Posts in Free-Range Chicken
-33° in Brainerd
published by Fran SheaThat’s where I am. Will I ever be able to get back to Minneapolis? Stay tuned.
And, just because I’m a little obsessed with the weather, I gathered some very important figures. – Record low temperatures in The United States of America:
State | Temp. | Date | Station | Elevation |
Alabama | -27 | Jan. 30, 1966 | New Market | 760 |
Alaska | -80 | Jan. 23, 1971 | Prospect Creek | 1,100 |
Arizona | -40 | Jan. 7, 1971 | Hawley Lake | 8,180 |
Arkansas | -29 | Feb. 13, 1905 | Pond | 1,250 |
California | -45 | Jan. 20, 1937 | Boca | 5,532 |
Colorado | -61 | Feb. 1, 1985 | Maybell | 5,920 |
Connecticut | -32 | Feb. 16, 1943 | Falls Village | 585 |
Delaware | -17 | Jan. 17, 1893 | Millsboro | 20 |
Florida | – 2 | Feb. 13, 1899 | Tallahassee | 193 |
Georgia | -17 | Jan. 27, 1940 | Mauna Kea | 13,770 |
Idaho | -60 | Jan. 18, 1943 | Island Park Dam | 6,285 |
Illinois | -36 | Jan. 5, 1999 | Congerville | 722 |
Indiana | -36 | Jan. 19, 1994 | New Whiteland | 785 |
Iowa | -47 | Feb. 3, 1996* | Elkader | 770 |
Kansas | -40 | Feb. 13, 1905 | Lebanon | 1,812 |
Kentucky | -37 | Jan. 19, 1994 | Shelbyville | 730 |
Louisiana | -16 | Feb. 13, 1899 | Minden | 194 |
Maine | -48 | Jan. 19, 1925 | Van Buren | 458 |
Maryland | -40 | Jan. 13, 1912 | Oakland | 2,461 |
Massachusetts | -35 | Jan. 12, 1981 | Chester | 640 |
Michigan | -51 | Feb. 9, 1934 | Vanderbilt | 785 |
Minnesota | -60 | Feb. 2, 1996 | Tower | 1,430 |
Mississippi | -19 | Jan. 30, 1966 | Corinth | 420 |
Missouri | -40 | Feb. 13, 1905 | Warsaw | 700 |
Montana | -70 | Jan. 20, 1954 | Rogers Pass | 5,470 |
Nebraska | -47 | Feb. 12, 1899 | Camp Clarke | 3,700 |
Nevada | -50 | Jan. 8, 1937 | San Jacinto | 5,200 |
New Hampshire | -47 | Jan. 29, 1934 | Mt. Washington | 6,288 |
New Jersey | -34 | Jan. 5, 1904 | River Vale | 70 |
New Mexico | -50 | Feb. 1, 1951 | Gavilan | 7,350 |
New York | -52 | Feb. 18, 1979* | Old Forge | 1,720 |
North Carolina | -34 | Jan. 21, 1985 | Mt. Mitchell | 6,525 |
North Dakota | -60 | Feb. 15, 1936 | Parshall | 1,929 |
Ohio | -39 | Feb. 10, 1899 | Milligan | 800 |
Oklahoma | -27 | Jan. 18, 1930 | Watts | 958 |
Oregon | -54 | Feb. 10, 1933* | Seneca | 4,700 |
Pennsylvania | -42 | Jan. 5, 1904 | Smethport | est. 1,500 |
Rhode Island | -25 | Feb. 5, 1996 | Greene | 425 |
South Carolina | -19 | Jan. 21, 1985 | Caesars Head | 3,100 |
South Dakota | -58 | Feb. 17, 1936 | McIntosh | 2,277 |
Tennessee | -32 | Dec. 30, 1917 | Mountain City | 2,471 |
Texas | -23 | Feb. 8, 1933* | Seminole | 3,275 |
Utah | -69 | Feb. 1, 1985 | Peter’s Sink | 8,092 |
Vermont | -50 | Dec. 30, 1933 | Bloomfield | 915 |
Virginia | -30 | Jan. 22, 1985 | Mountain Lake | 3,870 |
Washington | -48 | Dec. 30, 1968 | Mazama | 2,120 |
West Virginia | -37 | Dec. 30, 1917 | Lewisburg | 2,200 |
Wisconsin | -55 | Feb.4, 1996 | Couderay | 1,300 |
Wyoming | -66 | Feb. 9, 1933 | Riverside | 6,650 |
AND before we start killing and eating each other, we are entertaining ourselves by throwing boiling water into the cold air.
Freak Show
published by Fran SheaThere were two parts to the Freak Show – two tents – one contained The Fat Lady and the other was filled with the usual freakish-fare. I didn’t really want to pay to see the Fat Lady so I poked my head under the tent – it seemed silly to pay to see a fat lady but this was before the days of google searches and voyeuristic television masquerading as health and human interest stories. Before the days of shows actually called, World’s Fattest Woman.
So I poked my head under the tent. A pit had been dug in the dirt in the center of the tent – she, all 600 pounds of her, sat in the pit in a teeny weeny bikini. The paying public stared and stared while she thumbed through the pages of a paperback.
The other tent promised a variety of oddities and I handed my tickets to the dusty man guarding the flap-door. In this tent there was a stage and on the stage there was a sign and on the sign were the words, “World’s Fattest Man”
The crowd – and I was in the crowd now – stared at the sign and waited for the man. He hobbled out using two canes – those canes that have the four baby canes on the bottom. He reached the center of the stage and lowered himself into a reinforced chair, spoke to the crowd about his thyroid disorder, and asked if we wanted to see him attach a bucket of bolts to his tongue.
Ugh. I wanted my tickets back.
Why can’t things be the way they’re supposed to be? And why can’t freaks just enjoy their exploitation? If I were a freak (if) I’d love it. I’d use my freakish power for the good of mankind.
I’d love to have one super long arm. A Super Arm. I could take seemingly candid pictures of myself even more easily!
Do you see that?
It’s like someone else is taking the picture. But what a struggle!
If I had Super Arm my whole life would change!
Is that a fax?
published by Fran SheaHot Damn! We finally picked a sales rep! A first-rate group of gals (there is a guy in the group that reps Iowa but he’s on a sort of hiatus – sorry Iowa) that will spread the Zeichen Love across this frigid, northern land. Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota, and South Dakota. I’ve actually never been to North or South Dakota… In fact, I’m not even sure they exist. I’d like some sort of proof. Anyway, our fax machine has been ringing off the hizzle with orders – our biggest so far: Kowalski’s Markets. I love Kowalski’s and I’m not just saying that. My ice cream melts in the cart while I wander around like a free-range chicken. (Before the farmer kills it and Kowalski’s sells it and I eat it. Mmm, delicious.)