#9 What a character holding a blue object is thinking right now.
October like weather in July. I decided that I’d better bring a sweatshirt. I reached into my closet and pulled out my blue Selawik Wolves Wrestling sweatshirt. Whenever I wear this I always think about my first class of students I had up in Selawik. One of the first questions they asked me was what number I had when I played basketball in high school. I hated to tell them that I didn’t play basketball, but it was the truth. The students were floored but they decided to take pity on me and give me a basketball number. On that day I became “Ms. Bakke, #9.” One of the students would pretend he was calling the game on the radio and he’s say, “Now playing for the Selawik Wolves, Ms. Bakke, #9.” How did my heart not explode from the joy? I really, really, miss those kids.
#10 Write a scene where the only spoken dialogue is “Uh-huh,” “Umm,” “Urrrrr,” “Mm-mmm.”
The participants in this year’s Farm City Fun Fest pie eating contest were coming on to the stage to accept the challenge of trying to eat as many coconut cream pies as humanly possible. The judges set a pie in front of each of the contestants. When asked if they understood the rules each of the participants answered. “Uh-huh.” with their consent, the judges blew the whistle and the timer started.
Miss Winthrop 1974, looked at the pies and then looked at her beautiful gown. “Umm.”
Mr. Smith who had a well known allergy to coconut looked at the pie and stammered, “Urrrrr.”
Ms. Bakke, who loved pies and winning smiled and said, “Mm-mmmm.”
#11 Tell a stranger about a beloved family tradition.
Every 4th of July my Mom’s side of the family meets at Saude Park in Saude, Iowa to have a picnic and play softball. A lot of people wonder why I am so absolutely in love with the 4th of July and it is 100% because of this family tradition.
To get to Saude Park you have to drive to Iowa. Saude is a 3 or 4 hour drive depending on how many times you stop. As an adult, I imagine my parents driving all six of us Bakke children down to Iowa. I think a lot of parents would think that a picnic was not worth the hassle of an excruciating car ride where kids fought, and the air conditioner was probably broken. But my parents knew that this event was important, that it was the chance to see all the Johnson family in one place.
Saude park is at the end of a long gravel road. The park has a picnic shelter, a ball field, a camping area, a water pump, a pit toilet and the Little Turkey River flowing through it. The picnic shelter has some very colorful language spray painted into the eaves. My personal favorite being “Don’t you dare paint over this!” The ball field has bases that are old discs from someone’s tractor. There is not much to be said about the pit toilet. The river has a row of rocks that were put in to create a little swimming hole. Swimming is not advised because of leeches but it is fun to walk across the rocks. Parents who have young kids like to keep the river a secret the mosquitos are much worse down by the river. But, eventually, their kids find out about it and they have to spend a lot of time down there telling their kids why they can’t go swimming there. During dry years the river is just a creek really. This year it was pretty high. So high in fact, that a group of people showed up with a boat! That was a first. I’m sure for many more years people will say, “Remember the year that those people came and boated?”
The party starts Uncle Rick and Gary start bringing down picnic tables (the ones that are there aren’t enough) and grills. People get the charcoal going and start putting burgers and hot dogs on to get ahead of the crowd. People start showing up with lawn chairs, coolers, and side dishes and desserts. At noon the burgers are ready and we before we eat we always say the table prayer. Every year people bring different dishes but it seems that every year someone brings: potatoes with peas and a white sauce, baked beans, a big crockpot of onions, potato salad, and pies. For many years someone would always bring a box of Twinkies. That person must have gone to their great Heavenly reward because there haven’t been Twinkies in a really long time.
After eating the brave few head out to the softball field. We split into teams. Sometime Iowa vs. Minnesota but lately it has been “Buffalo vs. The World.” because the biggest group of people have come from Buffalo. I play softball every year. I am terrible, but I still play every year. Thankfully, balls and strikes don’t count at the plate. They will pitch to you until you can hit the ball. But, after that all the normal rules of softball apply. I always joke that one of these years I’m going to get a softball coach and spend a year training and blow everyone’s minds when suddenly I can hit, field and run the bases. Someday. Not everyone has a softball glove so my favorite part of the game is when you are walking onto the field finding someone who will loan you their glove. Love it!
I should note that this softball game is hardcore. We joke that it’s not a party until someone goes to the hospital. Well, 4th of July softball has had some big time injuries. Thankfully, we have had a few years where no one has gotten hurt.
So, if you ever want to experience the joy of catching up with a good group of people, meet me in Saude on the 4th of July.
squirrelbakke 