3/26/01 - Weird and weirder. I just discovered I've been communicating with a talking frog on my Hungarian page. It seems to be very intelligent. Enough even to be able to figure out how to dial 911 in an emergency.

3/25/01 - As long as we, and the weather, are being a little ridiculous, here's a poem sent to me by a local poet (?). They say it needs to be read by someone with a bad headcold! I thought I'd better use it before warm weather returns about Tuesday and all the bad colds disappear.

"The grass is greed, I saw a bug
La de dah, Sprig has Sprug!

3/25/01 - And, I'm not into preaching, or reviewing preachers but I can guarantee that if you go to any, or all, of the 7 p.m. mission sessions at the Catholic Church in Stephenson this week your life will change, whether or not your are Catholic. Father Claudio Piccinini, the speaker at the one-hour meetings, was born in Italy and worked as a shepherd as a young man. He has a tremendous sense of humor and enough confidence in the "product" he is selling to make definite, positive, statements. So turn off the TV with all the commercials for things that MAY make your life happier, or that CAN HELP you look 20 years younger. Check out somebody you can believe and trust - even if you have high blood pressure, or diabetes, or are lactose intolerant - without checking with your doctor first. Your doctor MAY even suggest that you try a dose of what Father Piccinini has to offer.

3/24/01 - It didn't take long to get a response to my last entry. A local person came up with a whole new outlook: "RE: Oneityone! Is that why so many Hungarian's houses burn down....they can find "nine" on the phone...but not "eleven" (or oneityone if you wish)!"

Then an east coast reader, familiar with the area, and with a background of reading and writing military style, came up with this one (I should offer a prize if anyone can tell me what it says in one or two SHORT sentences - but I won't):

"There can be no doubt your fine system is worthy of note. What amazes me is that with 6 billion people on planet earth, this system has never been espoused henceforth. Another alternative would be to have it called Twones but as a person gets into higher numbers, obviously your adaptation is of greater clarity and would be more easily understood and adapted by the masses. Simplicity is relatively obvious in the variation of your proposed system. When considering the mathmatical implications of your refinement into oral phrasiology vice algebraic and triganometric funtions of higher learning as written into textual form consideration has to be given to alternative forms of adaptation to lessen the ramifications of confusion predicated among the lesser intelligencia."

Anybody else?

3/23/01 - What do you do on a snowy day in March? I've been reading junk e-mail and looking for something interesting to do with it instead of just discarding it. Got one with about 35 dumb questions in it. I thought I'd try them, one at a time over a period of time, and see if there are any creative readers out there willing to try and write dumb answers. For example: Why isn't 11 pronounced onety one? My idea of a dumb answer: Because then you would have to write it 1T1. And 2411 would have to be 2THT4H1T1, and you would have to say it twotyhtyfourhonetyone. That's as bad as Hugarians who say ketszasharmincketto for 232! That's my answer. How would you answer it? Let me know.

3/16/01 - Now that the new Public Works building on Samuel Street is nearly finished, the City is moving ahead on plans to put a pavillion-type cover on the ice rink, agreeing to abide by all the rules of a grant for $75,000 received from the DNR for the project. Public Works Superintendent Ken Marklein was named as the coordinator and contact person for the project, which should be completed by August or September of this year.

3/14/01 - The County Fair Board has some good brainstorming sessions that keep their meetings interesting. But the March 5th one took on a sense of mystery, at least, and apparently only, for me. Tom Wilson, who is replacing Don Strahl as the Horses and Pony Pull Superintendent, reported on his plans, hopes and needs for this year's Fair. Then he, Larry Roetzer, Glenn Hanson and a few others got into a discussion about boats and heavy equipment. Why? Should people planning horse events be worrying about what kind of boat is in the lake or heavy equipment is in the park? I was confused, but they seemed determined and seriously concerned.

I grew up on a farm and have been to many of the County Fairs, but always avoided the horses. My dad preferred lively, spirited horses in those pre-tractor days. When I was five or six years old my sister and I were playing outside one day and suddenly saw our team of horses running across the pasture pulling only the front wheels of the hay wagon our father had been loading in the field. My sister ran to tell mom, and they went to look for my dad. I ran behind the house and hid in the lilac bushes and cried. Fortunately there were no serious injuries and the horses were caught and returned to the barn. I still like lilacs but have never trusted horses.

So...back to the Fair Board meeting. I finally asked Glenn, who sat next to me, why all the concern about stoneboats and loaders instead of focusing on the horse events. He patiently explained that a stoneboat is a sleighlike wagon farmers used to use when they picked rocks in the fields. They were pulled by a team of horses. Now loaders are used to put concrete weights in the stoneboats, that are pulled by horses in the pony pulls at the Fair. Now that I understand the language I may get brave and check it all out this year. Especially if there is a lilac bush nearby.

3/13/01 - It was a bright and sunny day - as opposed to a dark and stormy night - when about 25 people gathered at the Daggett Elementary School on Saturday for the U.P. Writers' slump-buster. President Peggi Carrier was in charge of the arrangements, which included learning, sharing, and socializing events. Participants had a chance to read some of their writing for feedback in small group sessions. In our group Karen Kovach from Wallace put a lot of energy into the writing, and reading, of a story about a fearless cat with an attitude. A piece by Sandy Kangas, Menominee, on dealing with Alzheimers disease decisions brought tears to the eyes of some listeners. Doris Deroech, Norway, mixed truth and humor into instructions on how to milk a cow, from a collection of life experiences recorded primarily as information for family members. She managed to work in a few puns too, which reminded me of my favorite pun about the writer who submitted 10 puns to a contest, hoping one would win. No pun in ten did.

3/11/01 - The subject of the first e-mail message this morning was "Thank You!!!!!" It was from a young woman from southern Wisconsin who had contacted me for information for her family research project. City Clerk Judy St. Juliana was able to provide some information and I suggested she might also find something in the County Journal files at the library. Today's message said she had come to the library on Saturday and found a few more things, and then she actually met a 90 year old man who had known her grandfather. So I think her 'thank you' should go out to everyone involved - it shows the small town attitude toward strangers is recognized and appreciated.

3/11/01 - I wonder if there are any Hungarians out there reading this. I've started a new web page for Happy Hungarians that is getting pretty good response. It's similar to a local group we had a few years ago. I'd cut sayings from ads or headlines from papers or magazines and put them in a box. Each of us would draw one out and try to translate it into Hungarian. We laughed a lot, and learned a little. Most of us were 2nd generation Hungarians who spoke the language as children but had forgotten most of it. Anyone interested can e-mail me for the address.

3/6/01 - I'm sure you've all been waiting to get this bit of News From Stephenson: The longest recorded flight by a chicken was 302 feet and 8 inches, and it happened before 1984, and probably not anywhere near Stephenson. If that doesn't impress you I'll try and have some more interesting, informative, and current offerings in the next couple of days.

If you have any comments or suggestions, please take a minute to write H. Barb Upton.