Pelican Rapids, MN

I went to visit Jon's family today. I drove to his dad's home in Erhard, just south of Pelican Rapids. I didn't remember how to get there; it used to be that Jon always drove because he grew up there and he knew the area well, but I remembered landmarks. So I knew that his dad lived in his grandfather's home in the same street as the liquor store. Good thing the liquor store was still there.

I remember that house with snow. I remember how quiet and surreal it was. Erhard had always had that quiet isolated surreal feeling about it. It had always had a magical sense to it. Probably because, everytime I went there, I was always taken care of and I always felt like a kid. And probably because this was where I saw my first snowfall under a street lamp at night and I thought it looked as though someone was having a pillow fight high up in the sky.

As I drove through the secondary highways today, I realized how beautiful this area really is. The corn plants are about a foot high, the grass is very green, the lakes are sparkling. Maybe I didn't realize it before because we usually came in the winter. Or maybe because Jon was so intent on getting away from here, so he never really showed me the nice areas.

Two of Jon's siblings came by to say hi and to chat, then I went to Hawley to visit with his cousin and his aunt. Of course, I got lost getting there, even with a GPS unit. But I found them eventually.

Jon's aunt Burnice took me on a tour of a "hill" which looked like a county fairgrounds where they have a tractor and steam thresher show every Labor Day weekend. It was a really nice place. Burnice showed me the buildings where they stored the tractors, the buildings where the women served food during the show, a historical home where they displayed crafts, and a round building that housed a merry-go-round. There were lots of campers on the grounds and she said that they belonged to people who worked on getting the machines working and painted and polished for the show. Then we drove around the little lake that was also on the grounds.

Afterwards, we drove by the little one-room schoolhouse where she went to school. She showed me the property by a lake where she grew up, which was two miles from the schoolhouse. We saw other lakes, some with fish, some without fish. Some had names, and some without, like Lake 15 and Lake 11. There was one lake with an island in the middle and she said that a woman writer (or artist) used to live on that island and did her writing there.

After the tour, we went to her daughter Elaine's home. Elaine's hubby Jerry was sitting outside when we got there and Elaine came right out. They live in a beautiful A-frame house that had lots of very interesting antiques inside that it looks like a museum. In the back, they have several animals -- chickens, goats that answer back when she talks to them, an emu named Big Bird, and a tiger (yup, a real live tiger) named Frasier.


Elaine and Frasier. more pics

Frasier is six years old and they got him as a cub. He eats about 15 to 20 pounds of meat a day. But their neighbors actually help them feed him. When a neighbor's cow had to be put down because of a broken leg, they gave the meat to Elaine and Jerry for Frasier. In fact, a lot of their neighbors have given them meat, so Frasier is essentially the neighborhood pet cat, although not your typical neighborhood pet cat. Elaine had to coax him out of his shady house today, and he just walked around the cage once, then sat back down in a shady spot with a big yawn.


The emu named Big Bird with Burnice. more pics

Big Bird, on the other hand, enjoyed attention and followed us as we walked around looking at the other animals. He loved snuggling up to people. I didn't even notice him come up behind me as I was taking pictures of Frasier.


The four-horned billygoat. more pics

The goats were so funny. They stayed under the tree and Elaine talked to them as though she was chatting with a neighbor. She asked if they were staying under the shade because it was too hot for them, and they all baa'd back at her in response. The billygoat ventured out of the shade to come closer. He was kinda scary with all four (yup, four!) horns. He stopped several feet away when he saw a stranger (me), but came close to the fence after a while, followed by two ewes who kept baa'ing.

After visiting the animals, we headed out to Cormorant Village to have dinner at a restaurant there. We each had the barbeque ribs and they were so good, and so big. We all took doggy bags home. Then we went back to Burnice's house where she made these wonderful strawberry shortcakes from scratch. And we kept chatting until I realized it was almost sunset. I didn't really want to drive in unfamiliar terrain in the dark. So, we took a few pictures outside, exchanged email addresses, and off I went, chasing the sun.