My wife and I were among hundreds of couples who attended the Laugh Your Way to a Better Marriage presentation this weekend at Bismarck Community Church. Presenter Mark Gungor is a really neat guy, and I learned a lot about myself and my wife this weekend. I think she learned a lot about me, too! I highly recommend seeing this presentation on DVD if you get the chance. If you have the opportunity to see it in person, even better. You’ll be glad you did.

One of the things we found really interesting was the Flag Page Test, which they did with a sample couple from the audience. As with many couples, they tested as somewhat opposites. After bringing them up on stage and showing us their scores, he asked them a variety of questions and had them pegged right on with each question. The goal is to help you understand your spouse better by finding out what matters most to them, then finding out how best to satisfy their needs. It’s really cool.

Two things I really agree with from this weekend: One is that the feminization of our culture (especially the churches) is doing the men of our nation a horrible disservice. Another is that a strong marriage isn’t about changing who we are, but about realizing how to best give our spouse the type of love and affirmation they need. That starts by figuring out just what in the world that type is, as I described above.

There were so many gold nuggets in the two days of presentation, I can’t list them all. I do know that we will be buying his book by the same name, which goes into greater detail and gives specific citations of the studies that he mentions in his presentation.

Stacy and I had originally scheduled a “date night” for this Friday, with our friends taking the toddlers for a sleepover. Then we found out about the Laugh Your Way presentation and decided to attend as part of our date. My wife’s persistence paid off in being a lucky caller to KNDR to win a pair of tickets, which left money in our Date Fund to spring for a nice meal at the Walrus and some swag at the event. It was all time and money well spent. Even a healthy marriage needs maintenance, and we intend our marriage to last. Part of that, by the way, is my decision to not take my ubiquitous camera along on our dates, thus the less-than-stellar cellular phone picture above.

This weekend I was able to visit Buckstop Junction for Applefest, a benefit for the Bismarck Cancer Center. While I had a freelance gig occupying my Saturday, I braved the wind on Sunday to watch my friends Tucker’d Out play their mix of bluegrass, folk, and other tunes. It was fantastic; I haven’t seen these guys play live since a practice jam sesion in Lynn’s basement.

I’ve referred to these guys previously as JPL, but they took on the Tucker’d Out moniker when they started playing some serious gigs. The band is comprised of brothers John and Lynn, and bass player Jeff (“Petey” ). Thus the “JPL” origins. Petey, Lynn, and I have worked together since…well, almost 20 years, technically…since the start of my NBC days. They’re part of the KVLY crew, and we’ve worked together on freelance jobs all over from ESPN to FOX Sports Net. I got to meet John for the first time this weekend as well.

Thanks to the guys for playing two of my all-time favorite songs, and calling me out by my TV nickname (which I am not giving away, sorry!):

“The Dutchman” is a song I can’t listen to with a dry eye. It’s a sweet song about an old man whose grip on reality is fading due to dementia, and his loving wife Margaret who is ever by his side. It’s just a plain lovely song. Lyrics are copyrighted material, so I’ll post a link to the writer’s page here.

I’m no Bob Dylan fan, but the song Lay Down Your Weary Tune is another truly beautiful song that pops into my head whenever I behold a broad landscape and the beauty of God’s creation. Please click on the link above and read the lyrics; you’ll see what I’m talking about.

As with many of the songs I hear them play, I’ve never heard the original versions of these two favorites. I don’t want to. With a simple guitar, acoustic bass, and mandolin, these guys give such a warm treatment to every song they play that I don’t ever want to hear these songs by anyone else. It’s simply not necessary. Songs like “If I Had a Boat” (one of my other favorites) seem to be written for these guys, anyway.

I was able to score a copy of the new album, “The Basement Tapes – Spring 2008” this weekend as well. Thanks, guys! I already have some new favorites, such as “One Drop of Rain.” It’s a love song talking about drops coming together, forming a river of love. You can listen to this one on the band’s MySpace page.

One side note: their albums are recorded, mixed, and mastered by KVLY farm news anchor and meteorologist Mick Kjar. They sound as well as any studio recording I’ve ever heard. What is it about those farm news guys? Al Gustin is another one who’s multi-talented, with woodworking and other skills to go with his award-winning journalism. I guess it takes a certain type of fella to fill those morning ag news shoes!

For any of you who find themselves in the Fargo-Moorhead area, look ahead on that page to see if Tucker’d Out is playing while you’re there. Check out the songs on their MySpace page, and score a copy of their CD if you’re able. Say hi from me, and ignore any stories they might tell about me!

This was one of the more eye-catching displays I caught during my brief romp around the Capital A’Fair today at the state capitol. I refer to it as the “Capitol A’Fair” with an o instead of an a because it’s on the capitol grounds, but I suppose they could use an a because it’s in the capital city.

Saturday was muggy as heck, and Sunday looked like it might have some rain in store, but it actually turned out to be a perfect day for perusing artwork at the capitol. Canopies lined the road surrounding the capitol mall, the food court occupied its familiar spot in the west lot, and turnout looked to be pretty good.

This was a really neat display: concrete molds of giant leaves, coated in a number of different finishes. Many were pearlescent, and some even glowed in the dark. The process is shown on the signs adorning the front table (right side of photo).

Kindred spirits Ron & Kathy Linton were there, featuring photography from the Black Hills. I met them last year, when Ron noticed I had the new Canon 10-22mm lens on my camera. He’s since bought the same lens and really likes it. I took a few minutes to say hi and chat, but had to move on because of a Superbike race I wanted to catch this afternoon.

I didn’t know in advance that the A’Fair was happening this weekend. I suppose that’s because I don’t read the paper, rarely watch television, and don’t spend much time around a radio. Thankfully I was able to make a quick trip up there this afternoon and look around, find a couple of neat sights to investigate, and enjoy an afternoon walking around the capitol grounds. Next time I’ll try to find out about it earlier, so I don’t have to skip the snow-cone stand in order to save time!

Last Thursday I was able to take my family to the Friends and Family Day at the Northern Great Plains Agricultural Research Laboratory south of Mandan. As a kid growing up south of Mandan, I remember occasionally riding my bike toward town and visiting the facility. The people we talked to were cool, and gracious in explaining what they were doing to a curious kid. They showed the same sort of hospitality to kids and adults alike last Thursday.

Ever play Garden Jeopardy? Me neither. This was just one of several breakout sessions that were held throughout the day. They focused on subjects from soils to gardening to trees, and looked really interesting and informative. I watched one guy talk about “rain gardens” and how one can collect rain water and retain moisture in soil by how it’s landscaped and the type of soil used. I didn’t get to stay for much of it, though…

…because my wife and boys were waiting for me at the horse and buggy. I kept our infant and stroller with me, while little PJ and mommy went for a ride. He’s 18 months old now and talking up a storm, and said “horses” a lot after this ride.

This was his other favorite stop. Daddy took him up into the cabs of a lot of these big tractors, but wouldn’t let him touch any of the buttons. One of them even had the key in the ignition, as PJ pointed out, but I was a party pooper and wouldn’t let him touch it. I don’t think I’m insured for that kind of damage.

I’ll admit it: this was Daddy’s favorite stop. I absolutely LOVE those Cloverdale brats. I was able to keep from getting mustard on my camera, too. Thanks for the free lunch!

This was one of the activities for the kids. There was face painting and other fun going on, but this tunnel seemed especially cool. It’s to show kids about what goes on in the soil underneath their garden or field. Note the roots and carrots sticking down. The kids got to wear a headband light too, so it wasn’t too scary.

Not a lot of takers on the “greenhouse gas emmission” information. I’m not surprised; the farmers finally have a couple of good years, and now they’re supposed to get uptight about the greenhouse gas emissions of their operation? The whole “greenhouse gas” nonsense is a political issue, anyway…not a scientific one. Too bad research grant money is given out by a political process.

These folks got a really cool ride! Rolling bleachers…I never thought I’d live to see the day. I wish I’d had time to hang around and take this ride, but I don’t think the little boys would like it much and we had the stroller & stuff to worry about. Too bad, it’s been a couple of decades since I really poked around out here. Perhaps next year I can take PJ on the ride. I’m sure he’ll remind me about the horses and the tractors! Thanks again to the NGPRL folks for their hospitality in putting on a great event for the community.

I forgot to mention that I had a pleasant result from the MAA show at the Community Center. Last year I won the People’s Choice in photography with a large metallic print of the bridge photo you see above in this blog’s header. I also won a gift certificate from a frame shop, for which photo I have already forgotten. Of course I was hoping to repeat this year. This year’s results didn’t equal last year’s, but I didn’t walk away empty handed.

The photo you see above won the Governor’s Selection award, which was awarded by a representative of the Governor’s office. Who that ended up being, I don’t know…maybe it was in the program. It was still a cool distinction, especially for such a novice. I realized early on when I picked up this hobby in 2005 that being in the right place at the right time is a requirement of any good photo, and this photo is the result of such timing. I’m just blessed in that I happen to end up at the right place at the right time a LOT these days, and never go anywhere without my camera!

I had a little extra time tonight despite working late, so I thought I’d stroll through the Earth Day festival at the National Guard armory in northeast Bismarck. I drove my gas guzzling truck up there, of course…I’ve been meaning to ride to work on one of my motorcycles that gets 50 miles per gallon, but so far haven’t done so.

As you can see from the photo above, the event was well attended. I was dreading whether this would be some sort of ridiculous global warming convention, and I was pleasantly surprised to say that it was not. Instead I found lots of folks who want to be good stewards of North Dakota’s resources. There were a few mentions of climate change, but these days I think it’s hard to get funding without pandering to the lunatics a bit. For the most part this festival was all about displays from folks who, in true North Dakota fashion, like to take a sensible approach to safeguarding North Dakota’s treasure of clean land, water, and air.

I will cry foul on one thing before I go on praising this event: they were handing out compact flourescent light bulbs at the front. I didn’t take any pictures of the folks handing them out, and I didn’t walk up and challenge them on handing out those stupid, expensive mercury bombs. These bulbs are an environmental hazard, made in China by factories that couldn’t care less about their impact on the environment. My GE light bulbs in the cupboard say “Assembled in the USA” on the box, by the way. But if you think you’re having a positive impact on the environment by having these weak, headache-inducing compact flourescent bulbs in your house, you’re fooling yourself. Their manufacture is putting mercury into the environment, either by their Chinese manufacturing or when one of them breaks. No thanks, I’ll stay incandescent. Whew…glad I got that off my chest!

Back to the good parts of the festival. There were booths from agencies whose missions are to take care of North Dakota’s natural resources, such as the USDA, Game and Fish, NRCS, Fish & Wildlife Service, and others. I’ve worked with some of these agencies so I can attest to the good that they’re doing.

There was plenty of information on hand, and some demonstrations were given at certain booths. The Dakota Zoo had snakes and bugs on hand, and there were other opportunities for the kids.

This kid did NOT want to get his picture taken with a weed or three. Awwwwww!

This booth came complete with a fiddler. I wonder if it’s a bluegrass thing…get it? *nudge* *nudge* Okay, maybe my wife’s right…I’m not funny.

The Proclamation. It was covered with signatures. Although I had a good time at the festival, I don’t subscribe to the Earth Day thing. I think being responsible is a personal decision, one that is made every day. For instance, I recycle things like batteries, but not every piece of trash that comes from our household. I like to conserve water, buy half-sized paper towels, and turn off unnecessary lights. I do these things because they make sense, not because I’m “saving the planet.” It’s that type of rational sensibility that North Dakotans display in their care for the environment in our state, and I think this festival celebrated that nicely.