Hub and boys visit the Shantytown Capitol shortly before the mayhem of "Occupy the Shanty" ensues
Yes, there is a place in the world where the folks are just as weird--nay, I say weirder--than me and my clan. A place where people (and quite a few dogs) play all day on a frozen lake, ride the ice on bikes that look like wolves or muskies or Babe the Blue Ox, take on monster names or Norwegian identitites, dance for no reason in the mirror-balled interior of a darkened ice shanty, overthrow their mayor on a whim, and cut through the silly tape of beaurocracy by applying for permits of nonsense, pawing through lost and found. There are blanket forts and hot dogs and bonfires and cocoa and singing and slippery outdoor runway fashion shows. A troll lives under the bridge that goes...to nowhere.
We spent the day at Shantytown, a social experiment called the Art Shanty Project on Medicine Lake, and man did we fit right in. I would say the ruling hegemony in Shantytown were young hipster artists in long home-sewed wool shirts and combat boots (and their bearded boyfriends in hand-knit scarves), followed closely by individuals with large black dogs and cool families with adorable children. But like all fun towns, there was also a diversity tot he culture of Shantytown which enriched it. I met at least one freezing and horrified person from California there, a dog hater, and some elder folks who more than once were heard muttering, "What in the hell...?" It was a real slice of life, which the boys adored.
We spent the day at Shantytown, a social experiment called the Art Shanty Project on Medicine Lake, and man did we fit right in. I would say the ruling hegemony in Shantytown were young hipster artists in long home-sewed wool shirts and combat boots (and their bearded boyfriends in hand-knit scarves), followed closely by individuals with large black dogs and cool families with adorable children. But like all fun towns, there was also a diversity tot he culture of Shantytown which enriched it. I met at least one freezing and horrified person from California there, a dog hater, and some elder folks who more than once were heard muttering, "What in the hell...?" It was a real slice of life, which the boys adored.
here, Toe instructs the "teachers" of the One Room School House shanty in the how-tos of manual typewriting
there goes wolfbike, right past the Sit-and-Spin shanty
Toe sits...and spins
Roo tries to entice us into his warm world of blanket forts at the Fort Shanty
igloo Roo
Toe"s citizenship card for Shantytown. On the application he has listed his former occupation as "annoyance" and his proposed new occupation in Shantytown as "dog-petter," and thus was granted residence.
after stepping in an open water fishing hole, Roo was issued an ex post facto permit for "falling through the ice" by the Dept. of Everything Else
ShantyCouncilWoman accompanies a reluctant toe into the "Monsters Under the Bed" shanty
duh, of course
Toe is assigned a new identity
Roo fearlessly investigates the shanty of the Troll Inder the Bridge in true CSI style
Shantytown pink ear muff flashmob at sunset
Roo chooses a bike to go with his hat
stone-cold tired
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