SPELLING BEE

BY BEA WESTERBERG

It’s a green, growing world!

“Fire and gun powder do not sleep together”. Proverb We think we got the last of the gun powder out of the shop area the day before the fire decided to happen. Little did we know that walk through would be the last time we would see everything in its original form. It still was a grand fire with all kinds of fire works and sounds. Gas cans, acetylene and oxygen tanks, propane tanks, 600 pounds of candle wax, screaming yellow Mustang, and lots of other burnable goodies are good ingredients for a grand fire.

Now is the “fun and games” part of cleaning up the impossible looking site and remains. It’s hard to explain one’s feeling as you are poking and digging through the black, dusty ash and try to figure out what “something” was. It’s very hard when you see what remains of an object you loved. I did shed tears when I saw what was left of the 2 tub apple press that gave us hundreds of pounds of apple juice over the years. Seeing the burned out shell of the Mustang gave me mixed feelings. As much as I loved the car, I am heart felt thankful that I was able to save Sitka, the dog, instead. Neighbor Tony has been a true big brother and has been operating his Bob-Cat with a professional dancer’s touch as he removes the burned remains and puts it in the $$$$ dumpsters. We had, have and will continue to search for objects that may have made it through the fire but also to be able to identity them for insurance purposes. There were so many surprises! I had completely forgotten about the big marble table top (now in a hundred pieces), the door knob collection, the insulator collection, the antique cross cut and 2 man saws, and the horse shoe collection to name a few. We must have had enough axes, picks and shovels to start our own hardware store. There are a lot of “objects” that we just don’t know what they would have been used for. Larry saved and said “he could someday use” a large amount of things. Doesn’t everyone have wind generator parts and a 6 inch ice coring machine tucked in their garage? And yes, we did also find a ice cutting saw and tongs for lifting the ice.

Tony and I have made a major dent in the project but it has been a long, very dirty and hot project. We realized once things dried off, the black powder dust was EVERYWHERE. We started to look and feel like the black powder was becoming a permanent part of us. It got tracked in the house and washing our clothes was a project. Even the dog is now a deep gray color. We took Sunday off but will get back on track and try to finish this part of the story. The inventory part to put on paper is still a long ways from being completed. With tears and laughter, we will go back to being the Indiana Jones of Nininger and work and play in the dirt.

On the very positive side, how do you like that green look? One day we almost had no buds on anything, the next day the leaves popped out and now we have an EXPLOSION of green everywhere! The big heat shortened the life of some of the early spring bloomers but once the word got out that it is okay to pop up – WOW. I think some of my flower bed plants popped up and got to be a foot high in less than a week. We still could get a frost now and then so only plant out those tropicals like tomatoes and peppers if you have a way to cover them if that does happen. (I know I have been preachy on this). Otherwise, Memorial Day is still the sure bet for doing that.

Planting and growing things are happening in a big way. The big farm equipment is out in the fields and crops are being put down. I got a note from LuAnn that the Hastings Farm Market is planning on having a June opening. Last year they opened early, so keep a watch on their Facebook Page. Remember it’s “Farm” not “Farmers” market and in Hastings, Mn. Lots of other states have Hastings and Farm(ers) Markets. Remember shop LOCAL. Westview Shopping Center.