Maple & Main

 "I'm Sam Walton and I approve this message."

You can all breathe a sigh of relief now- the overprotected and semi-threatened Butler’s Garter Snakes living in the grass lands at the corner of Hwy. 59 and West Avenue are going to have a new home soon, and it’s going to look a lot like this…

This is the latest and greatest rendering of what the proposed Waukesha WalMart will look like, and it is nothing at all like the one they proposed a number of months ago (which I think is good).

Evidently snakes are picky about their WalMarts.

The updated design includes plenty of windows along the front of the store to let in large amounts of natural light because snakes like to bask in the sun. I hear the rest rooms will all be snake accessible as well. The cafeteria will feature Garter Snake salads, Butler Burgers, and snake snack cakes.

While looking at these plans, however, I can’t help but think that I have seen a design similar to this somewhere before…

And if you hadn’t noticed yet, it appears that WalMart is changing their logo as well.

It seems to have a much softer appeal to it. Personally, I thought the old logo was much more appropriate for world domination.

But what do I know…?

EDITOR’S NOTE: NO SNAKES WERE HARMED IN THE MAKING OF THIS BLOG.

Six million Harleys and 80 billion people descended on our little town for Harley fest a few weeks ago, and it was enough to make me (and the blog) go on a little hiatus for a while.

The cabin you see here is a twenty minute flight by sea plane from Minaki, Canada and once there, you feel like you are a million miles from anything. There is no phone, no internet, and no TV. The cabin electricity is powered by solar panels; heat and hot water come courtesy of propane.

The silence of the day may be interrupted by a gentle breeze blowing across the cool Canadian waters, and the eerie quiet of the night is sometimes shattered by the lone cry of a Common Loon.

It is the perfect place to recharge your personal batteries.

But one can sit and enjoy the tranquility only so long before getting the itch to hit the water in search of a trophy fish- or at least something to grace your plate for dinner.

Here are some prime examples of the fish we caught.

It’s obvious who the real fisherman of the family is. My eldest brother (who is going to kill me for posting this picture) seemed to come up a little short in the size and weight category this year. Better luck next time.

But now I am back in Waukesha, back to work, and back to business.

And it didn’t take long for a blog to present itself, so hang in there.

In the mean time, please enjoy some of the more scenic pictures of our trip.