All about May Day

 I have been celebrating May Day for about 71 years.  

It is very simple, you make a small basket out of rolled up paper or a paper cup, decorate it how ever you wish, make a handle, tuck candy or flowers inside the basket.  Take them to a neighbor or friends home, hang them on the door or set them by the door, knock on the door and say Happy May Day!  Then run away so they cannot catch you and kiss you! 

My Mother used to help us make May Baskets and then we would get in the car and drive to all the neighbors delivering baskets.  The baskets were held in muffin tins or cake pans for easy transport...it was us kids job to hold the tins and pans steady while she drove.  We would deliver the May Baskets and run back to the car. 

A neighbor by the name of Jim Mack told me that when he was a little boy...in the 1930's after evening chores his Mom Mary had treats ready (usually cookies) to put in baskets that they made.  He would walk down to Far Guy's Grandparents farm, trying to be sneaky and leave the basket unnoticed.  He said  Far Guy's Grandmother Meade would come out of the house her apron flying running after him.  He told me he would never forget that image of her running after him! 

It is a great way to celebrate Spring!  Far Guy says" No matter how many times he tripped and fell down running away from a girls house...they never caught him with a kiss." 

Me and my May Baskets in 1954, that was my dog Frosty in the background.  Yes we can still have snow here in Minnesota in May.

Happy Kids that we delivered May Baskets to yesterday...one day late but the kids still smiled! 

These are my niece Stacey's children. 

This is Lola's second May Day...looks like it made her smile too! 

So that is May Day in a nutshell.  I know not many people celebrate May Day anymore...but I do!  Such a simple way to make a few people smile:)

Far Side

Wistful Wednesday: Neighbors

Last week was a hard week for long time neighbors.  People that I have known nearly all my life…well since my parents moved to their farm in Carsonville township  in 1952.

Ruby.  What  a gal, she celebrated her Christmas Eve birthday of 100 years and lived 16 days longer than that.   She and her husband Bob owned the Texaco Station in Ponsford.  Bob and I shared a dog one summer.  A German Shepherd showed up at the farm, she would stay a few days and then be gone, a few days later she would show up again.  I named her Princess.  I snuck her food, but we had other dogs on the farm and didn’t need another.   One day we stopped at the Texaco station and there she was…the mystery was solved…Bob couldn’t figure out where she (Patsy) went or why?  We lived just over 4 miles away.  Ruby always loved that old memory of the shared dog.  Bob has been gone a long time (he died in 1999) and now sweet Ruby has joined him.  Their lake place on the west side of Shell Lake was a great place to swim in the summer and we were always welcomed. Hot summer nights before air conditioning spent on their dock is a fond memory for me as a kid. Last summer Ruby invited me to her birthday party and so when it rolled around I went…she was so happy to see the good turn out for her birthday. She made it to 100!  She said she would and she did.

The old Texaco sign still marks the spot of the old station in Ponsford.

Jim.  Jim died the day after Ruby.  Since they were good friends that used to play cards together all the time it is fitting that he died the day after Ruby.  They lived just a mile apart all their lives.  Jim was 94.  We used to have coffee with Jim and his wife Irene and talk about area history. Jim’s Grandpa Nunns family and Far Guy’s Great Grandfather Abbott family were neighbors up in Eramosa Township, Wellington County  Ontario Canada. They all made the trip together to Eunice Township Becker County first in 1889 and shortly therafter settled in Carsonville Township.  Jim used to say that his Grandpa was sickly and would have died in Canada, but the healing air of the pine boughs saved him here in Minnesota. ( Then he would wipe away a tear or two.)  Jim used to say that there were many Indian mounded graves in the area…one was right along the road.  He had lots of stories to tell.  One story I will share; Jim had a pretty good looking Stallion.  Our daughter Trica worked out a deal with him to have her horse “visit” the stallion for awhile….when asked what we owed for feed…he replied “The good Lord provided the rain and sunshine for a good pasture and there is no way I am charging you for that!”

Jim and his wife Irene were married for 72 years before she died in 2016. Up until that time they were constant companions.  Their children took turns caring for them on the farm until 2015 when Irene needed extra help so they moved into assisted living and away from their farm.

In years past we would enjoy seeing a team hitched up to a sleigh or a wagon taking kids and grandkids for a ride the old fashioned way.  “There goes Jim.”

Saying goodbye to really old friends is hard.  Not many old timers around anymore.  Soon we will be the old timers….maybe we are already.

Wistful Wednesday: A Long Time Ago

In 1889 Far Guys Maternal Grandpa Curt Abbott was one year old, he and his family lived in Wellington County Ontario, Canada.  His parents were unhappy living in Canada ( they did not like the crowns taxes).  They decided to move to Minnesota.

Their next door neighbors in Canada were the Nunns.  They had a young boy, JW Nunn who was sickly.  The Doctors in Canada told them that he wouldn’t live long in the Canadian climate.  When they heard that the Abbotts were coming to Minnesota..they decided to go too.  They all ended up in Lake Eunice Township over by Detroit, which later became known as Detroit Lakes.

Exactly what year they homesteaded in Carsonville Township is in my records someplace..for now I will just say in the mid 1890’s .

Logging Camp Near Ponsford, Minnesota unknown year.

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Back to JW Nunn and his story as told to me by his Grandson Jim : My Grandpa JW was so little all his life, even as an adult he never weighed more than 100 pounds.  One winter he went into a logging camp with a tote team, you had to make your own bed from spruce boughs, he borrowed a blanket.  He felt better after sleeping on those boughs.  He felt so much better that he went back and asked for a job at the logging camp.  The boss said “Well what can you do here?  You don’t even weigh a hundred pounds?”  JW replied, “I can keep a good set of books.”  The boss gave him two weeks to prove himself, the team would be back in two weeks.  He felt stronger than he had in his whole life.  He said the the Spruce and Pine Trees saved his life.  He did see a Doctor again..just two weeks before he died, when he was 96 years and six months old.

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I am reminded again that this area that we live in now was big timber before it became farm land.  A friend of mine shared a few old photos that she got from the Nunn family..thanks Shirley!

Ponsford Minnesota Logging Photo unknown year.

** Note this is just one interesting story that was shared with us recently  during a visit with Jim and Irene.  Neighbors that were born and raised in this area:)