Hodgepodging the American Bison

During the weekend, on one of Wisconsin's beautifully bright, sunny January days, we drove past North Star Bison Ranch north of Rice Lake. I don't know how many bison live on that ranch, but there were many, and they are such huge beasts! Hay had just been scattered on the snow and many were feeding on it. A few independents, of the you-can't-tell-me-what-to-do type, were using the hay for bedding, instead.  They must be the Alpha bison. In the summer months, North Star Bison has a chuck wagon at the local farmer's market and sells delicious bison burgers. You might want to pop in on a Thursday afternoon.

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1. Are you ready for new? Is 2016 likely to be very different than 2015? Do you want it to be?

We never know what tomorrow might bring, which is why I'm often conflicted about looking ahead, rather than enjoying the moment God has graciously given me. That's also one of the reasons I'm making a better effort to enjoy winter, although it has less appeal to me than summer. And we do make plans, so one thing I'm looking forward to is the annual August family get-together at our place. I need to write to the family and remind them to get that on their calendars now. August 6-7, 2016. Although I won't be picking strawberries in June, I hope to be doing some good hiking by late fall.

 Strawberry Picker, Summer of 2015

2. January 6th is National Technology Day. Currently, what is your single biggest struggle or frustration when it comes to technology?

I struggle to see why people like Facebook or Twitter. I could get in a lot [more] trouble if I broadcast every thought immediately as it came to me.

 Green Beans, August 2015

3. It's that time again...time for Lake Superior University to present a list of words (or phrases) they'd like to see banished (for over-use, mis-use, and general uselessness) in 2016. You can read more about the decision making process here, but this year's top vote getters are-

So (at the start of every single sentence), conversation (as in hotly debated topics where we're invited to 'join the conversation'), problematic, stakeholder, price point, secret sauce, break the Internet, walk it back, presser, manspreading (common in larger cities where some men take up the entire bus or train seat by sitting wide), vape, giving me life (refers to anything that may excite a person or make them laugh), and physicality

Which of these words/phrases would you most like to see banished from everyday speech and why? Is there a word not on the list you'd like to add?


So, let's walk this back a bit. I don't see what's so problematic about using the word 'So' at the beginning of almost every sentence. I think that price point and stakeholder are legitimate, or maybe they're used in ways I'm not familiar with, but many of the others I'd never heard before. (Grammar police, please excuse my use of prepositions ending a phrase or sentence.) Conversation' has always bugged me, for often those who encourage us to 'join the conversation,' really only want us to do so if we agree with their perspective on things.

Oh, and one more thing...I hate it when I thank someone and they respond with 'No problem.'  Has 'You're welcome' disappeared altogether??

4. Share one of your current health related goals.

Walk, trot, gallop by late fall. But  sadly, with a different dog. 

 Past perfect

5. Let's talk fifty shades of gray. As in the color. Gray is currently a popular color in home decor, paint, wardrobes, hair, wedding party attire, and more. Are you a fan? Do you have the color in some variation in your home or wardrobe?  Gray hair, the old gray mare, gray matter, gray area...which gray idiom can you most relate to right now?


Gray has become one of my favorite colors. It's a matter of, 'if you can't beat them, join them.' I've discovered that when I wear gray, my gray hair doesn't stick out in stark contrast as much as it does if I wear, say, red. Gray is my friend, but light heathery charcoal is my favorite.

6. Certain foods are considered 'lucky' if eaten on New Year's Eve or New Year's Day. Cooked greens to bring economic fortune, black-eyed peas or lentils also symbolize money, pork which symbolizes progress, fish for good luck, and if you're in Spain 12 grapes at the stroke of midnight. Did you eat any lucky foods on the first day of the year? Is that a tradition in your home? Of the foods listed, which most appeals to you?

No. Of the above-listed foods, I would say that fish is the only one that would appeal to me, and it could only be considered lucky if I were eating it at The Cricketers in Canterbury or The Anchor in Cambridge. Any place else, it's just fish.

7. What's the single biggest time waster in your life and what, if anything, will you do about it this year?

I'd say that my biggest time waster would be hunting for things. Yesterday, it was when we were retracing our drive to Eau Claire because along the way, I'd stopped to take a photo of some darling little Highland cattle (coming soon) and later realized that my black leather gloves were missing. Sure enough, on the way home, nearly 5 hours later, there were my poor, cold little gloves, lying next to a snowbank on a county highway. I was so happy to see them, you'd think I'd just been reunited with a long-lost relative (one I liked).

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

I'm including a couple photos of the pretty red barns near Frontenac, Minnesota.

Barn and silos, Wabasha County, MN

ALSO linking to:

Theresa's GOOD FENCES

Eileen's SATURDAY'S CRITTERS 

Tom's BARN COLLECTIVE

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