Thistle

Ain't this weather somethin' fierce. One day it was plum rainin' sideways, tearin' trees down to their roots, and the next it's hotter than a Texas summer out on the cattle ranch. I say! Some time it sho' is.
My apologies for the absence in literature. I have been taking to the hills of late, literally. I've put my skills and convictions to work in the form of cutting musk thistle, is what I do believe it is called:

"Oh hi Mr. Hand, would you kindly screw off?"

That is what the devil's work looks like, it's name is musk thistle. Gloves are a must, but even then, this thistle presents quite a "prickly" situation, if you know what I mean. It's quite a joy on the hands. 

In other news, Little Sweden is still boring! For all of you not familiar with my town, that is in no way breaking news, it's old hat in fact. However, in one foul swoop of an attempt to garner attention and attraction for the town, Midsummer's Festival is this weekend! You all should come, it'll be a gas! There's so much to do, I can't even describe it all on here. Basically, you walk around looking at all of the Swedish crap at the booths, whilst the people at the booths are hoping to the almighty that you buy something because it's the only time other than the Apocalypse that somebody would come to this town. I digress, it's quite a lovely place. The wind is nice. And prevalent. 

So on that note, it'll be a weekend filled with fun and jubilation, not unlike my night last night! Have you ever been to an authentic German dinner, hosted by an authentic German war bride (from WWII might I add) who came over to the great place known as America at the age of 22, knowing little to no English, and giving it all up in her homeland to stick it out in Kansas? No, I didn't think so, so shove off because I did. There was everything in and around and under the hills at that table: dumplings, which for those of you not in the know, are a bread-y mass of goodness, schnitzel, Rolaten*, peas and green beans, rolls, salad, and no less than four desserts! Apple cheesecake, cherry pie, plum cake, and strawberry shortcake. Talk about heaven! I up and died it was so delicious, and the only reason I'm typing this now is because I was sent back to this place to tell y'all about such a good time of vittles. It really was something spectacular. It was so good that even thinking about it has made tiny bags of thistle start to pull on my eyes. Guess it's time for a slumber. I'll update soon, as soon as I can make time in my hectic schedule.

     *(Om Nom)

Frontenac

     So I went to a Catholic wedding today, not to say that a Catholic wedding distinguishes it from any other wedding, aside from the fact that it's scientifically proven to be 3 times as long, and 3 times as boring. Just kidding. But really, it wasn't all Catholic weddings in general, it was just the priest in this one. He seemed to be so overcome with emotion for the bride and groom that he felt the need to pause every 3 seconds or so, only managing to pour out a meager 2 words or so between gasps of delight. It was difficult to sit/stand/kneel through, to say the least.
     The couple, however, was and is beautiful. They were some college friends of mine who decided to do the patriotic thing and get married, and now I realize just how much farther I am from even potentially landing a girlfriend. That's life for you. Those are the kind of things that you learn on the eve of the eve of your birthday.
     This past week has been a blur. I've applied for two jobs, which has taken most of my energy out of me. Yes, the applications only took about twenty minutes each (The hospital's had a few extra pages though, almost made me give up applying! This must be their weed-out strategy), and yes, I turned them in on Thursday, but it did indeed take time to work up the courage to fill out those applications, and go through the several calculations in my head about whether or not I should even venture into these establishments. That is the stuff that I was doing the other three days of the week. Tiring, I know.
     Friday was a fun day of driving. First through Wichita, then to Sedan, Kansas, where the mightiest blues     festival on the face of the earth is set to take place this weekend. Never heard of Sedan, Kansas? That's because it's so big, they didn't have room for it on the map, so they just left it off. Seriously, you should go. They even had a high school choir open up for the downtown block party. I told you this stuff was legendary.
     Now it's time to catch up with my college buddies through several trips to the hot tub, intertwined with several trips to the regular pool in an attempt to recreate hypothermia (just kidding). Have fun this weekend, my birthday is on Monday!