wild flowers

The view from Mount Carmel.

We went exploring and happened upon this shrine on Mount Carmel.

We woke up to the sound of a gunshot this morning and didn't even think to call the police (there wasn't screaming or anything).
There have been a couple nights when loud "partying" across the road has kept us from sleeping. One weekend the sound of yelling was mixed with the sound of chainsaws. Tyler went and got a hammer, the only thing we own remotely close to a weapon, and placed it by our bed. I didn't find this comforting.

We went to Muenster to apply for a job and were told to take a look inside the St. Peter's Cathedral. The interior was decorated by Berthold Imhoff in 1919. It's pretty amazing.

Straws taped to the wall at the Bruno Café.

The gravel road to Bruno spit up rocks at us and cracked our windshield.

We made badges out of pennies flattened on the train tracks that run behind the house in Dana.

The hotel in nearby Prud'Homme.

Main Street, Bruno.

On the road to Bruno...our favorite drive.

We moved out here because the landscape is beautiful and the houses are cheap (as well as other notions of a better life away from the city). The house above is a 2 bedroom in Bruno advertised at $6900. It's been for sale for a while so will sell for much less. We've decided that we would rather live in a smaller rural community like Dana, so we're waiting to see if anything becomes available, hopefully (please dear god) before winter...

We take our garbage to the dump just outside of Bruno where we pay 50 cents a bag. It's open two days a week and there is always a man sitting in a pick-up truck waiting to collect money. The other option is to buy special yellow stickers in Bruno for $1 each. If we sticker our bags and leave them on the side of the road in Dana someone will pick it up for us.

We find ourselves watching TV shows like Farmgate and The Prairie Farm Report. Tyler finds them especially fascinating.

We were invited over to the neighbors for a birthday party on Friday. Lots of drink and cake and country music.

Tyler got some work in Bruno helping to plant a cherry tree orchard at The Prairie Ursuline Center. He and two other men planted 4000 trees. He sat on one of the seats pulled behind the tractor (pictured above) planting trees for 3 full days. He also did some old fashioned planting by hand and hours of packing. He was told these trees take about ten years to mature.

Local Traffic

On the grid road between Dana and Bruno.

The septic pump is acting up again. GODDAMN PUMP!!!

Postings on the bulletin board at the mall in Humboldt always have the appearence of having been written by either Grandma or Grandpa...

We've discovered that The Prairie Ursuline Center in Bruno has wireless internet. It also has an art gallery. It's an all around lovely place.

The warm weather today allowed me to finally use the solar shower. I am clean once again.

It has been very cold the past few days. I have become very dependent on my hot water bottle.

Tyler and I had to get a minor repair done to our truck (the U-joint). Bruno Motors only charges $35 an hour.