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Writer's pictureLucian@going2paris.net

September 5, 2024 -- Cavalier, ND To Fox, Minnesota (And Back To Pembina, North Dakota)


Cavalier, North Dakota

Icelandic State Park

September 6, 2024, 10 AM


Feeling a bit overwhelmed this morning. I feel as though I have created a bit of a monster as I try to document my experiences. The easiest way to do that is using my Mac, but I don't always -- in fact infrequently -- have access to wifi. So I do what I can on my iPhone but sorting photos and writing text on the iPhone is ... well, not difficult but harder than when I can use my Mac. So this morning on my way from Pembina where I spent last night to points west, I have stopped by the Icelandic State Park to use the visitor center's wifi. The cheapskate in me thought about trying to get away without paying the $7 daily park fee -- I am embarrassed to admit that. (I always thought the word was "cheapscape" -- another for the "misheard" catatory.)


Hopefully one day these posts will be fun to look back on. I can't imagine stopping writing/preparing them now. They have become an outlet for a lot of mental gymnastics. I probably take too many photos -- I actually know I do. But they are my way of capturing something that I find interesting, entertaining and/or beautiful. Comical and funny sometimes, too. Sometimes I take so many because only one doesn't seem to capture the whole of what I see. I think that is especially true to landscapes. I know most of my photos are "postcard" photos but I hope that sometimes I see something that others might not see -- it might be an angle, or a time of day, or just that I have time to pause and see an everyday thing in a different way. "Thing." What a non descriptive word. Like "nice." When I am "on," I try to find a better word than "thing." I guess right now I am not on.


I had missed Fox, Minnesota when I was in Minnesota last week. By the time I realized I had been close in International Falls, I was off to someplace else and driving away from Fox. Then two nights ago, I realize that my wander to Cavalier had brought me within 90 minutes of it. Shalamar!!



Why do I think in terms of songs and lyrics?? Maybe the Temptations have the answer?



I believe the United States would be a better place if we still had music like this playing on the radio everyday. Something that bound all (many) of us together. I love my SiriusXM and being able to listen to only the music I want to. But I think we as a society miss something by no longer having Top 40 radio and Kasey Kassem counting down the Top 40 songs in the country every week.


Yesterday was a day of a bit of an overload. The landscape and sky were amazingly beautiful. I came across a couple of town nine-hole golf courses that I just had to play. Not because I thought they would be awesome links but because I am just fascinated that such small towns up here have nine-hole golf courses. Arguably they are easy courses in terms of length -- but with a judicious use of narrow fairways, water, trees (especially in the fairway) -- they were fun to play. In Madras, Oregon I learned the term "pasture golf." These courses yesterday would qualify for that term. The fairways were mostly like rough on the courses back east. But the greens were super nice -- the ball rolled true and fast. To me, they were as good as any greens I usually play. I learned from talking with the owner of the Cavalier Country Club the other day that many courses up here started out with sand greens. He told me I could tell greens that had been converted from sand because they tend to be small and round. I bet the two courses I played yesterday had at one time had sand greens.


I should also point out that yesterday was the first time in one day that I had played golf in two different states -- Minnesota and North Dakota.


Here is a collage of photos I took on my way to Fox:









Fox, Minnesota


Fox is an unincorporated community in Ross Township, Roseau County, Minnesota. The community is located west of Roseau at the junction of State Highway 11 (MN 11) and State Highway 89 (MN 89). Highway 308 (MN 308) is also in the immediate area. Nearby places include Roseau, Badger, Pinecreek, and Ross. Fox had a post office between 1891 and 1937. There is no sign of it. The community was named for the foxes native to the area. Fox had a train station that was built in 1914 -- there is no longer any sign of it.


One source I found said, "FOX is a railway village in Ross, named for foxes, as the next village and creek westward are named for badgers." In fact Roseau County has towns named Fox, Badger, Beaver, Deer and Moose.





Videos and photos I took, Yes, I attached the stickers.











After visiting Fox, I returned to Greenbush, Minnesota -- a town of 642 people -- and played its nine-hole course. Narrow. Fortunately I seem to be finding a fix for my slice (one piece takeaway, keep my left arm across my chest (fight high hands) and feel like I am carrying a tray with drinks. Oh, and keep my right elbow tucked in the downswing. Yes, and swing easy -- avoid swing the right shoulder out. Keep eyes on the back of the ball. Be aware that in my follow through I should be closing the clubface, right arm higher than the left arm.


After Greenbush, I returned to Pembina, North Dakota where I had seen another nine-hole course. The fairways here were more pasture like than in Greenbush but the greens were just as nice. At both courses, there were no ball make damage -- either the course get so little play or the weather here allows the damage to heal quickly. At both courses, folks were out cutting the grass. I only got in six holes in Pembina. My back is so much better but my scoliosis on my right side starts to get sore after some golf. Actually it is not the scoliosis but the atrophied muscles that get sore.




The sky and landscape mesmerized me on my way from Greenbush to Pembina:





The Pembia golf course:











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