever visited outside of December/January) and visiting with his family. I want to enjoy my time away so I'm not really gonna spend much time checking in on the old blog. But don't worry, we do have a few posts set to post this week to keep you occupied.

ND a No-Go for Obama

Earlier this summer, I was surprised to see electoral map projections that depicted North Dakota as a toss-up. North Dakota hasn't gone blue since 1964, despite the fact that its entire Congressional delegation is Democratic. I realized that the hippie college students in Fargo might be excited for Obama, but I didn't think that would be enough to put the state's 3 electoral votes in play.

Now, however, whatever potential Obama had in the state has been abandoned, as Obama has pulled his paid staffers out of the state. He moved them to Minnesota and Wisconsin, traditional blue states that have been close for the last couple of elections. I was under the impression from Democratic types that states like these would vote overwhelmingly for Obama, but apparently that is not the case.

The idea of ND being a battleground is kind of exciting (Obama even had an office in Rugby), but I'm glad that this Obama flirtation will go no further.

A Tale of Wheat

Rachel passed this story on to me the other day, undoubtedly with a heavy heart, considering her Kansas roots:

North Dakota farmers last year led the nation in total wheat production for the first time since 1996, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture rankings released this week. For North Dakota farmers, it's a source of pride to top rival Kansas.

Besides inspiring home-state pride, this article led me to make a few observations:

1. In farming, one region's loss is another's gain. A main reason ND took the top spot last year was this:

Last year's crop in Kansas was decimated by disease and weather, particularly a late-spring freeze and flooding later in the season. Total production was pegged at just under 284 million bushels, a drop of more than 16 percent from the state's long-term average, Boswell said.

I am reminded of listening to the grain prices on the radio as a young lad, and I'd hear something like, "Soybeans are up 45 cents today because a big storm in Brazil ruined their crop." You feel bad for the Brazilians, of course, but on the other hand, our crop is worth a lot more. ND farmers claim to have felt no joy in Kansas' pain:

Klein said North Dakota farmers hate to see their counterparts in Kansas suffer through a bad year. He said the good-natured competition is all in fun.

2. This story mentions the crazy high wheat prices we're seeing these days, which are in large part due to the government-subsidized ethanol craze. As ethanol demand increases, so does demand for corn, which raises corn prices. This in turn leads farmers to grow more corn, at the expense of other crops. This decreases supply of other crops, thus raising their prices. So, well ethanol is a bad idea for consumers, taxpayers, and drivers (see here), it is good for farmers (to some extent; ranchers do take a hit in the form of higher feed prices).

3. Recall the Kansas quarter:


See that plant on the left? It's a sunflower, because Kansas is the Sunflower State. But look at this:

North Dakota last year also led the nation in the production of barley; oats; canola; oil, non-oil and all sunflowers; flaxseed; pinto, navy and all dry edible beans; dry edible peas, lentils and honey.

Hmm. Maybe we should put the sunflower on our quarter, to go along with our much better looking buffalo:

Guitar Heroes

Snooping around in my brother's bedroom (formerly MY bedroom) when I was home last week, I found a copy of Guitar Hero II. Apparently he was hiding it so his friends wouldn't always want to play it. Having heard a thing or two about this game, I decided to try it. Holy cow, was it fun! I might have to go buy a Playstation.




As you can see, I get into it.

MacKenzie is more subdued. She would probably like Acoustic Guitar Hero, if they had such a game.













My brother takes a more businesslike approach:


I get into it even if someone else is playing:



I wouldn't have believed it at first, but this game is WAY better than Sousaphone Hero.

The family farm

It was very cold in North Dakota. Very very cold. But I did manage to spend a couple minutes outside taking pictures of the L. family farm. I've only ever been to visit during the winter but I just love it. The whole area around where they live is so quiet and calm and snow covered. Despite my desire to be a country Texas gal, I really am a city girl and I'm not going to deny that I love a lot of the benefits that come with that. But when I am out there, looking at the cows and enjoying the sights of miles of snow that is still white days after it has fallen, I can almost feel what the pioneers must have experienced. It's as if time has stopped. The land is resting, waiting till the snow melts so it can come alive again. I really want to visit during the summer but even in the winter, it just seems so much more real than the world I live in. There is land there, real land, not just concrete, but earth. Good clean, albeit frozen solid, dirt. Craig thinks I'm crazy because I spent 10 minutes just taking pictures of the cows but I like to take pictures of it all so I can capture that calm feeling I so seldom feel in my crazy, stressful life. I hope you enjoy them too.
Here is the barn. I don't know what else to say about it. I would mention that Craig found a couple cat skulls while we were exploring the loft but that is gross and will not help you find that calm feeling so I will refrain. Or not.
This is farm dog #1, also known as Sadie. I like this picture because she looks as cold as I felt. She also looks sad although I don't know why. To my knowledge the farm dogs don't really do much. I guess they corral the cows but they don't really lead them where Craig's dad wants them to go so pretty much they are just there to eat table scraps and keep critters off the porch.

I can't show favoritism so here is farm dog #2, Duke. I don't particularly like this picture but it's the best I have since he is pretty young and still quite bouncy. I think he annoys Sadie, maybe that is why she is sad. She is remembering her life before she had to deal with an annoying dog "friend".

And here are some cows. They make me laugh.
One last picture of the barn, this time with hay. Oh yeah, I'm getting fancy now.
Oh, and I need your help. My work is having a photo contest. The theme is winter. Which of these pictures do you think I should submit? Let me know what you think. Unless you think I stink as a photography and shouldn't submit any, then just keep that to yourself, okay?

The Big News in North Dakota

The Fargo Krispy Kreme closed its doors last week. A sad day, indeed.