Dear Shirley,
My calendar says this is the first day of summer. So I am looking out my window on a tree loaded with little green apples and peonies in bloom. There are a few stray rabbits that find their way into the backyard, but Dot.Com the dachshund gives them a run for their money.
Life is good in Grand Forks in June. People all around here are holding weekend celebrations. This weekend they are holding Fisher's Landing Day. People are going back and forth to the lakes. And I have a new lock for my new bike.
Remember when I told you a guy in Texas sent me a gift card to Carrabba's? That was when I was viral because of my review of our new Olive Garden. Well, I sent the card to Mark Berge in your town of Tucson.
He got back to me with a review saying Carrabba's in Tucson is more upscale than our Olive Garden. He said his grandson quickly polished off a whole bowl of ravioli. He recommends a Carrabba's for special occasions or just eating out.
ADVERTISEMENT
Well, I doubt we ever will get one here in Grand Forks. But you just never know. Restaurants are closing and opening all the time. I still am grieving the closing of the Bronze Boot here in Grand Forks.
And I talked to Trudy Zespy, who was a long time waitress at the Bronze Boost. I guess I told you it closed recently. Well, Trudy has a job now on weekends at Whitey's. She says she is looking for her regular customers.
I wish her well, Shirley. She is a fixture around here. She worked at the Elks Club before it closed.
Those shoes hanging on a wire above 17th Ave. S. and between 16th and 18th Streets are still there and they make me curious. Some people say gangs in some cities mark their areas with shoes. This week, Myrna Lyng of Mayville, N.D., came up with another explanation. When looking around for information on "gerplunking" as a stone-skipping competition, she found another meaning from the Urban Dictionary.
Gerplunking was described as the act of throwing one's shoes onto telephone wires or leaving them there in order to decorate the industrialized world. Usually in the ghetto or suburban area.
Well, that might be an explanation. But as Myrna says, you would need quite an arm -- and aim -- to get the shoes up there.
Oh well.
Love from your sister, Marilyn, always full of wonder on the west bank of the Red River of the North.
ADVERTISEMENT
P.S. One of my best adventures this June was driving into Edinburg, N.D., on N.D. Highway 32. This is one of the neatest little towns -- neat like Karlstad, Minn. Anyway, I visited the Edinburg General Store operated by Bernice Flanagan. This is a destination point, Shirley. Besides a full supply of goods, there are trains: The Burlington Northern Memorial and the Edinburg Express that can be viewed from the main floor as well as the upper level. The general store is stocked with a wide range of merchandise, and there are ladders that roll along the floor and provide access to goods on higher shelves. The store has a bird room, fitting to the declaration in 2004 making Edinburg the "Bird Capital of North Dakota." This place is worth a summer drive.
Reach Hagerty at mhagerty@gra.midco.net or (701) 772-1055.
