The Royce Files

It has been a full to the brim fall with lots of work to do. And now with Halloween over we are heading downhill into the new year and Christmas. Well this year I did not make it to the Great Minnesota Get Together.   Painting of Sky Ride at MN State Fair by my MFS Instead my mostly Finnish spouse and I (and the Boe) went to a reunion- the West Central Minnesota Steam Thresher's reunion in Rollag, MN. Though neither of us were steam threshers, we were allowed to go if we paid the admission price (I think it was $12 but it might have been $10). Anyways this event is incredible in that it helps us revisit an older age- the age when hard work and the brawn of steam engines ruled the land. Steam shovel at Rollag We saw lots of steam powered agricultural equipment in operation. But that is not all. There were 2 steam powered sawmills, a parade of tractors, lots of small motors, and an authentic steam locomotive that circled the entire grounds of this event....

Some of you would suspect that the blog is on hiatus. And you would be partially right although in an accidental kind of way. Numerous blog-worthy items have occurred since that last post . But on hiatus I am not. I just moved someplace where I do not have a regular internet connection. So I digress and will compress the items of note from previous weeks. Item 1: Return of the bike trip In August my Mostly Finnish Bride and I took a bicycling adventure which took us through the central part of Minnesota. It was mostly on rail to trail but was a scenic trip that took us through miles of landscape which perhaps inspired Garrison Keillor. You know I have yet to read anything from him that does not take its setting from that idyllic community someplace near St. Cloud or related to his life. It would be interesting if he could right a series of science fiction stories or maybe a treatise on deep sea exploration. I suspect it would either begin...

Well, there haven't been any updates for weeks. Pitful, I know. But here's what happened in short summary since Memorial Day. 1. Went on my adventure hiking trip on the North Country Trail in 2 different locations. One near Remer, MN and the other in the BWCA on The Kek . The whole Kekekabic Trail is enough for another post so I'll not drop the details here. To say the least, that trail kicked my butt. 2. The following weekend involved traveling to 3 different locales. I went to a wedding in Mo-town and then watched a triathlon in Buffalo. My MFG was competing in it. I should post stuff on that later. It was really cool. 3. I forgot what happened the following weekend. I remember seeing my MFG and shopping. 4. The next weekend was the annual pilgrimage to the car show with the Green Hornet, the family's 1951 Pontiac Chieftain . I went down on Thursday and had to return on Saturday because I needed to do music the next day. It was a long weekend that ended with some...

As a wilderness canoeing enthusiast I usually salivate over gear. Well, this huge piece of gear, the world's largest Duluth Pack , was displayed at the Minnesota State Fair. I think it holds about 39, 776 cubic inches. However, I bet it would be totally uncomfortable to portage except on the shortest of portages. It would require at least 2 people to lug this thing. Coming up this fall, I'll be relating this summer's solo canoe adventure during which I took with a much smaller Kondos portage pack. Also, if time permits, more belated State Fair tidbits.

Once again made an appearance at Back to the Fifties at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds. This behemoth of a show just keeps going. Over 11,000 cars from '63 and before cram into the grounds. Many are hot rods but still more are classics such as the one my family owns, The Green Hornet, a 1951 Pontiac Chieftain. The Pontiacs are quite a rare breed at this show. Mercurys are too as are Rolls Royces. Chevys and Fords dominate. In particular the Chevy Bell Air. Its literally on every block. That should be my movie for next year. Do a sampling of a block of cars and determine what percentage are Chevy Bell Airs. It was a full weekend. On Sunday we finally got to Sonic in St. Paul. It wasn't quite what we expected in a drive in. I guess we were spoiled to have been in on the tail end of A&Ws twilight growing up. The menu seemed sparce. There were no tray holder things. But the food was good. No complaints here. A&W still exists but not in the Drive In fashion. No I take th...

My travels and repsonsibilities this year did not allow me to visit the Minnesota State Fair this year. Instead I made to most of visiting the outstate places which I only knew a points on a map. Nevertheless I am a fair-child, not to be confused with one of the gopher mascots of the Get Together. Between 1985 and 1999 there was not a fair I missed. A majority of those years I got the rare priviledge of living on the grounds in a big white building, 4-H's version of the Hilton. There were even a few years where I was paid to live there. The fair has got a special place in my heart. Missing the fair to me is like missing Thanksgiving dinner or not watching the Charlie Brown Christmas special. For me it's not the food but the experience a pilgrimage of sorts. Hopefully I will make it in 2007. Slate dished out commentary on the Minnesota State Fair.

In the evening of my state fair visit, I was entertained by Garrison Keillor and his Prairie Home Companion show. My father bought tickets for all of us and we had great seats on the infield. Garrison was at his best that evening. The show was superb. It featured some New Orleans tributes and 2 groups. The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, a stranded New Orleans jazz group that also sang harmony. They were a blast. Then there was a Candian trio of ladies called the Wailing Jennings (a play on the musician, God rest his soul, Waylon Jennings). These ladies were fabulous as well. One played an accordian. The all sang heavenly harmonies reminiscient of the Indigo Girls. At the break Garrison lead the audience in a sing along. We sang "Oh Beautiful for Spacious Skies", all the verses of "Amazing Grace" and the Elvis tune "I Can't Help Falling in Love." During the sing a long Garrison was about 20 feet from us. I did not ask for his autograph. The second half of...

The beginning of September found me back at home in order to enjoy a long overdue visit to the State Fair. I was glad to be relieved of working at Roman Meal where I heaved 50lb bags of Dolly Madison Donut Crunch unto pallets for 8 hours the past 2 weeks. I left feeling sore, especially in my fingers. We arrived at the fair early but not as early as we had to when we worked there. Back then we were on the fairground at least by 6 AM. There was so much to see and unfortunately I did not see it all. I did get to return to the 4-H building- a big white ediface with a central tower which accents the evening skyline of the fair with its green lights. As a younger person I spent much time in the structure; In particular the 3rd floor dormitory. The place has changed little since those days. The stage I performed on is still there and Arts-In continues to put on its productions albeit without Art in the Park. This year's show was OK. Nothing like the glory days of the late 80's. ...