In my heart, I’m a North Dakota girl. I was born in Valley City, ND and graduated from…
(with high school best friend, Janet Schill) then attended college at
in Grand Forks.
GO FIGHTING SIOUX!
Three of my children were born in Fargo, #1, #5 and #6. In between I’ve moved around, but have lived there 22 years, a little less than half my life.
Some things have changed, others haven’t.
The countryside around Highway 1 traveling from Lakota to Langdon used to be picturesque farmland. You’d see acres of wheat, wheat, and more wheat.
There’d be a rock pile on the corner of each field, but otherwise, crops as far as the eyes could see.
That isn’t what you see anymore.
This is what you see along the ditches.
Everywhere.
And this.
There’s cattails everywhere because there’s water everywhere. Duh, you might say.
But, this isn’t a lake, it’s one of many flooded fields. There’s been an increase in precipitation, obviously.
Lakes and rivers are threatening towns and homes across the state as they expand beyond their normal boundaries.
Even Interstate 94 the west side of the state is threatened.
Back to the cattails.
Beka was so thrilled to see her first real-live cattail we stopped at an approach and played quietly in the ditch for a minute.
You can do that in North Dakota.
It was one of those “city girl meets the country” kinda’ moments.
Holding her cattail like a corndog while trying to stand upright in the wind.
Guess what blurred the picture?
Can’t guess?
My hair.
My windblown, tangled, mangled mess.
Another thing that doesn’t change in North Dakota?
Road construction.
All the metal culverts rusted out, they’re replacing them with concrete culverts. Or would that be cement?
I don’t know, but I know the new ones won’t rust out.
Another thing that hasn’t changed?
The wind.
See those straggly strands?
My hair, again.
I was trying to shoot a better picture and my hair was whipping around my head like spaghetti in a blender.
eewww
Another thing that hasn’t changed in ND…I have a bad hair day EVERY day.
North Dakotans figured out one way to deal with the wind problem.
Wind farms are springing up across the state, generating energy and a little revenue for the landowners.
As far as bad hair,
there’s no solution.
Sadly, there’s no solution for the water issue yet, and it’s only getting worse.
Ya’ know that whole thing about when life gives you lemons…
and
if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em…
Well, I think I have an idea.
Didja’ know you can eat cattails? One expert claims they’re a cross between zucchini and cucumbers.
North Dakotans could harvest the cattails and open up restaurants with delicacies like
- cattail bread
- cattail sandwiches
- cattail and tomato salad
- cattails on a stick
- fried cattails
- sauteed cattails
- grilled cattails…
…and all the restaurants would be floating restaurants, hovering over the flooded farmlands.
Everybody would be elegantly dining on sumptuous cattail delights, watching the hypnotic whirl of the wind towers, listening to the gentle lap of the waves against the building, while having a really, really, really
bad hair day.
The Indians used cattail fuzz for diaper padding…no land fill problems
The Indians used cattail fuzz for diaper padding…no land fill problems
O I miss my home town also….well not really but I do miss the country. I am not a city girl, and am kinda scared to raise city boys! When you are home we should have coffee…Hope you had a wonderful summer.Mary
O I miss my home town also….well not really but I do miss the country. I am not a city girl, and am kinda scared to raise city boys! When you are home we should have coffee…Hope you had a wonderful summer.Mary
Jill – if you want to keep them from fuzzing in your arrangements, hairspray them – like 1980s amounts of hairspray. It works.Mindy – one thing I never got used to during my stay in ND was the wind.
Jill – if you want to keep them from fuzzing in your arrangements, hairspray them – like 1980s amounts of hairspray. It works.Mindy – one thing I never got used to during my stay in ND was the wind.
Weird… ND is flooding & TX is in horrible drought. Both states have bad hair days every day because it's so hot in TX.
Weird… ND is flooding & TX is in horrible drought. Both states have bad hair days every day because it's so hot in TX.
and we wouldn't have any cattails left! 🙂 I brought a bunch home one fall day to decorate my containers with outside and my hubby told me it was illegal to pick them. I don't believe it really is, but it is discouraged. Anyways, it made alot of cattail 'fuz' all over the place! Kids loved playing with them…Fun to see Jana and the 3 kiddos at vbs last night. We had a blast!
and we wouldn't have any cattails left! 🙂 I brought a bunch home one fall day to decorate my containers with outside and my hubby told me it was illegal to pick them. I don't believe it really is, but it is discouraged. Anyways, it made alot of cattail 'fuz' all over the place! Kids loved playing with them…Fun to see Jana and the 3 kiddos at vbs last night. We had a blast!