Outside Looking In

Make yourself at home

At the Section 3A girls basketball championship game Friday at SMSU, the parking lot before the game was as entertaining as the game would prove to be inside. Lined up in five consecutive parking spots were five white SUV's of similar size and style. As I began to get out of my vehicle one row behind the five white vehicles, a young lady got into the passenger side of one of the vehicles; likely waiting for the driver. Soon after, a young man strolled up to the same row of vehicles and got into the driver's seat of the vehicle right next to the vehicle the young woman was sitting in. A few moments later, the man honked his horn twice and motioned to the young woman as she turned toward the sound of the horn. Quickly, she jumped out of the vehicle she was in, but began laughing so hysterically that she bent over and stood there frozen in time. Finally, the man got out of his vehicle and he, too, started laughing out loud. When the man saw me standing there in bewilderment, he managed to tell me that the woman was his wife and she had seated herself in the wrong vehicle. I thought to myself "What a putz," until I remembered how many times I've looked for my phone.... while talking on it.

Sting is in the air

Because of the recent warm weather we had, it felt like spring was in the air. For me, though, it was more like "sting" is in the air. When I visited the Pesch home recently to take a few photos of Charlie getting ready to take his honey bees to Texas, Charlie and his brother Ted were donning white beekeeper coats with hooded headgear. Their father, J.D., came out shortly and offered me a similar coat. "Do I really need it?" I asked. "I would," said J.D., without hesitation. Feeling rather brave and figuring the breeze would keep the bees away from me as I stood several feet away to snap a few photos, I declined the use of the protective garment. Jokingly, I told J.D. that it was a quest of mine to see if I could avoid getting stung. "Just in case you do get stung," J.D. began, "don't try to pull the stinger out, because when you pinch it the venom is released. Use something like a credit card to scrape it off instead." I wouldn't need to pull out a credit card because I was on a mission to avoid getting stung. Not only did I fail to fulfill my quest, I didn't even make it 30 seconds before one buzzed down the back of my shirt and angrily stung me on my back. Less than a minute went by when I received a second sting on my right wrist. As I looked over at J.D., the wide smile on his face seemed to say "I told you so". When I got back home that day, I noticed two more stings on my left arm. The moral to the story? Don't try to "bee" macho when it comes to these kamikaze insects.

3 Sensations honored

Merissa Traen and Cassidy Skogen of the Canby-Minneota Sensations dance team were named to the Class A Kick All-State Team, while Stephanie Birk was selected to the Class A Jazz All-State Team. Those three girls represented the Sensations at the All-State Dance Show on Saturday at Eastview High School in Apple Valley.

McCoy cooking again

Minneota native Casey McCoy, who now lives in Sioux Falls, has agreed to donate and prepare a four-course meal for up to 10 people for the second straight year for the Adult Prom’s silent auction on March 28 at the American Legion. The Adult Prom is a fundraiser for the necessary resurfacing project for the community swimming pool. McCoy, an insurance salesman, initially went to culinary school in New York City and eventually helped open 15 restaurants in the Midwest as a general manager or executive chef. The winning bid for McCoy’s courses brought $500. Last year, McCoy theme was Harvest in Minnesota”. He prepared a refreshing non-alcoholic beverage to start things off. That was followed by the first course of a Harvest Bruschetta, a savory squash soup, a unique tator tot hotdish, and a dessert of vanilla mousse with cinnamon and nutmeg-candied pecans and a wild rice pancake with candied beet syrup.

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK: The greatest thing in life is love … and the second is laughter.