Extreme Makeover: Home Edition in Twin Ports

The latest installation of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition came to the Twin Ports. Ty Pennington and the folks from ABC came to South Range, Wisconsin to build a new home for the Huber family. Actually, I should say Builder’s Commonwealth, based out of Duluth, built a new home for the Huber family. In the week of construction, Ty and his gang were rarely ever seen on the site. They saved a small piece of drywall for him to paint and a section of siding for him to stage hanging, but other than that… no Ty, no Paige, no extreme team crew. It was really disappointing… kinda like finding out Santa doesn’t actually exist! I think most fans of the show imagined Ty tirelessly building the house all week long, working away on his secret room, sawing, cutting, shaping, and and sanding away. 

In fact, Ty wasn’t even in the state of Wisconsin for most of the week. He flew to Ohio to reveal another house to a deserving family. Apparently, the show simultaneously is building 2 houses each week. That’s a lot of coordination!

At the very least, I always imagined Paige to be a talented carpenter, slaving away to make the rooms for the children so special. Perhaps, she may be spending more time putting on makeup than hammering any nails! Most everything on the show seemed staged. Certainly, the family’s reaction to seeing their house for the first time was real, but other than that, there was only 1 camera jib (the big crane like tripod) getting all of the shots. They would stage a shot and shoot it nearly a dozen times over. In total, the crowd must have spent nearly 10 minutes shouting move that bus, just so they could get the perfect shot. Not only did many of the spectators express how exhausting this was, but the wait for the family to finally arrive was equally frustrating for many. The big reveal was supposed to happen at around 1 o’clock. However, it wasn’t until nearly 6 o’clock that the family finally arrived.

Despite the dispappointment, it was incredibly inspiring to see the massive turnout of volunteers and the impressive work from Builder’s Commonwealth. They slaved tirelessly around the clock making the house one that is energy efficient, safe, sturdy, and custom fit just for the Huber family. In less than 104 hours a blank slate of land had become a completely finished and furnished living space. It must have only taken 24 hours to finish the entire shell of the house. I left one night to the sight of a demolished home. I returned the next to see a brand new one! It’s hard to even wrap your mind around how much coordination that must take. Many of the pieces of the frame were prefabricated at the shop earlier in the week, but still… it was amazing to see progress in action!

Working in the media, I had several opportunities to get a close up view on the action. It was nice to see the community come together to focus on one single purpose. Businesses that are usually competing were working together. Businesses that are usually selling their product are giving away massive donations. And, folks who probably had a number of other things they could be doing for themselves were tirelessly working for the benefit of strangers. Now, it’s time for the Huber family to do their job… start making new memories and turn their new house into a home!

As an interesting side note, since the family’s return and the completion of the big reveal, security will remain on the property for the next few days as the excitement winds down, and so the Huber family won’t be bothered in their new home as gawkers make their way down Swamp Lake Road.

Summer Solstice 09

The summer solstice usually comes and goes. I often don’t even know its come until I notice the days starting to get shorter. However, this year I brought in the solstice with a bang. My mom and I went to a yoga camp in Mahtowa with nearly 2 dozen other women who wanted to join in the celebration with women around the world.

These summer solstice camps began when Yogi Bhajan brought kundalini yoga to the US from India in 1969. Now people all around the world celebrate the longest day of the year as a time to revitalize, awaken, and join together in solidarity. A gathering in the Jemez Mountains in New Mexico has become the largest yoga gathering in the world.

Each year, this gathering focuses on one of the five elements. Last year, they focused on the Earth and new beginnings. This year we focused on Water and the passions of the soul. By 2012, the themes will culminate with Ether: Nat Sam.

What might one do at these yoga camps you might wonder? Well, I was wondering the same thing before going. I’ve done yoga a few times, but never really considered myself somone who “practices”. I went more for the fellowship amongst empowered women and as a part of being open to new happenings and new experiences. Throughout the course of the event, we did yoga 3 times a day, starting at 5:30 in the morning. There was EFT training, mendi art, palm reading, and runes. We chanted, ate some of the best food I’ve ever had, read aloud, relaxed in hammocks, and on the final night danced around the campfire with drums, bells, shakers, and sang, chanted, and howled at the moon. It was a very freeing moment, everyone dressed in festive scarves and flowing skirts, unbridled and freespirited! We tried to do Bhangra dancing to high-energy music under the stars.

It was a wonderful time to spend getting to know new women and making new memories and laughter with my mom! Put on by co-owners of the Blue Zone Studio, Patricia Nolin (Guru Gopal Kaur) and Cheryl NcNulty, the event brings Northland woman together for a very healing and empowering gathering. They plan on doing it annually on the 40 acres of beautiful land in Mahtowa. To attend in the future, contact them through their studio in Duluth.

Poor Mouse

I was out in the gravel pit the other day with my friend DeEll looking for agates.

We found our share of agates, and his dog discovered something else.

What did he find?

This poor little mouse was just laying there in the middle of the gravel field. I love mice. I used to have pet mice (my dad hated them and let them loose on the freeway one day), I used to collect anything that had to do with mice, and my favorite childhood stuffed animal is a mouse, so I felt pretty bad for this little thing. It looks like he just got dehydrated in the middle of the gravel, shriveled up, and died.

Haunted House Hopping

It was a spooky night for me and a handful of my friends as we braved a number of haunted houses across the Twin Ports. Many of the them serve as a donation site for canned goods to help feed the less fortunate in the area. There was certainly no shortage of food here.

The Longest Tour& Most Elaborate: The Haunted Ship- Duluth, MN

We began the night with the Haunted Ship, the William Irving Ship in Duluth. It’s an old ore carrier that now rests in Duluth’s Canal Park. It’s open throughout the year for tours and every October it turns into a haunted house. The lines are always pretty long outside, but once you get in the ship, the entire haunted “tour” lasts about 20+ minutes. There are a lot of people that serve as volunteers every year to help it be such a success… many of whom are local actors. Highlights from the experience include: the crazies in the stainless steel kitchen, the gas chamber, and our “tour guide” that never did leave our side through the entire time waiting in line through to the end… creepy.

By the way, I also got to meet the real “Joe the Plumber”…

Most Creative & Community Oriented: Haunted Warehouse- Superior, WI

We crossed the bridge to the Haunted Warehouse in Superior. This frightful stop is put on each year by Field Logic and it’s free! And, as if that wasn’t enough, they also provide free hot apple cider. It was an enjoyable experience and the folks putting it on were incredibly friendly. Highlights include the man with the chainsaw, the swamp which you have to cross on stepping stones, a jungle with quicksand, and this pitch black maze that goes on forever.

Scariest & Most Disorienting: The Haunted Shack- Morgan Park, MN

This site ranks as one of the top 10 scariest haunted houses in the country. It also claims the ranking of the second scariest haunted house in the state. It was certainly that! Granted, this was the shortest of all the tours and the longest wait in line (about an hour), it was the most worth it. The actors here are relentless, they pop out of corners, stay right up in your face, linger along quietly staring, while others just plain corner you. I was genuinly creeped out when we ended up in one room where the strobe light was flashing, it was pitch black, there were all sorts of big “things” hanging from the ceiling, the room seemed to have no exit, and about 4 actors were cornering my friends and I throughout the room. Summer and I kept running into each other and just screaming. It was very disorienting! Highlights include: the clown room, the narrowing hallway, the wet cloths hanging from the ceiling, and the bold actors.

 

By the end of the night, we were all laughed out, screamed out, and wiped out! It was a great night for fun, friendship, and celebration of the season.

 

Fall Hike

Well, it’s certainly been a while since I’ve posted anything. Life gets so busy with work and nursing school that I often hardly have time to do anything fun. My buddy John and I went for a rock climbing and hiking through Ely’s Peak in Duluth’s west end. The area goes right through the Munger Trail. We had a chance to see some of the beautifully changing fall leaves, the gorgeous view from the top, and a nice opportunity to just catch up with each other.

It’s a Freak Show

I made my way down to the Minnesota State Fair last week for the first time ever. Folks talk about it all the time… many put in for vacation days long in advance. I’ve never understood why people really drove all the way down to Minneapolis for a fair, when they could just get in all the rides they wanted to at one of the County Fair’s around here. Upon my experience at the State Fair though, I understood what the big deal was. It truly is the great Minnesota gathering. Folks are so nice, it’s like you go back in time. Old signs surround the buildings, every major news network from across the state is holding live shows, any possible animal you could want to see is there to get within inches from you. Some of the highlights of my trip there include: Seeing the result of a giant butter block carving contest, watching 3 pigs get born live in front of an audience, seeing the live news broadcasts, walking among the flashing lights along the fair grounds, an all you could drink milk stand where it poured right out of giant industrial piping with about 30 different spouts, watching the 1-armed midget drummer, taking pictures with my never before used Holga camera, seeing all of things available eat on a stick, and best of all, getting to watch an old school genuine freak show. There was a fire breather, a spider woman, a 2- headed woman, a no- headed woman, a sword swallower, a human serpant, and more. I know where I’m going to go work if my career in broadcasting doesn’t end up working out.

www.freakshowfoley.com

Diamond Hunting

I’m always one to enjoy going agate hunting up here in the Northland, but if I lived down south, you better believe I’d drop the agates in a heartbeat to take up diamond hunting instead. Get this, there is a park in Mufreesboro, Arkansas where you can go hunt for diamonds. It’s called the Crater of Diamonds State Park.

You go there, dig, and regardless of the value, you get to keep what you find. One man goes there about 3 or 4 times a week and he just unearthed a 4.4 carat big one. They are comparing it to the size of a piece of chiclet gum. While that’s a nice discovery, it’s not the biggest find by far. A 16 carat and even a 40 carat diamond marks the parks past treasures.

So, how do you find these gems, they’re just laying in the dirt. 37-acres of dirt fields line the park. People just walk along, some dig, scrape, some even bring tools to help get the job done. But, as evidenced… they are out there. How big might the next find be? Finders Keepers!

For an all day pass to search, it’s only $6.50 for adults and $3.50 for kids. In this day and age of a cash sucking economy, a cheap day trip for folks around Arkansas may really pay off.

Park Point Sunset

Mom and I were out for one of our walks the other night and because it was so windy and cold along the lake, we hiked the sandy Park Point trail past the airport and nearly to the end.

We were buffered a little bit from the wind, so it made things much warmer. There is an old lighthouse down at the end that we tried to find, but had to turn around before we would have ended up walking back in the dark. However, we did get to see the perfect sunrise.

Lester River Rendevouz

Many of my summer memories in Duluth are filled with long days under the sun along the Lester River. Sure, there’s the main park for the picnicing and the grills, “The Deeps” for the cliff jumping and the sun bathing, and the railroad tracks for the more daring river jumps. But, the place I prefer the most is a secret little place up the road a bit where you get waterfalls, a narrow little swimming channel, and a perfect place to catch brook trout and then cook them over a side of the river campfire. All summer long, I’ve been craving a day at this place. I’ve been wanting to lay alongside the river soaking in the sun, with old time friends, with a cooler filled with ice cold Dr. Peppers and some cheese and crackers. Sure enough Tuesday proved to be the day we made that happen. Jaime, Shylan, Caleb, Corbin, and Kenneth and I all spent the entire afternoon enjoying the place and the company. The sun was shining so brightly that it illuminated the sap on the pines along the skyline to look like they were covered in white christmas lights. We found this bush with those helicopter like leaves. We pooled together thousands of them, threw them over the ledge, and watched as them spun themselves to the bottom of the ravine. What a wonderful afternoon!

 

The Eyeball Tree

I call this the eyeball tree.

It is really an interesting site. I think it’s just a regular palm tree, but despite growing up in Florida, I never remember these fruits looking like a cluster of eyeballs.

I took my little nephew over to see the tree and pick one to take home, but he just wanted to sit in the grass and be mezmorized.