Thursday, March 26, 2009
1441
Checked my countdown timer today. 1441. That's days. The same number coming and going. Symmetry. On one hand you want to live forever on the other you want things to happen faster. My least favorite poet of all time said, Time has a way of slipping into the future." It sure does. 1441 and then what? And the countdown continues.
Friday, March 20, 2009
Illegal Candy
Got a chance to go to Cancun in February. Had passed through a few years back but never stayed in the Hotel Zone. All of the hotels are grouped on a long and narrow island that runs generally north to south. A road bisects the island and one the western side of the road there are shops, marinas, golf course and even the very poorly advertised ruins of a Mayan City called El Rey.
The famed beaches of Cancun are pretty much gone. Hurricanes took them a couple of years ago. The government is going to spend big bucks to bring them back by sinking some ships to create a reef and then bringing in lots of sand.
I liked the weather, but one resort after another for miles is really kind of sterile. Unless you hopped a bus and headed into town you couldn’t get much of a sense of what the area and town are really like. Even in town the quaint shops are overwhelmed by the Starbucks and every other chain that surround us in the good old US of A.
I did, however, find something that is really very interesting. Kinder Surprise Eggs. These are hollow chocolate eggs (about the size of a jumbo egg) that contain a plastic capsule in which you will find a toy. I bought a couple for my daughter and her friend who traveled with us. The toys (see Ebay-Kinder eggs) were very nice and I thought I might buy a few eggs to bring back with me. I forgot. When I got to the airport there was a huge Kinder Candy display, but no eggs.
When I got home I checked out the interweb to learn more. These things are sold by the gazillions all over the world. But not in the US of A. It seems that we feel that those are killer toys inside those eggs. Despite the warning on the egg that the toys might not be suitable for kids under three, an obscure law passed in 1938 is what is depriving me of Kinder Surprise Eggs. That law prohibits embedding "non-nutritive items" in confections. So there you have it. Our government has saved us from a fate worse than ………what?
I have a daughter studying in Peru. I told her about the eggs. She and her roommates are hooked. They have the little toys displayed in their rooms. They love the chocolate, but I sure hope she doesn’t try to bring some back with her. The customer service lady at the Kinder office in Canada told me they seize them at the border.
The famed beaches of Cancun are pretty much gone. Hurricanes took them a couple of years ago. The government is going to spend big bucks to bring them back by sinking some ships to create a reef and then bringing in lots of sand.
I liked the weather, but one resort after another for miles is really kind of sterile. Unless you hopped a bus and headed into town you couldn’t get much of a sense of what the area and town are really like. Even in town the quaint shops are overwhelmed by the Starbucks and every other chain that surround us in the good old US of A.
I did, however, find something that is really very interesting. Kinder Surprise Eggs. These are hollow chocolate eggs (about the size of a jumbo egg) that contain a plastic capsule in which you will find a toy. I bought a couple for my daughter and her friend who traveled with us. The toys (see Ebay-Kinder eggs) were very nice and I thought I might buy a few eggs to bring back with me. I forgot. When I got to the airport there was a huge Kinder Candy display, but no eggs.
When I got home I checked out the interweb to learn more. These things are sold by the gazillions all over the world. But not in the US of A. It seems that we feel that those are killer toys inside those eggs. Despite the warning on the egg that the toys might not be suitable for kids under three, an obscure law passed in 1938 is what is depriving me of Kinder Surprise Eggs. That law prohibits embedding "non-nutritive items" in confections. So there you have it. Our government has saved us from a fate worse than ………what?
I have a daughter studying in Peru. I told her about the eggs. She and her roommates are hooked. They have the little toys displayed in their rooms. They love the chocolate, but I sure hope she doesn’t try to bring some back with her. The customer service lady at the Kinder office in Canada told me they seize them at the border.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
A Weekend in Moose Lake
July 2008
It’s 1:45PM. It’s Saturday. It’s raining, hard. The crowd is three deep at the curb. I’m guessing about 1600 people. A truck is at the end of the block. The big moment will soon be here.
You gotta love small town festivals. Moose Lake, Minnesota is located on Interstate 35, about 100 miles north of White Bear Lake. The population is 1687 or 2339, depending on which sign you believe. Its town festival is Agate Days, held during the third weekend in July. It is the talk of the cafes and coffee shops. It’s the biggest weekend of the year!
It’s 1:55PM. The truck is full of gravel. The load has been salted with Lake Superior agates, $400 worth of quarters, and tokens good for various cash or merchandise prizes. The driver is ready. Small children clutching parent’s hands and empty ice cream buckets are dripping wet, but smiling in anticipation behind the safety ropes.
The festival celebrates the Lake Superior Agate, Minnesota’s official state gem. This year there were five events; a pancake breakfast put on by the Kiwanis Club, A steak fry at the firehouse, an arts and craft show in the park, a gem and mineral show at the high school and the Agate Stampede. The Agate Stampede has been a fixture of Agate Days for 39 years. People line up early to get a good spot. At 2:00PM a truck will drive 500’ down Elm Street, dumping a thin layer of gravel, agates and quarters into the street. A cannon will be fired and everyone will dash into the street to search for goodies. It’s the biggest event of Agate Days!
It’s 1:59PM. People crane their necks to look for the truck. We’re standing about 300 feet from the start of the run. The truck is moving! As it moves past us we see there is… NO GRAVEL! The cannon is fired.
I don’t know the name of the truck driver, and that is probably a good thing. His was the most important job of the year. He alone could bring joy to those wet children and adults who have been waiting for almost an hour. He alone controlled the outcome of the biggest and most important event of Moose Lake Agate Days. He alone forgot to latch the tail gate of the truck and immediately dumped the entire load in a 20 foot long pile. It’s the biggest ….well you get the idea.
It’s 2:03PM. We have run to the end of the block, but the people who were near the pile have surrounded it and the rest of us are looking at their wet backsides as they pick out the prizes. People are pushing and shoving to get a glimpse of the treasure. Parents are pulling their kids away from the mayhem. Ice cream buckets hold only rain and a few tears.
But all was not lost. You could go to the Carleton County gravel pit and search for agates in the rain. We did. You could go back to the gem show for another look. You could head over to the fire house for a steak dinner at 5:00 PM. You could go to Moose Lake State Park and take a look at the Agate and Geological Center, a fine facility. And you could sit around the campfire that evening and contemplate what they will be talking about in those cafes and coffee shops for the next 39 years.
It’s 1:45PM. It’s Saturday. It’s raining, hard. The crowd is three deep at the curb. I’m guessing about 1600 people. A truck is at the end of the block. The big moment will soon be here.
You gotta love small town festivals. Moose Lake, Minnesota is located on Interstate 35, about 100 miles north of White Bear Lake. The population is 1687 or 2339, depending on which sign you believe. Its town festival is Agate Days, held during the third weekend in July. It is the talk of the cafes and coffee shops. It’s the biggest weekend of the year!
It’s 1:55PM. The truck is full of gravel. The load has been salted with Lake Superior agates, $400 worth of quarters, and tokens good for various cash or merchandise prizes. The driver is ready. Small children clutching parent’s hands and empty ice cream buckets are dripping wet, but smiling in anticipation behind the safety ropes.
The festival celebrates the Lake Superior Agate, Minnesota’s official state gem. This year there were five events; a pancake breakfast put on by the Kiwanis Club, A steak fry at the firehouse, an arts and craft show in the park, a gem and mineral show at the high school and the Agate Stampede. The Agate Stampede has been a fixture of Agate Days for 39 years. People line up early to get a good spot. At 2:00PM a truck will drive 500’ down Elm Street, dumping a thin layer of gravel, agates and quarters into the street. A cannon will be fired and everyone will dash into the street to search for goodies. It’s the biggest event of Agate Days!
It’s 1:59PM. People crane their necks to look for the truck. We’re standing about 300 feet from the start of the run. The truck is moving! As it moves past us we see there is… NO GRAVEL! The cannon is fired.
I don’t know the name of the truck driver, and that is probably a good thing. His was the most important job of the year. He alone could bring joy to those wet children and adults who have been waiting for almost an hour. He alone controlled the outcome of the biggest and most important event of Moose Lake Agate Days. He alone forgot to latch the tail gate of the truck and immediately dumped the entire load in a 20 foot long pile. It’s the biggest ….well you get the idea.
It’s 2:03PM. We have run to the end of the block, but the people who were near the pile have surrounded it and the rest of us are looking at their wet backsides as they pick out the prizes. People are pushing and shoving to get a glimpse of the treasure. Parents are pulling their kids away from the mayhem. Ice cream buckets hold only rain and a few tears.
But all was not lost. You could go to the Carleton County gravel pit and search for agates in the rain. We did. You could go back to the gem show for another look. You could head over to the fire house for a steak dinner at 5:00 PM. You could go to Moose Lake State Park and take a look at the Agate and Geological Center, a fine facility. And you could sit around the campfire that evening and contemplate what they will be talking about in those cafes and coffee shops for the next 39 years.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
First things first
Seems like everyone has one of these. Why not me?
I don't have anything special to say but there are things that I find interesting, funny, wrong, or just plain goofy that you might like to read about-or maybe not.
I wonder how many blogs there are out there that nobody ever sees or reads. Oh well, here are a few things that I find interesting:
Trains. Kinder Surprise Eggs. Lake Superior Agates. Music. Old postcards from my hometown.
More later
I don't have anything special to say but there are things that I find interesting, funny, wrong, or just plain goofy that you might like to read about-or maybe not.
I wonder how many blogs there are out there that nobody ever sees or reads. Oh well, here are a few things that I find interesting:
Trains. Kinder Surprise Eggs. Lake Superior Agates. Music. Old postcards from my hometown.
More later
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