The Farmer Dell

I grew up in this little town (population 741) in the northwestern corner of Minnesota called Argyle. My parents owned and operated a restaurant and lounge there called the Farmer Dell. They opened it the year that I was born (1977) and sold it 21 years later.

I grew up in that restaurant, looking for fallen change on the bar floor when I went there with my dad in the morning hours. Eating maraschino cherries. Discovering the joys of Shirley Temple's and Roy Roger's. Telling my mom to bring home a bacon cheeseburger with alphabet fries when she came home. Working there as a waitress when I was a teenager. All of that.

The couple that owned it after my parents ran it for the next 14 years. Then they sold it to someone else, last year, I think, and these people spent a lot of money remodeling the place and renamed it the Harvest Bar & Grill (but I'm pretty sure everyone continued to call it the Farmer Dell, or just the "Dell" for short).

But now it's closed.

And that's kind of sad.

It was the last restaurant remaining in Argyle (the other restaurant, The Cafe, has closed as well). And it was a good restaurant. I will miss the relish trays, and garlic toast, and blue cheese dressing, and beer cheese soup, and mud pie, and deep fried shrimp, and all the rest of it.

I haven't eaten there in a long time, but I still like to know that it's there, you know?

Kind of like Argyle in general. A little town that is on its way to dying. I don't want to live there, but I still want it to exist, you know?

Friday Finds

1. This facebook post from my sister:

Dear Mrs. Obama,

My two active kids are not getting enough to fill them up during the school lunch hour, and they are famished by the end of the day thanks to your new food guidelines. Okay, 13% of children are overweight, but what about the 87% who are not? Give them the fuel they need to make it through a typical day. I think we're also forgetting that (studies show) students who are hungry have lower school performance and concentration levels because of it.

Sincerely, 

Mom of kids who are eating more junk food now than ever before because of the crap they now eat after school in order to get full!

Speaking of Michelle Obama, did you all see that she got bangs? Just look at her, always showing me up. Always.

Oh, and then there is this video to go along with what my sister was saying:



2. This article on dieting by Margaret Cho.

3. Which is a much better philosophy on dieting than Giuliana Ransic has.

4. I was looking at a list of the World's Oldest People, and I found it interesting that 60% of the World's Oldest Living People are from the United States. I mean, why is that? There are a lot of other countries (and industrialized countries) in the world. Why the U.S.?

That is all.

I Need Help.

I am kind of scared, you guys.

I just set up an Indiegogo campaign for that documentary I've been talking about, and now I'm all atwitter about it.

I guess this is kind of like a Great Perhaps kind of moment for me. I am on the threshold of actually doing something kind of big, and it's kind of a big deal, and I'm kind of nervous about it.

Ahhh!!!

I spent about 2 hours today talking to the camera, trying not to look like a moron, and I'm pretty sure that I did not succeed.

So, yeah, anyway, if you would like to donate (please do!), click this link below:

http://www.indiegogo.com/midwifedocumentary

Or click on the button on the sidebar.

Or share the link.

Or something.

(Yikes.)

The Red Hat Society

Okay, so you all remember my mom, right?

She's kind of a weird, crazy lady (see pictures below):

Anyway, she is an active member in this nationwide old lady craze called The Red Hat Society. (Click here to see their very informative and detailed website.) This group started in 1997 when a lady gave her friend a red hat for her 50th birthday and a poem with the lines,

"When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat that doesn't go and doesn't suit me."

So, basically, this is a group of old ladies going around saying, "We don't give a frick about what people think of us anymore and we're going to wear our red hats!" So, they go around wearing their red hats and purple outfits and just not caring what people think anymore.

At first, I kind of rolled my eyes at this whole concept. Especially when my mom goes around decorating her guest bedroom (which we have to stay in) with Red Hat Society theme:

But now, I've come to appreciate it, in certain respects. For, I am at a point in my life where I am saying, "I don't give a frick about what people think of me anymore."

Granted, I'm not going to go about wearing a stupid red hat or making theme rooms on the matter... but it is a nice concept, and one that we should embrace whether or not we are 50, 35, or 20.

Screw the world. Who cares what anyone else thinks? Where your red hats, ladies. Do what you want to do. Enjoy your life. Don't listen to societal norms that tell you NOT to wear red hats with purple outfits. Do what my mom does and put together weird "Alternatives to the Christmas Sweater" parties and Halloween costumes that say you're "Miss Conduct".

Or, go rollerskating with a group of friends, even if you're 35 years old. Or play laser tag. Or go snow tubing.

I tell you, this Grown Up Fun Times thing that I started is like the new, cooler version of the Red Hat Society for the next generation. (Much, much cooler.)



But it has the same message:

Have fun.
Stop Caring What People Think.
Do What You Want To Do.
Form Community.

What's not to love? So, my mom can have her Red Hats. I can have my Fun Times. And I'll try not to make fun of her too much because we are probably very much alike.

The Purpose of Art

"The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls." - Pablo Picasso