Legalectric

There’s a lot to be said for taking a “Time Out!” First trip of the year was up to Tettegouche for solstice, and it was too crowded and people were uniformly non-observent of COVID precautions. After that, we declined two camp hosting gigs, no way was I up for dealing with people and cleaning and stocking bathrooms in that situation.

I am on several camping lists, one of which is the North Dakota State Parks, which sends out a list of weekend sites available. Little Missouri State Park ALWAYS had sites. It looked interesting, was a horse camp with 2 assigned corrals for each site (!) so I called, and horses aren’t required. So I grabbed the best site starting after Labor Day – 13e!

Sunset, right? Well, it is that time, but that’s an oil well flare. The campground was surrounded by oil wells (satellite view here).

North Dakota oil production on the upswing again but may plateau this fall

Some nights, they were audible, both a sound like a jet taking off and a very high pitched whistle. That was countered by the coyotes yipping and howling at sunset and an hour before sunrise.

Little Sadie loves to travel, and she’s learned to be cool around strangers and wildlife.

We took a trip to Theodore Roosevelt National Park, South Unit one day, North Unit the next. Campgrounds are closed at both. From the looks of it, the wildlife is benefiting from not having people around.

The picnic ground was FULL of buffalo!

The buffalo walking along the road found a snake, and stomped it but didn’t kill it, and they took turns checking it out, the snake opened its mouth wide, hissing, they’d dance away, and come around again for a look-see. It was as if it was bison school, to learn how to recognize danger and what to do about it.

From their main page, with… ALAN!! Linked below:

Breakfast with ‘Friends’: Who will Minnesota voters choose on Super Tuesday?

Here’s another clip:

Breakfast with Friends – longer clip

The guy asked Alan what broadcast media he relied on, and Alan told him we don’t have a TV and that he’s never seen their show before. Yeah, that says it all!

Here’s the bill everyone’s talking about:

Comments? It’s important to let them know what you think. Here’s the contact info for the Senate Energy Committee (LINKED HERE).

In last week’s Rochester Post Bulletin, about the Senate Energy and Utilities Finance and Policy Committee meeting in Rochester:

Senators take heat on waste-burning energy

• John Molseed jmolseed@postbulletin.com
• Jan 15, 2020

A year ago, we were dogsitting Jackie, and we got quite worried about her.  She was an OLD dog, and we had a hard time getting her to eat. Alan spent a lot of time “reading with the dog” and feeding her. Only way was by hand feeding to prime her, and it took a lot, and then she would only eat a few bites out of her bowl.  And then she wouldn’t poop, for days and days, and we were in a panic, and never so glad to see an old grrrrrrrl poop after what, FOUR DAYS?!?!

While Lisa was on vacation, we’d post daily photos of her grrrrrrrrl, which got more likes than any other photos there!  She had a big group of fans.

Jackie has been in declining health, refusing to eat, having a very hard time walking, and was fading away. Today, Lisa said goodbye to her Jackie.

It’s a sad day in Red Wing.

I’ve wanted to do be a DNR Camp Host since we got our pop-up, and this year, I signed up, and just got invite to a Potluck for potential Camp Hosts!  At many state parks, there’s sufficient phone access to have internet access and work from campsite — how cool is that.  And some are right in the neighborhood of work, so I can meet with clients in my “office” and be close to hearings. Spend a month in a campground, do nominal work, some meet & greet, whatever, I’m ready!  And Alan could bring the van with a boat on top, or a trailer, and get out in the water.

Except for Big Bog State Park, what a hell-hole that was, SO hot, and bugs by the millions, plus a campground filled with big RVs and trailers, just awful.  Excellent bathrooms and solar at the park couldn’t make up for the heat and bugs.

The only cool thing about it was back behind the trailer, there were docks for boats, one for each of the campsites along the river into Red Lake.  But the bugs were so bad, and there was one hell of a storm, we were there for the “Not-so-Great Northern Transmission Line” USDA-RUS hearings in July… Big Bog? NEVER AGAIN!

I digress… anyway, I hope to be able to be a Camp Host this year.  We shall see!!