Ford Tri-Motor

Friday, July 3, 2015
Totally spur of the moment. Saw in the paper that a Ford Tri-Motor was going to be in Bemidji AND would be giving rides. Hustled out to the airport first thing in the morning and got a ticket.
Then I saw a colleague from my working days who was on the ground crew for the plane. I asked how many passengers go at a time.
He said "Eight plus a co-pilot."
I replied "A co-pilot? Not THE co-pilot?"
He then said "Do you want to sit in the right seat? You'll need to pay a little more, but if it's not already taken, you can do it."
So, I did and it was a blast!
This is the airplane. A Ford Tri-Motor NC8407. It was built in 1929. This plane has been in movies and may have been flown by Harrison Ford.

The airplane

Fueling up

Pratt & Whitney 450 hp engine

Fuselage detail

Interior view. Every seat a window seat.

Me ready to board

That's where I'm going to sit!!

In the co-pilot seat grinning from ear to ear!

Looking back into the passenger cabin.

This is a very basic instrument panel.

There were 199 of these planes built.

View of starboard engine from the cockpit.

Detail of interior woodwork

Swing the Top

"Swing the Top", what's the first image that comes to your mind?

Did it have a really tall tree? Did it have a seventy-foot bucket truck? Nope? Neither did mine.

Last Tuesday, Woodchuck's Tree Service of Bemidji removed three dead pine trees, including a Norway pine that rose to a height of 100 feet. When asked if his bucket truck could reach to the top of the pine, Chuck said that no, it could only get to seventy feet. When asked if he could control where the top of the pine was going to fall when he could only reach seventy feet, he said, "Well, I'll just swing the top. No problem!"

Swing the top? Here's what he did:

After trimming all the lower branches up to as high as his equipment could reach, he tied a rope "harness" to the pine.

Tying on the harness

Harness nearly finished

Once the harness was in place, he made the cut.

Cut is nearly finished

Cut is finished

Let the swing begin

And that, my friends, is how to Swing the Top!

Pelicans

As I was preparing to install stop for the garage doors, I happened to glance skyward and noticed a flock of pelicans riding a thermal above the river.

Pelicans circling

They were way, way up there. Circling, circling, circling. It looked (to earthbound me) to be effortless.

Effortless

Man, I would like to be able to do that!

Soaring

I'd even eat raw fish if I could soar so effortlessly!
Even better, then I'd be able to sit and rest in a place like this!

Pelicans resting

Siigghhhhh....the stop still must be installed for the garage doors......

I've never seen pelicans on the river by our place before.
I LOVE living here!

April in the Park

Today, April 14, 2015, was a very good day for a walk in the park - Lake Bemidji State Park.

Leaving the car in the parking lot, I headed for the lake shore. The beach has endured some "shoveing about" by the lake ice.

Ice-caused sand berm

Took a right at the beach and walked up to the overlook at Rocky Point. Very clear water undisturbed by wind or ducks gave me a look at the structure of the bottom. The colors and shapes are intriguing.

The bottom of Lake Bemidji

Ice on Lake Bemidji hasn't quite left yet.

Ice on Lake Bemidji

Leaving the shore of Lake Bemidji, I headed into the woods on the "Old Logging Road" trail.

Into the woods

After an hour's stroll through the pines, birch, and aspen I fetched up on the shore of Big Bog Lake. This lake has lost its ice.

Big Bog Lake

It looks like the beaver lodge on the far side of the lake has survived the winter in fine shape.

Big Bog Lake Beaver Lodge

Heading back on the boardwalk, I came upon a UFO - an Unidentified Fallen Object. Don't know what it is, but it is colorful!

A red UFO

The pitcher plants haven't begun to green-up yet. In my opinion, they are more striking while dormant.

Pitcher Plant

A look into the business end of a pitcher plant.

Welcome to my parlor, said the plant to the fly.

From Big Bog Lake and the Bogwalk, I wandered over to Sundew Pond. The pond had also lost its ice and was an image of peaceful quietude.

Sundew Pond

Looked as if a pair of Goldeneye ducks also appreciated this quiet corner of the north woods.

Resting Goldeneye ducks

A very good day for a walk in the park!!

Notes from Barb: Fish Dinner, Anyone?

When a person goes out to dinner, it is usually not just to eat . . . or to get out of doing the dishes. We enjoy a bit of pampering, good service, right? We found a place in Charlevoix, Mich., an "in" place that served nothing but excellent fish dinners. It was located on the shore of Lake Charlevoix right in front of the fish dock. The fish served were whatever fish were caught that day. Once we were met at the hooked screen door with, "The fish boat is not unloaded yet. Come back later!" No "Please", no "Sorry", and no smile. We came back later . . . that was the way of their customers.

The place itself was an old Victorian house with none of the fancy trim we associate with houses of that era. It was the fisherman's former home. Guests came in off a side porch, took a left into the dining/living room. (A right led to the simple old-fashioned kitchen . . . a very ordinary "somebody's kitchen".) The floors were bare wood; tall, narrow windows had no curtains; walls were painted over wallpaper; and a simple fireplace mantel stood naked. However, a piece of fishnet was draped over nails on one wall. An arty touch? The whole house had a decided list to it.

No menu was offered. Patrons got what was served and that depended on what fish were caught that day. Occasionally one struck it lucky and could choose between lake trout and whitefish. You always got a choice of potato . . . and that ended your choices. Also you were served a vegetable, hush-puppies, and a cube of pineapple/carrot/lemon jello that had a distinctly different, delicious flavor. Once I asked what made that different taste. With a cold stare the waitress said, "We do not tell our cooking secrets!" (I had sinned by asking, that was clear.) All the food was the best ever . . . and they knew it.

Once a party of eight came it, sat down, and asked for menus. "We don't have menu. We serve fish dinners." "Fine. We'll have five fish dinners and three hamburgers and fries for the kids." (I flinched for them.) "We don't serve hamburgers here! If that's what you want, go to the hamburger stand." They left. I felt sorry for these unsuspecting souls who did not know the rules of the game.

We heard of this spot through friends as if we were being let in on a local secret . . . there was no advertising . . . just word of mouth. And since paying the check was no concern of mine, it wasn't until years later that I learned that prices there were compatible with the best restaurants in the area. Last time we were in that area, we found the entire house was gone! Probably it just leaned a bit too far one day.

Notes from Barb: The Evolution of Milk

Horse-drawn Milk Cart circa 1908

A couple of days ago while buying gas at a convenience store, I saw a truck unloading stacks and stacks of 2% milk cartons. I commented at how many people must be drinking that awful stuff so the proprietor told me that 90% of his sales were of the 2% milk. How tastes have changed in not too many years! As a child we got milk from a Hermantown dairy farmer who drove a small horse cart . . . his name was Mr. Krause . . . and we furnished the container for him to ladle the milk into. He had a dipper in the cart and when we brought out the pan, he poured the milk into it. (People did not think in terms of germs like they do now.) The milk was then set on the table for the cream to float to the top when it was scooped off for coffee cream. A piece of cheesecloth covered the pan to keep out flies or dirt. After it was skimmed, it was put into a pitcher for family use.

When we moved up on the hill, we could not get service from Mr. Krause so got a new milkman who delivered the milk in bottles . . . 4.5% butterfat! People wanted the "best" and that was rated by the butterfat content. Since the cream always rose to the top, it was just plain decency that demanded that the first to pour milk always shook the bottle so the cream was evenly distributed. Rotten little kids often sneaked off the cream for their cereal. But with three kids in our family, we all watched each other so the chance to cheat did not happen very often. In winter when the milk froze in the bottles, the cream rose up out of the top with the little paper cap sticking way up there. Often I took off the cap, licked the frozen cream a few times and replaced the cap! Real ice cream, that was! And extra good being ill-gotten gains.

Then came pasteurization which made the milk sanitary . . . and drove a lot of dairy farmers out of business as they could not afford the equipment. We had friends who had a farm in Hermantown where we were welcome for a week in the summer. After the milking, the milk was taken by horse cart to a corner cross-roads where the cans were put on a stand to sit in the sun until the Bridgeman-Russell Creamery truck came to pick it up. Needless to say, milk soured quickly . . . and every mother knew how to make cottage cheese at home. So we all also knew what "curds and whey" from the Little Miss Muffet poem was. And Miss Muffet didn't eat so well on her little tuffet if she had to eat that stuff.

Next came homogenized milk . . . which is easier to digest but alas, no cream floats at the top to be siphoned off for a treat. And now they no longer say "butter-fat" but just "fat" and since no one wants to be guilty of drinking FAT, it may seem OK to drink fatless milk! But take it from me, that drink tastes like water that has been tampered with! I gave up caffeine for my health and quit over-salting foods . . . but I draw the line at creamless milk. Taking the "fat" out leaves all this cream for making butter . . . but everyone eats margarine now, too, for their health . . . and the government stores the butter. Somehow it doesn't make sense when cream and butter tastes so good! What is this world coming to??? Health?