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July, 2012

  1. Summer: Sunshine and Traffic Cones

    July 20, 2012 by Becoming Midwestern

    When I first moved in ND two summers ago (wow… hard to believe), I was greeted with friendly “hellos”, invitations to cook-outs, and… road construction… lots and lots of road construction. I have heard the joke before that North Dakota’s seasons can really be indicated by descriptions such as windy (Fall), snow (Winter), flooding (Spring), and road construction (summer). Now, while I can handle the wind, a rainy Spring, and yes, even the snow, one thing that really drives me crazy is the road construction. To be honest, it annoys me so much that I’m surprised I haven’t written a blog post about it up until now.

    Now, I understand that there is only a short window of time that road construction can take place in the upper midwest. What, with snow on the ground about 7 months out of the year and rain falling for about 3, July and August are really the only time the road crews can get out there and fill in the giant potholes that were created from the 7 months of snow and 3 months of rain. And while I appreciate Fargo, Moorhead, and the vast majority of every other large town in North Dakota’s dedication to impeccable road conditions, the east coast driver in me goes crazy. You see, if you ever come in contact with me you will no doubt find a very polite, good-natured, and friendly young lady. However, stop me with a road flag or take me on a detour while I’m running late, and that lady-like demeanor goes out the window (something my fiancee can unfortunately attest to).

    Yes, I know that it isn’t the worker’s fault. Yes, I know the City of Fargo is only trying to make the roads more manageable the rest of the year. Yes, I know in the long run my car will be a lot better off on smooth roads. And yes, I know that really I’m only being slowed down by a few minutes (if that). I don’t claim to be rationale about this. I can only speak the truth. So if you happen to see an angry little blond girl shouting out the window of her car this summer when she is stopped as a backhoe pulls onto the road, or banging at her steering wheel as she is rerouted down a side street… I apologize in advance. Remember, I am BECOMING midwestern. Clearly, I still have a little way to go before I learn to manage my frustration with road construction the way midwesterners do.

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  2. This Means War

    July 9, 2012 by Becoming Midwestern

    I am at war… at war with a squirrel. I am pretty fond about most things that I’ve experienced while living in the Midwest. Sure, the winters are a little tough, but it makes you stronger, right? Unfortunately, the one thing that has not meshed well with me are the Midwestern critters. The mosquitos eat me alive, I’m constantly paranoid that I’ll hit a deer while driving, no matter what I walk through in the summer I always seem to end up with a tick on me, and the first time I saw a jack rabbit I thought it was a medium sized dog. However, the one animal that I can’t stand most of all… that truly makes me see red… are the squirrels.

    You would never have guessed that a squirrel would be my archenemy but when I decided to plant flowers and herbs this Spring, the war began. You see, every spring and summer I have a tradition of planting sunflowers and various herbs (parsley, basil and dill this year). I become somewhat attached to my sunflowers. Now, I can’t say that I’ve always taken the best care of them. Last year I had an incident with setting the seedlings too close to the grill while it was heating up. Whoops. While it break my heart a little bit, I can deal with my own absent mindedness destroying my little flowers. However, when something else causes them to experience an untimely death I don’t handle it as well.

    A few weeks ago I walked outside to water my plants and noticed that a little baby sunflower had been plucked from the pot and dumped on the ground next to it. I was a little upset, but brushed it off. Then, a few days later I noticed something had been nibbling on my parsley. Again, I was a little frustrated but stayed composed. When I was on vacation for a few weeks, a friend of mine was cat sitting/plant sitting and sent me a horrifying message. Something had destroyed my parsley. And the next day, something had destroyed my dill. She moved them indoors until I got home, but as I walked up the steps after a long day of traveling I had seen the worst thing of all: something had bit the top off one of my sunflowers.

    I snapped into defense mode! No more messing around. I ran to the store, grabbed an array of netting, and surrounded my injured plants hoping it would add a little protection.

    While I am happy to report I have had no more incidents since I went on the defense, the war is not over. While I try to be kind to all animals, and really love everything North Dakota, squirrels be warned: If I see you so much as sniff one of my plants, I will have no problem setting a hose and my two fierce kittens on you.

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  3. “I’m bringing bars!”

    July 3, 2012 by Becoming Midwestern

    With summer in full swing and 4th of July less than 24 hours away, the smell of grilling is in the air. You’ve got your burgers, your brats, your chips and potato salad, and of course, you’ve got to have an assortment of bars. While I know I have mentioned this before in my Midwestern Dictionary , I decided I needed to dedicate an entire post to the glory that are bars.

    My favorite type of bars: Scotcheroos

    It had only been about a day into our big North Dakota move when we were invited over to a friend’s house for grilling. As we loaded up our plates with all the delicious food, we were reminded to not forget the bars. “The what?” I questioned.

    “The bars,” she responded and gestured over in the direction of what I now know as Scotcheroo Bars.

    “Oh,” I replied. “I’ve never heard them called that before.”

    “Well, what do you call them then?” she asked.

    “Umm… whatever they are called. Like brownies, or lemon bars or I guess Scotcheroo Bars.”

    This wasn’t the last time I would have this conversation with Midwestern locals. In fact, it is still hard for me to call them bars without giving a little giggle or adding a little bit of a Midwestern accent to my pronunciation. You see, while I knew what she was referencing, I had never heard them called such a generic term before. Sure, I have a section in my ‘Better Homes and Garden Cook Book’ just dedicated to cookies AND bars, but I still would never say, “Oh, I’m making bars”. If someone asked what I was bringing to a BBQ or potluck, I would say specifically whatever the dessert item was. For example, chocolate chip bars or blondies. Not simply “bars”.

    Additionally, if I was asked to bring some sort of dessert, “bars” would probably not be on the top of  my list. In fact, I had never seen so many bars until I moved to North Dakota (ironically, this statement could also hold true to the kind of “bars” that serve adult beverages as well). I may bring pie, or cake, or even cookies… but probably not bars. Now don’t get me wrong. I love bars! They are just not really something I grew up eating or really paid much attention to. What is it about Midwesterners and their bars? What happened to simple chocolate chip cookies or a few Snickerdoodles?

    As I ponder this question, I suddenly feel in the mood to make some bars. So on that note, happy 4th of July everyone and enjoy the many bars you will consume in celebration of America!

    side note: as I Googled “bars” to post a few photos up on my blog, you can guess the first 100 or so images were not of dessert bars but instead… the other type.

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