Monday, March 06, 2006

Pine Needles and Septic Tanks

We were "up north" this weekend. Those of you not from Minnesota may not be familiar with the tradition of going up north but it is damn near an expectation where I come from. For umptimillion years my grandmother has owned a lake place in northern WI and as long as I can remember we have spent weekends up there relaxing, working, or in the case of my dad, relaxing by working. The place gets used much more in the summer than the winter but the family and I managed to steal away for a few days of snow based R&R last weekend.

This is snowmobile country and the majority of winter visitors spend their time whizzing through the woods hopping from bar to bar in a constant effort to stay warm. We used to snowmobile when I was a kid but as is the case with many of the activities I enjoyed growing up, it has become far more expensive than we can afford with two children and one income. Thus we spent much of the weekend sledding, hiking and rasslin' in the snow. I also had a chance to take some pictures, this is one I particularly liked.



In between tag team bouts with the kids and chasing after the dog I had a chance to peruse the local classified ads. Among the many entries for boats, lots, and old fishing gear was a whole section devoted to septic services. Perhaps this is similar in other parts of the country but in northern WI it seems that the septic business attracts people with a certain propensity for word play. Sort of reminiscent of the gravediggers in Hamlet. Maybe you need a sense of humor to do that kind of work but really appreciated these two ads:


Steve's Septic Service
"We take crap from anyone"

Porky's Pooper Pumper
"No pooper to big or to small"


All told it was a great weekend.

4 comments:

Kim Ayres said...

Hi Sven, thanks for taking the time to comment on my blog.

Snowmobiling is something I always fancied having a go at, but I've never lived anywhere there was enough snow.

-John Lustig said...

I miss my days at my grandma's cabin. Something different about "northern" rural verses "southern" rural. Now that I live in "southern" rural, the "northern" rural has a whole new appeal.

My new dream is to move to a small town in a lakes region with active fishing and open a sushi bar. It will be affectionately named, "Bob's Bait".

Charlie said...

You are a blessed man, Sven, to have such a beautiful family that plays together. As Attila the Mom recently said, I'm jellus.

Sven said...

Gitsul: you have the best ideas.

Charlie: I am indeed.