After a terrific winning streak in which our Twins made up half the ground needed to contend in the Central Division, they have proceeded to give some games back.

Reality has set in and our over achieving AAA players have faltered. That is only to be expected as opposing pitchers begin to exploit the reasons they weren’t in the Majors in the first place. We have to give them a lot of credit, for they went out, scrapped and did the very best they knew how. Then they started losing. Wait a minute! The Twins didn’t start losing until Mauer and Nishioka came back and started playing regularly.

However, to be fair to the returning regulars, the winning streak was built on second division teams, the Kansas Cities and San Diegos of this world. But the minor leaguers and starting pitching put on quite a show, didn’t they.

The Twins as I write this are still in contention, thanks to their winning streak. The rookies are now being overwhelmed by the top teams in baseball and it’s time for the well-paid regulars to step up. Whether that happens will determine our Twins’ fate.

The biggest question mark by far on every fan’s mind is Joe Mauer. What’s with Joe? Here is the fourth highest paid player in the Majors playing like a fair to middling prospect. When you watch Joe dribble another grounder to the infield, a guy might think my Aunt Sally could do that well. (Not to insult Aunt Sally.) Is Joe hurt? Is he sick? His two months off to regain his strength without a rational explanation leaves one wondering. Not only that, his dislike of playing another position besides catcher also makes you wonder if Joe is much of a team man when compared to Michael Cuddyer.

I’m sure Joe is going through a very difficult time, for it must be hard to go from a sure Hall of Famer to being ripped by a mediocre reliever for his pitch selection. A short time ago a pitcher would not have the nerve to question Joe Mauer, much less call him out in public. Perhaps he and the rest of the clubhouse have the same questions about Joe as we have.

If Mauer is suffering from some undisclosed illness, we would understand. Almost all of us have been under the weather for a substantial length of time. And if he is, our feelings about Joe would turn around in an instant and we would applaud his determination to come back and help the team.

I know it’s tough for a superstar to give up his position for even a short time. But wouldn’t we feel better about Mauer if he had said to Gardy, "Where’s a first basemen’s mitt? I’ll play first every third day." Although Joe has now agreed to give first a try and that speaks well for him.

We are all concerned about Joe and I’m sure Gardy is also. If he isn’t, why is he keeping three catchers on the team? I’m sure it’s not for hitting, for the three are all hitting below .200. I wouldn’t be terribly surprised to see an announcement from the Twins telling us that Joe Mauer will have to miss the rest of the season. I sure hope not, for that would mean that St. Paul native Joe Mauer is seriously ill.

We’re all rooting for you, Joe, and realize that the Twins will not win the pennant without the Joe Mauer of the past. But much more importantly, we wish the best for you personally.

Echoes from the Loafers’ Club Meeting

“What’s that whistling noise?”

“My wife hates it when I beat her at Scrabble.”

“What does that have to do with that whistling?”

“I have a Scrabble tile stuck up my nose.”

Driving by the Bruces

I have two wonderful neighbors — both named Bruce — who live across the road from each other. Whenever I pass their driveways, thoughts occur to me, such as: Everyone should have to wear a nametag. It would make remembering names easier.

Things I’ve learned

1. By the time I get used to being an age, I’m not it anymore.

2. Whenever I buy something with a credit card, I want to sign the slip when I need to sign the screen and I want to sign the screen when I need to sign the slip.

3. Perfection is always flawed.

Have you ever wondered?

1. Can bedbugs be in a couch?

2. Does Egypt have Cairopractors?

3. Why it’s called "after dark" when it's really “after light”?

The history of hugging

My family was not of the hugging variety. We hugged only at funerals and airports. And we never went to an airport. Hugging was like the good china. It was used only for special occasions. I have become a hugger over time and I have noticed that some huggers delight in hugging those people who don’t enjoy hugging. Some hugging victims get the look of a stray cat being bathed. 

The song on the radio

I listened to the radio as I traveled long. I listen to the radio so I don’t have to listen to the loud music coming from other vehicles. The radio is company while driving. Sometimes I change stations until I find the one reporting the best weather. It becomes a challenging game. Stations come and go during travel. They fade in the distance. The music coming from my car’s radio wasn’t the kind I favored but the station’s signal was strong, so I stuck with it. I was in a part of the country where the radio reception was not the best, so I listened to what I could get. County lines passed to the accompaniment of lame songs. Forgettable or unreadable signs flashed by. Suddenly, in the midst of all the dismal music, one of my favorite songs was playing. On an endless drive on dark roads, the music lifted my heart and invigorated my spirit. For a moment, I felt as if I had earned the good by listening to the bad. Serendipity is hearing a song I love on the radio. I waited for another. Then I was home.

A married couple tells a story

“We had these wonderful neighbors, Jim and Katherine.”

“Tim and Kathleen.”

“They lived in the next house east of us when we lived on Oak Street.”

“Elm Street.”

“Jim drove a Pontiac.”

“Tim drove a Chevrolet.”

“One night, Jim backed his Pontiac right into the wall of our house.”

“One night, Tim backed his Chevrolet right into the wall of our garage.”

“That was back in 1976.”

“That was in 1978.”

“His car was brand new.”

“His car was four years old.”

 “I’ll never forget that day. Jim got out of the car and sang, ‘My Way.’”

“Tim got out of his car and said, ‘The garage was in my way.’”

“Yes, I remember it like it was yesterday.”

“It was 1978.”

The 4th of July

If you can fry an egg on the linoleum on your kitchen floor, your air conditioning may not be working. The 4th of July gives entry to hot, humid weather. It’s a time of the year when we discover that is the heat and it is the humidity. We don’t live in a world where the weather always agrees with us. We talk about weather because it’s much easier to talk about than feelings. We spend a lot of time forgiving weather, even though it asks for no forgiveness. Weather aside, the 4th of July is a memory prompt. We need reminders as to how lucky we are. 

Nature notes

Birds forage more efficiently in flocks than as individuals. Numerous eyes find food faster. A flock’s many eyes and vigilant members detect predators. Flocks under attack gather into tight flight formations and make twists and turns that confuse raptors. The center is the safest position because raptors typically attack individuals on the edge of a flock. The safest spot in a roost is in the middle. The older, more dominant birds assume the safer interior spots, leaving younger, less dominant birds to the more vulnerable, peripheral positions.

Meeting adjourned

Kindness multiplies.

We have a pair of hummingbirds plus about ten Baltimore orioles coming to our feeders on a daily basis. I’ve been watching to see where they fly to after feeding hoping to find their nest — no luck so far.

Mama snapping turtles have been busy laying their eggs in sandy type soil. On my early morning walk, I had an interesting conversation with about a 40 pounder. She had just finished laying eggs, covering them over with sandy soil. 

She told me she hoped for a few days of 90 plus weather, as then there would be a lot of swimmers at the beach. Translation: she needed bone type material to build her body strength back to normal. Her favorites were false teeth and false nails, especially those painted a dark blue. Are any of you swimmers missing your teeth or nails after being at the Beaver Lake Beach?

St. Olaf Lake area had a downpour of almost five inches of rain last week. There was so much water that the lake overflowed. Virgil Thofson reported water in his cornfield as part of the overflow. (For your info, Virgil lives about four miles north of Hartland.) Virgil was not worried about the loss of the corn as he planted water-resistant corn!

The baby red-tail hawks have left their nest on the north side of Beaver Lake. This is the same nest that the hawks have used in previous years.

There are four kinds of larger birds of prey at Beaver Lake. The kinds are red-tailed hawks, bald eagles, osprey and buzzards. The buzzards are not federally protected, while the others are. Other than appearance, taste is the main way to tell the four apart. 

Eagles are dark course meat and taste like bear, only stronger. Osprey meat is white and has a fishy taste. Red-tail hawk meat is reddish and tastes like squirrel. Buzzard meat is a challenge to eat as the smell is tough to get past. When you’re preparing the above four, be sure to invite the local conservation officer to taste-test.

Because of the unlawful digging at the Beaver Lake outlet, a trail camera has been set up focused on the outlet. The camera is very high tech with the film in color and showing military time. The date the picture is taken will be instantly downloaded to the conservation officer’s cell phone. For a fee, the conservation officer will let you look at your picture!

The Karaoke party at Bill and Bonnie’s cabin on Beaver Lake was a singing success. Kids laughed at their parents inability to sing. When the kids were given the microphone — the parents laughed. Other than local talent, a dude from Ohio and his wife put on a a good show. The reason he was such a good bass singer of “Sixteen Tons” was that was his major in college at Mankato. His Magna Cum Laude degree was in sing-a-long at the local Mankato piano bars. (Piano bars were the fore-runner of Karaoke.) They now call themselves “Worrell “D” singers!

— — —

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 36th 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 got untracked again last week; when they said it was going to rain it did. What are they saying this time around? Starting Wednesday, partly cloudy with highs around 80 and lows near 70. The heat is on for Thursday and while the Twin Cities blow combs are calling for highs near 100 the scurs are hedging their bets, forecasting highs near 95 and lows of 70 – 75. Friday, partly cloudy and cooler. Highs near 85 and lows of 65. Cooler on Saturday starting out with clear skies then becoming partly cloudy with a slight chance of evening showers. Highs of 80 and lows of 65. Partly cloudy on Sunday with highs of 80 and lows of 65. Mostly sunny on Independence Day and slightly warmer. Highs around 85 and lows near 65. Clouding up overnight with a good chance of showers and thunderstorms for Tuesday. Highs of 85 and lows near 55. The normal high for July 4th is 83 and the normal low is 55. The scurs will be celebrating with Jim Morrison who most think died 40 years ago on July 3rd. Rock on Jim! 

Lucky for us the rainfall that fell last week was as spread out as it was. At the ranch we recorded measurable precipitation 7 days in a row but only totaling about 1.6 inches. Sure there are some tough looking areas in some fields but when one looks at the big picture, things look pretty good. The corn has been getting into the nitrogen and the color in general remains a deep dark green. Given the heat and sunshine forecast for this week, the height of the corn should skyrocket. By the time the 4th rolls around most corn will be far past knee high and more like waist high. While soybean development has been less dramatic, there are subtle signs when looking closely that they too are progressing. Blossoms were noticed in some fields on Monday the 27th,  right on schedule.

The garden at the ranch is playing catch up but is making progress. So are the weeds. This has been a good summer thus far for waterhemp, a prolific pigweed family species. It’s estimated that one large plant is capable of producing nearly a million tiny black seeds. That can keep yours truly busy for many hours and keep the repellent manufacturers in business. Some other noteworthy items include the first firefly of the season seen while mowing the windbreak in the dark on the evening of June 23rd. This also corresponds roughly with the hatch of corn rootworm larvae, a longtime nemesis of those growing corn. No cucumber beetles yet but they can’t be too far off. 4-legged “bugs” have been a far greater problem thus far. A hastily improvised fence however seemed to do the trick. One has to protect that high dollar zucchini crop from the long-eared rodents.

Some of the plants needing protection included the salvia that had been transplanted. The tag on the packets said the plants would attract hummingbirds. They weren’t kidding as 5 minutes later when gazing out the patio door, there was a little male working the red blooms over in a businesslike manner. Another bird discovery that made me happy was the sighting of the male orchard oriole once again. With all the stray cats and other predators around one always fears the worst. 

The soccer mom van has been up to its old tricks again. Decided it was easier to drive that to get feed than unhook the trailer from the pickup. I grabbed Ruby to go along for a ride, popped the blonde soccer mom wig on my head, then put the van in reverse. As it came down the slant I heard the distinct sound of running water. Indeed it was as water cascaded under the dash and drenched my left foot. Obviously the van was expressing an opinion concerning my decision to use it as an implement of husbandry. Oddly enough, as it rained all the way to the store, it actually behaved in almost eerily normal fashion. We got to Hope, ditched the wig, tossed the feed in the back and headed for home. About the time we got to the intersection, the door locks began to pop up and down intermittently. At first I blamed Ruby, but she was as far from any of the doors and sleeping on the floor. Fortunately the van was running fine so turning the music up louder seemed to cover the annoyance of the door locks. Pulling into the driveway I made sure when I got out to get the mail that I left the door open. With no spare key there was no telling what might happen if I shut the door with the thing playing games like it was. 

No problem there so we unloaded the feed and parked the van back in its favorite spot. Mowed some lawn and after Mrs. Cheviot returned home from a sheep junket, we went outside to do chores. We could hear music coming from what sounded like the neighbors to the north. Thought nothing of it as there are occasionally some gatherings in the area. Odd that there wasn’t more traffic I thought. On the way in from doing chores, I decided to investigate the source of the music more closely. Sure enough, it was coming from the van! The key was off yet the radio was blaring away. I turned the ignition off, then on then off again, pulled the key and shut the door. No difference so I turned the radio off and crossed my fingers that it wouldn’t run the battery down and would still start Sunday morning when I went to church. Next morning it popped right off and away I went. I made the turn towards church and sure enough the door locks started jumping up and down again. Good thing I was going to church I muttered to myself. This van doesn’t need a mechanic, it needs an exorcism!

See you next week…real good then.  

AMBASSADORS — 2011 Minnesota Beef Spokespersons Kelly Morrison, left, and Erin Morrison were on hand at the 5th Annual Taste of the Farm at the Greg and Sue Harguth Farm on Tuesday, June 14. (Star Eagle photo by Carol Jolly)

By CAROL JOLLY

Staff Writer

Although, Mother Nature was relentless on Tuesday, June 14th, it didn't dampen any spirits of those attending the 5th Annual "Taste of the Farm" at Greg and Sue Harguth's family farm, three miles south of Waseca on Highway 13.

The event brought local agricultural organizations, businesses and youth groups together to provide families and individuals the opportunity to experience farm life from 6 to 8 p.m.

Even with the torrential downpour of rain, guests were encouraged to taste the goodness of the land. Each person was provided a delightfully delicious meal provided free of charge that included their personal preference of pulled pork sandwiches, or beef burgers, individual bags of potato chips and a cookie.

Despite the fact of being limited to roam the farm, event goers were enjoying the camaraderie of each other. They were offered free samplings of popcorn, glad corn, soy nuts, cheese sticks, root beer, milk, ice cream and even root beer floats for a few early birds.

Hi there, I’m Jessica. My dad has been telling me I should write a column for the past six months or so, and this is me “getting around to it.” I suppose because this is my first column, I better tell you about myself. I’m seventeen years old, and I’ll be a senior at NRHEG High School next year. However, I’ll be taking full-time college courses next year, so I won’t actually be at the high school, but I’ll still be enrolled there. I have an older brother, Nathan, who is 19 and is only my half brother (he has a different dad than Eli and I), and a younger brother, Eli, who’s 13. My parents have been divorced since I was five, and I just switch back and forth between their houses every other week.

Some things I like include summer, hanging out with my friends, going to concerts, driving, swimming, county fairs and campfires. I hate bugs with a passion, and I also dislike lying, when people crack their knuckles, loud snoring, cheating, people who use others and the dark when I’m by myself.

I decided to start writing a column for a variety of different reasons. My dad thinks it’ll bring the paper more readers because we currently have no teen columnists. My friends think it’ll be a good way to get my thoughts and opinions out for the public to see. I’ve been praised by teachers and other adults alike for my writing skills (I still don’t think I’m that great, though), and writing a column gives me something to do and an easy way to make money this summer, seeing as I don’t have a job right now.

Most people in the area don’t really know me too well, especially because I used to be very shy growing up, and still can be at times with strangers and authority figures. Hopefully this column will help people get to know who I am a little better. Not all of them will be as boring as this one, though. The summer’s just started, and if it’s as eventful as last summer, you’ll be plenty entertained keeping up with latest things my friends and I will be getting into.

I would also just like to take this chance to say R.I.P. to Russell Witke. I wasn’t very close with him, but he was in my group at prom and he was a good kid. He was very dearly loved by so many people, and we’ll all miss him. My thoughts and prayers are with his family and loved ones during this difficult time.

BASEBALL BUDDIES — Autumn Kelley, right, with Country Neighbors resident Roger Tangen. Kelley and Tangen describe themselves as “baseball buddies.” (Star Eagle photo by Carol Jolly)

Kelley embraces role as nursing assistant

By CAROL JOLLY

Staff Writer

June 16-23, 2011 recognizes National Nursing Assistants Week. Each year, Nursing Assistants Week is held to celebrate and honor the hard work of all nursing assistants who are important providers in diverse health care settings.

"Come grow old with me and the best is yet to be," is something Autumn Kelley is committed to every day.

Kelley, wife of James, and mother of two boys, Brennan and Wyatt, is a natural caregiver. Currently, she is a nursing assistant with Country Neighbors in New Richland.

Although born in  Hawaii, Kelley grew up in Duluth. She graduated from Carlton Medical Institute of Minnesota with a degree as a Veterinary Technician. However, she developed serious allergies that ended her career choice, yet, she remained in the health care field.

"It's amazing what you can do to make a difference in the life of someone else," said Kelley.

Kelley previously worked with the developmentally disabled before moving to New Richland five years ago.

WE’RE ALL FARMERS — It was a warm afternoon on Monday, June 6 but the heat didn’t stop a group of visitors from learning about Minnesota farming. Pictured from left: Don and Barb Overle from Lake Crystal, MN; Vicky and Scott Singlestad of Waseca; Wakaba Nagano, Katsufumi (Mike) Maekawa, Hideyuki Hatsuta, Kenji Katsukawa and Kikuo Ebihara. (Star Eagle photo by Jody Wynnemer)

Japanese trade team pays a visit

By JODY WYNNEMER

Staff Writer

Agriculture is big business in Southern Minnesota. When you look at the broader spectrum and realize how agriculture affects people around the world, it becomes even larger. Soybean and pork production are two of Minnesota’s biggest exports. Soybeans are the number one exported value crop to Minnesota farmers. In 2009, the U.S. exported 1.2 billion bushels of soybeans. Japan is the third largest customer for U.S. soybeans, behind China and Mexico.

The pork industry in Minnesota ranks third nationally, providing 22,500 jobs while contributing $7.6 billion to local economies.

Nations who trade with each other regularly send teams of experts to allow for a better understanding of each other’s products. This was the case Monday, June 6, as five members of a Japanese Trade Team were in Waseca as part of a six-day Midwest tour. They spent part of the day at the Southern Outreach and Experiment Station. Later, they were given a tour of the Scott and Vicky Singlestad farm just north of Waseca. After introductions all around, Scott Singlestad explained a little about his operation.

“We farm 600 acres, about half corn and half soybeans,” said Singlestad. “We grind our own feed for about 120 sows in the farrow to finish hog operation.”