Lois and Duane Aitchison are at their hideaway cabin on Beaver Lake on a beautiful clear day (the kind of day that would make an atheist wonder).

An SUV pulls in, honks the horn, rolls down the windows and both him and her stay in the vehicle.

Lois and Duane walk over to the SUV, and the lady informs them they are looking to buy a place on Beaver Lake. The lady asks Lois what kind of people live on Beaver Lake. Lois asks “What kind of people do you live by now?” The man replies, “Grumpy, stuck-up, snobbish, ornery.” 

Duane says, “The same kind live here.” The man and lady roll up the windows and drive away.

Two weeks later, on another beautiful day, the same thing — only this time, a different man and lady walk up to the cabin and ring the doorbell. Pleasantries are exchanged and Lois asks “What kind of people do you live by now?” The man replies, “Friendly, easy-going, pleasant.” 

Duane says, “The same kind live here.”

Genie and I drove to Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where our daughter Deb and son-in-law Roland live, and then we rode in their 50+ miles-per-gallon Prius to the Outer Banks of North Carolina on the Atlantic Ocean. Deb’s birthday and Father’s Day were the same day this year (Sunday, June 17). 

We enjoyed a Sunday brunch (after coming back from the Outer Banks) at Tripps Restaurant in Winston-Salem with Roland’s sister Barbara and her husband, Lloyd. We thought “Tripps” was the place to go seeing as how Genie and I were on a “trip.”

The following are some of the interesting things we noticed in the 1,475-mile drive each way.

Car license plates issued in the Outer Banks begin with OBX.

Some Kentucky, Indiana and South Carolina license plates have “In God We Trust” on the plates.

A Virginia pickup truck with two Good Ol’ Boys and the license plate “EWE-HLR.”

In quizzing them, they hauled rams to various places to “service” ewes, thus “Ewe-Hauler.” They were on their way home from delivering a ram in Iowa.

A sign reading “Horse-pital Next Right.”

A sign reading “Comfort Station” for tired travelers.

On Pope Road, a sign reading “Hill Blocks View.” We looked, but no Pope did we see. Guess the hill blocked our view of the Pope.

A church in the Outer Banks with a Subway restaurant as part of the church proper (Verlaine Williams of Albert Lea tells me it was on an early-morning TV program she saw). Guess they were following that old Bible saying, “Feed them and they will come.”

A bright yellow semi headed for the world’s largest truck stop on I-80 in Iowa. The door had New Richland, MN on the side.

The freeway speed limit ranged from 60 to 70 mph. Trucks were legal on only some of the lanes.

In watching car license plates, we saw 45 of the 50 states.

Gas was $3.16.9 in the state of Virginia.

Based on the people who stopped to talk to Lois and Duane at the beginning of this article, can you figure out what kind of people Genie and I experienced on our 2,950-mile trip?

Rosie at the Super 8 in Peoria, Illinois.

Peter, Mary, and Pat at the Comfort Inn, Cincinnati, Ohio.

Pixie, April and Warren at the Comfort Inn, Nags Head, North Carolina on the Atlantic Ocean.

If you said, “Friendly, easy-going, pleasant,” you’re right on!

We stopped at our house in Albert Lea prior to continuing on to Beaver Lake upon our return. Surprise! Air conditioning was out. A call to Johnson Heating and Air Conditioning (also residents at Beaver Lake) and with quick service and mega bucks on the credit card, we now have air. Thanks, Kevin and crew, for the speedy service.

Thanks to Earl and Rosemary Colstrup for feeding the birds at Beaver Lake.

Thanks to Ken Bertelson for being Central Freeborn Lutheran Church Greeter while I was gone.

Ah yes, Beaver Lake, what a great place to come back to!

— — —

Bob is a retired AAL (Aid Association for Lutherans) agent. His wife, Genie, is a retired RN, currently working on her doctor’s degree in volunteering. They have two children, Deb in North Carolina, and Dan in Vermont. This is the Hanson’s 37th summer at Beaver Lake. They leave the lake in mid-October to go south — to Albert Lea — and return in April. Bob says if you enjoy his article, let him know. If you don’t enjoy it, keep on reading, it can get worse. Words of Wisdom: There is always room for God. 

The scurs were right about it being hot. They just missed the part about it staying hot and not cooling down for the 4th. 

Since the column goes out to a select Internet crowd, they get another crack at it. Starting Wednesday the 4th, partly cloudy with a slight chance of a shower or thunderstorm. Highs near 95 and lows around 75. Mostly clear for Thursday with highs again near 75 and lows around 75. Partly cloudy on Friday with a slight chance of a shower or thunderstorm. Highs 95 and lows of 70. Partly cloudy and slightly cooler on Saturday with a modest chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs near 90 and lows of 65 -70. Partly cloudy for Sunday’s Farm and City Day parade with a moderate chance of a shower or thunderstorm. Highs near 80 and lows around 65. Monday and Tuesday, mostly sunny with highs of 80 – 85 and lows of 60 – 65. The normal high for July 8th is 83 and the normal low is 62. On the 8th, we will have lost approximately 11 minutes of daylight since the summer solstice. The scurs will be glad because it will be easier to elude the much vaunted Fireworks Police under the cover of darkness.

With the odd holiday in the middle of the week going on, we somehow overlooked the Full Moon for the month. Not to worry, the Internet subscribers will still be able to read about it in a timely fashion and in reality, the Full Moon name actually describes a timeframe and not the individual date where the Full Moon happens to fall. 

This month’s Full Moon occurs on the 3rd and is generally known as the Full Buck Moon, as the bucks’ antlers are in the velvet. The moon also goes by the Full Thunder Moon for the thunderstorms that are common or supposed to be for the month of July. It also goes by the Full Hay moon. 

The Ojibwe knew this as the Full Raspberry Moon and there are indeed wild raspberries ripening locally, until the birds eat them that is. The Sioux were also fruit eaters, calling this the Moon When the Wild Cherries are Ripe. At the ranch, we know it by several names, including the Where Did I Put the Bug Spray Moon. 

Crop progress has been a little more mixed this week depending on where you live. The “haves” who got more rain have been surviving the heat relatively unscathed. The “have-nots” who were on the short end of the rainfall have noticed the corn leaves beginning to roll on the hot afternoons. 

It isn’t quite such a big deal prior to silking, but during silking, four hours of leaf rolling adds up to 1% yield loss as per a presentation by Dr. Jeff Coulter, the only Extension agronomist named after a plow part. Soybeans are continuing to look less like an afterthought and more like a real crop, particularly where they’ve started to outgrow the iron deficiency chlorosis. Small grain fields turned rapidly towards the end of last week, something that typically does not bode well for phenomenal type yields. My neighbor’s Spring Treat sweet corn should be about ready. I can’t wait.

It was a good week to get familiar with the air conditioning unit once again at the ranch. Prior to about Wednesday of last week however, it was nice to open the windows at night to let the house cool down then close them during the day. Coming back into the house, it rarely got above 74. By about Wednesday though, Ruby and I’d had about enough. 

The high was 97 and it wasn’t cooling off in the overnight, so we flicked the switch. The weather did relent on Friday night and we opened the windows up once again to listen to the grasshoppers and toads sing.

There are once again scads of small toads in the yard with most of them concentrated in the road ditch where the culvert frequently contains water. There are also some large toads hopping around in the barn catching flies. 

Judging by their girth, they're fairly successful little hunters even though they give a person a little start when discovered behind a bucket or bag of feed. The mosquitoes have done what everyone expected they would; become a nuisance for those needing to be outdoors. 

They’ve been bad even during the daytime. When one is out of the breeze they come lookin’ for you. They aren’t nearly as fun as the fireflies whose rise from the grasses just after dusk is nothing short of surreal.

Luckily, we have the toads to help out as well as an abundance of recently fledged barn swallows and tree swallows. Both seem to enjoy snapping flying insects out of the air and there are plenty to grab. 

The barn swallows have developed a real distaste for Ruby though, although she seems to enjoy chasing them around. It appeared the orioles’ consumption of jelly and nectar was slowing somewhat until late last week when they brought the youngster along to feed.  

In short order, they cleaned out both the nectar and jelly feeders Friday afternoon, then scolded me when I went to refill them. That’s gratitude for ya! 

There is a young male orchard oriole that has been making regular visits now and he must’ve informed the chickadees that jelly is good stuff because they’re eating it too. The birds suddenly missing in action are the hummingbirds. 

It’s likely that the females are busy feeding the young at this point so they’re preoccupied with catching insects for them. The males stay away from the nests so as not to attract predators that see their bright throat patch. 

They’re likely busy with some of the many flowers in bloom in the wild presently. When the young fledge from the nest, don’t be surprised if there are more hummingbirds than ever at the feeders and plants around the yard.

See you next week…real good then.

E. Howard Ganiere, age 72 of Waterville, formerly of New Richland, died suddenly on Friday, June 29, 2012 at his residence in Waterville.

Graveside services will be held on Tuesday, July 3rd at 6:30 p.m. at St. Peter Cemetery in New Richland, Minnesota with Rev. Dr. Larry Griffin, officiating.

Visitation will be held Tuesday afternoon from 3 to 6 p.m. at Arnoldt-McRaith Funeral Home in Janesville.

QCBA to host tournament; Reese to receive donation

The QCBA will host the 13U end-of-the-year tournament this Friday and Saturday at Legion Field in New Richland.

“This is a big fundraiser for our youth baseball, and we are privileged that the SCYB league that we are part of has continued to ask us to host this tournament for ten years now,” said QCBA spokesman Mark Domeier.

Also, on Friday at 6 p.m., Jeff Reese will be presented with a grant for $2500 from Monsanto  for youth baseball at Legion Field.

Items sought for Veterans Memorial

The Ellendale Veterans Memorial Museum will open Thursday at 4 p.m. for people to bring military memorabilia that they would like to display during Ellendale days.

It will be open for display during Ellendale days each day. 

For more information call Roger Swearingen at 507-475-3110.

Farm & City Days Committee to meet

The New Richland Farm and City Days Committee will hold its 2012 wrap-up meeting Tuesday, July 24 at 6 p.m. at The Willows. The public is invited for any and all input.