Santa Is coming to town - with vanity plates

Yes folks, (this is a repost of a Santa Claus) I met at a "quick stop" service station this summer. He not only looked the part, but he seemd to live it. No reindeer hooves, just steel belted radials.
Check out the Sleigh 1 plates!

Lawrence Welk, One Night Only!

Forget about the Beach Boys and The Rolling Stones with their "Danceland" appearances in the 60s. We're talkin 1942 and the Champagne Music of Lawrence Welk. 66 cents including tax.
Bartender, put a head on that glass!

Turkey, a bird by any other name....

From On-line Etymology:

turkey
1541, "guinea fowl" (Numida meleagris), imported from Madagascar via Turkey, by Near East traders known as turkey merchants. The larger North American bird (Meleagris gallopavo) was domesticated by the Aztecs, introduced to Spain by conquistadors (1523) and thence to wider Europe, by way of North Africa (then under Ottoman rule) and Turkey (Indian corn was originally turkey corn or turkey wheat in Eng. for the same reason).


Run!

Remaining Minnetonka Moose (trailer hitch ball cover)

• 19th century game law (Minnetonka):
"Open season for deer, male moose or male caribou; November 10 to Nov. 30. No hunter to kill more than 2 deer,1 moose or 1 caribou".
Licensed resident hunters - $1, non residents $10 for small game and $25 for big game.

Jake O'Connor's Public House - a streetside view

I really love Excelsior. (I also love the Longellow poem "Excelsior!") The town has an identity, in a time when many towns have lost theirs. It has a main street. The Post Office personnel are helpful and smile.

....I walked down Water Street and read the posted menu on Jakes O'Connors Public House.

Without (excessive) editorial commentary here are a few selected items for your consideration:

Chicken, ham and leek pie - 12.95

Sheppards pie - 13.75 "The Irish have flocked to this dish for centuries" Flocked I tells ya!

Pork chop - "A 16 oz. marinated pork chop grilled to order"

Roast rack of lamb - Marinated in a veal demi-glace - 24.75

Dublin Boxty - Sea scallops, cod and shrimp in a lobster bisque served atop potato pancakes. - 27.95

Porterhouse steak - 41.00

Many other items - Root vegetable salad, ceasar salad, potato soup....

A View into Locust Hills- Minnetonka

The Unwanted, on Highway 7

To everything, there is a season.

November @ St. Albans Bay

This a photo from last year, expressing the Lakes quiet mood as the remaining boats leave the water and ice has yet to form.
I crossed Carson's Bay the other morning, as I do daily, and I was shocked... well sort of, to see a powerboat planing out at full throttel across the Bay's no-wake zone. The racing boat sent semi circles of water shooting high into the air behind. One last act of boating glory for the owner.
I had my camera in hand and could have taken a rare photo...but discrescion is something I have learned to practice on this blog.

The lake unto itself

Hollywood Laugh Track Operators Guild On Strike

Less publicized than the Screenwriters strike is the smaller Guild Of Laugh Track Operators, also on strike. Spokesman for the LTO Guild said that their role in "audience assisted humor recognition" has become even more crucial to the success of modern television situation comedy (Sit com).
"Without our assistance, the viewers might just as well be reading Eder Alan Poe or Silvia Plaith.... sans talent"

A Pig Called Budda

Every evening during our walk a pot bellied pig runs to the fence of a neighbors yard- snorting. It is our friend Budda. He is a friendly fellow who knows exactly when we will visit, and that we will be bringing him a treat....an apple.
He snorts and wags his tail in thanks. Its a simple tail.
Nice Budda. What a pig!