Zeeland, ND

This is a new thread. My desire here is to show how many Americans actually live and that many if not most Americans do not live in the large cities you see in the movies.

I will begin simple by just opening with pictures I posted in the old thread and later come back with comments as I speak of rural life and the similarities rural living people have, no matter what country they live in.

Zeeland is very typical of small town America. Not much different from the old Andy Griffith show "Mayberry RFD" except we don't have a sheriff nor a police dept. Then again crimes are virtually non-existent.

We are in a very cold climate. Not very far from the Western Canada provinces. It is said that the only thing that separates us from the North Pole is a picket fence. We do catch the arctic blasts as there is nothing to block them. We have a very short summer and the rest of the year is winter. We had our first snow of this winter on October 5 and since Oct 9 it has snowed at least a little each day. although it warms up enough every afternoon suficient to melt the snow. But, very soon the snow will begin to accumulate and once it does we will have snow on the ground until late May or early June.

This is a beautiful area, but it can be very harsh and unforgiving. The winter temperatures here commonly reach 50 degrees below zero and have reached as low as 75 below.

Here are some pictures of our recent little snow storms. Soon I will be able to show you pictures of drifts over 20 feet high.

Don't forget the gas station pictures!! I've been waiting to see the cash basket where you throw in your bill.

Rashad said:

Don't forget the gas station pictures!! I've been waiting to see the cash basket where you throw in your bill.

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I took a few pictures of it as I was walking around town. I'll take some pictures of the inside tomorrow or so. In the meantime here is the outside.

i am asking the question that i asked before and i already know the answer to.
as you mentioned in your old thread grandpa Woodrow, what do people do if there is some emergency, as hospitals are non existent? :><:
you know, i know the answer.

Malaak said:

i am asking the question that i asked before and i already know the answer to.
as you mentioned in your old thread grandpa Woodrow, what do people do if there is some emergency, as hospitals are non existent? :><:
you know, i know the answer.

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Emergency care is non-existent if possible you can wait several hours for an ambulance to arrive from Bismark or Fargo. But, in the worse scenario any neighbor who has a plane would probably fly you to Fargo or Bismarck. Many farmers out here have their own planes, they have become as much of a farm tool as a tractor.

But prevention is the best cure and knowing immediate first aide is essential if you are to survive in a rural area. Help is not a phone call away outside of what a person can do themselves help can be hours or days away.

^thanks for your reply..but one thing i dont really understand, why are private planes so common there? one has to be very rich to own one :hmm:
are the farmers there like oil tycoons?
and how do you use a plane in place of a tractor ?lol

Malaak said:

^thanks for your reply..but one thing i dont really understand, why are private planes so common there? one has to be very rich to own one :hmm:
are the farmers there like oil tycoons?
and how do you use a plane in place of a tractor ?lol

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Light planes are actually lower cost and cheaper then cars, especially used ones.

Because of the distances and road conditions a plane is more economical to operate then a car. For example it costs me about $42 in fuel cost to drive one way to Fort Mead in our car. It only costs about $17 one way in fuel to fly a Cessna 150 from here to there.

Now the need for a plane on a farm. The Farms up here are typically over 100 miles to the nearest city. In the winter time the roads are not passable, the only way a farmer can get from his house to a city is by plane in the winter time. When the temperatures are near 50 degrees below zero and the roads are covered with snow, you can not go by horseback or car. Up here the farms are predominatly wheat and other grain field.

EDIT: I forgot to mention the obvious. Up here with the gigantic wheat fields being thousands of acres in size, a plane is essential for spraying the fields. A tractor is too slow and the fields too large.

NON TECHNICAL SUMMARY: Over 75% of durum wheat acreage in the United States is located in North Dakota.

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from http://www.reeis.usda.gov/web/crisprojectpages/202592.html

Down in South Dakota and over in Wyoming and Montana the farms are predominatly beef ranches and the cattle can wander several hundred miles, most farmers there now use planes to keep track of their cattle instead of just on horse back. Through out the plains States aircraft have become a common farm tool.

The planes of choice are Cessna 172 Cessna 150 and Piper Tri-pacers. The Cessna 150 being what I see most often.




Here is a link to a typical 150 for sale:

http://www.myplane.com/ad/2841

It is not very far from us and we may take a drive to look at it. Very reasonable price. With aircraft age is unimportant as long as it has a full og book and meets FAA requirements. To meet FAA a plane is essentially rebuilt every year.

Just for nostalgia here is a link for the type plane I first learned to fly way back in 1954. At that time these sold for about $2,000 new.

http://www.myplane.com/ad/2813

^thanks for info ... i didnt know planes were used anywhere in the world for farming.
does wheat grow at such tempratures?like -50 C? or anything at all for that matter?

Malaak said:

^thanks for info ... i didnt know planes were used anywhere in the world for farming.
does wheat grow at such tempratures?like -50 C? or anything at all for that matter?

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We have a very short growing season, June to Sept. Wheat is a very fast growing plant as are most of the crops planted here. However, winter wheat can be planted in September and harvested in Nov if there is not much snow on the ground. If there is too much snow in November it can be left as food for cows and horses along with feeding the abundant wild life such as deer, elk, Moose and Bison(American Buffalo).

The commercial crops besides wheat grown here are corn, oats, barley, soy beans, sun flowers and sugar beets. Although there are 224 listed cities only 31 have a population of over 1,000 and only 4 have a population over 25,000 the largest city Fargo has a population of 140,000 and the second largest (Bismarck)has a population of 55,000. The smallest Ruso has a population of 6 (That is not a typo it is 6) Zeeland has a current listed population of 121 but only about 50 actually live in the city. The total population for the state is only 641,481 (Smaller then most of the world's cities.)

Here are 2 sites with some quick facts about North Dakota

http://www.netstate.com/states/alma/nd_alma.htm

While the official coldest recorded temperature is 60 degrees below zero, many residents have reported temperatures of 75 below or colder being measured at their homes.

http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/38000.html

Surprising that being such a large food producing state it is actually a very poor state with one of the lowest average personal incomes in the USA. Both Aabidah and myself have retirement incomes considerably larger then the state average earned income.

Sadly, the state has a very small Native American population. Fortunately we are not far from the Native American reservations in South Dakota and Minnesota. We tend to relate better with the Sioux, Chippewa and Cheyenne. Most of our friends and Aabidah's relatives are Native American. Aabidah is Cheyenne.

North Dakotas claim to fame:

18-Aug-2005 --

The Geographical Center of North America

The Geographical Center of North America is located in Rugby, North Dakota - population 3,000. In January 1931 this location was established by the United States Geographical Survey. You can read how this was determined on the link below. The stone cairn beside Highway 2 was completed in August 1932 by W.B. Paterson and E.B. Paterson. Local Boy Scouts and other community volunteers assisted with the building and the local Lions Club donated the construction materials. In 1971 the cairn was moved to the present location when the highway was four laned. The coordinates on our GPS read N48° 21' 15.8" W99° 59' 53.1".

http://confluence.org/confluence.php?visitid=11375

its a beautiful place to live ohhh wish i could live there i just love it and is that were you got your new house granpa?

khalid84 said:

its a beautiful place to live ohhh wish i could live there i just love it and is that were you got your new house granpa?

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It is actually Granmas old house that she had abandoned about 10 years ago. It has been empty for a long time and needs a lot of interior work.

Here are some pictures of it:







The old wooden shingle roof is nearly 100 years old and needs to be taken off and rebuilt. We will do that next summer as it would not be pleasant to spend the winter without a roof.







On the inside I have to completly rewire the electrical system. The electric lines were installed in 1934 and are now very hazardous. There are some leaks in the plumbing I have to fix and we also need to tear out the old floors and lay new ones. We bought the materials already and need to go down to Rapid City to pick it up.

We just got telephone and internet service on Monday Oct 12, and today we finally got water.

As we are working on the house we are living in the motor home:





We will most likely spend the winter in the motor home as the interior of the house is not only hazardous, it is quite unlivable at this time, but we will renovate it. We will be working on it all winter. we have kerozene heaters to keep us warm while we work on it and have a portable generator so we can use the power tools.

We are also in the process of buying a dairy farm, but that will not be finalized until next spring at the earliest.

what can say again its beautiful and amazing place i love it as they say old is gold hehe its not that old but needs some work thats all

Beautiful Pics...
The first shot reminds me of Oklahoma where lands meet horizon. Not many places in the world flat like that.

During tornado season, many times half of the sky completely black and the other half shines like a diamond.... a cinematic moment for those love taking pictures.

I bet a town like this you may forget your key in the car and hours later, you may find it still intact. Unlike in Manhattan, some places a big sign in their car's shield "No stereo, please do not break the window"

gang4 said:

Beautiful Pics...
The first shot reminds me of Oklahoma where lands meet horizon. Not many places in the world flat like that.

During tornado season, many times half of the sky completely black and the other half shines like a diamond.... a cinematic moment for those love taking pictures.

I bet a town like this you may forget your key in the car and hours later, you may find it still intact. Unlike in Manhattan, some places a big sign in their car's shield "No stereo, please do not break the window"

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The first shot reminds me of Oklahoma where lands meet horizon. Not many places in the world flat like that.

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In that aspect all of the plains are similar The low plains being Part of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Iowa, Part of Nebaska The High plains being part of Nebraska, Wyoming, Montana, South Dakota, North Dakota. the high plains are called so because they are on the high plateau which are an average of 1,500 feet above sea level the low plains are only about 100 feet above sea level and lower.

I bet a town like this you may forget your key in the car and hours later, you may find it still intact. Unlike in Manhattan, some places a big sign in their car's shield "No stereo, please do not break the window"

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Crime is virtually non-existent in Zeeland as it is in most small towns world wide. Nearly all of the crimes that occur in North Dakota are in the 2 cities, Bismarck and Fargo. Perhaps because the people in small towns know each other personally and need to rely on each other for basic needs. Mutual acquaintance seems to run deeper in small towns and people show respect for each others property.

Mashallah, nice pics Woodrow. Surprised I missed the thread the first time around!!

So I take it there aren't many Muslims in this area?

Omar_21:30 said:

Mashallah, nice pics Woodrow. Surprised I missed the thread the first time around!!

So I take it there aren't many Muslims in this area?

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No, but we are growing. The most reverts seem to be coming from the Native Americans. I was surprised to find Islam is spreading among the Ojibwa (Chippewa) tribes in Minnesota and Canada. Aabidah and I spend quite a bit of time on the Sioux reservations and the people have a desire to learn more about us.

Woodrow said:

Emergency care is non-existent if possible you can wait several hours for an ambulance to arrive from Bismark or Fargo. But, in the worse scenario any neighbor who has a plane would probably fly you to Fargo or Bismarck. Many farmers out here have their own planes, they have become as much of a farm tool as a tractor.

But prevention is the best cure and knowing immediate first aide is essential if you are to survive in a rural area. Help is not a phone call away outside of what a person can do themselves help can be hours or days away.

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Dont they even have a small clinic or something like that?

Woodrow said:

Light planes are actually lower cost and cheaper then cars, especially used ones.
http://www.myplane.com/ad/2813

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Oh!! I never know that they are very common and cheap compared to car. Amazing!!


and wow, I really liked the place, it looks so peaceful and quiet....and I LIKED the motor house. The Gas station looks soo different than the one we used here. I think you have to help yourself when you fill your tank, right? Very inspirational place MashaAllah

Danah said:

Dont they even have a small clinic or something like that?

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We do have a clinic here. The doctor is here on the first and third Tuesday of each month. I believe he comes from Fargo. I have yet to meet him, but from what I understand he is Muslim and originally came from either Pakistan or India. I am looking foreward to meeting him. I currently have all of my medical needs looked after at the VA hospital at Fort Mead South Dakota. Both Aabidah and myself are Service Connected Disabled Veterans (Viet Nam/Korea Era) Aabidah is Vietnam only I am Vietnam and Korea era. Believe it or not we both have Muslim Doctors at Fort Mead.

Allaah(swt)works in strange ways although we live far from any Muslim population our Doctors are Muslim.

Danah said:

Oh!! I never know that they are very common and cheap compared to car. Amazing!!

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Throughout the rural areas in all of the plains states they are pretty much a necessity.

Danah said:

and wow, I really liked the place, it looks so peaceful and quiet....and I LIKED the motor house. The Gas station looks soo different than the one we used here. I think you have to help yourself when you fill your tank, right? Very inspirational place MashaAllah

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Not only is there usually no attendant at the filling station You just help your self and put your money in a cash box inside the door. The gasolline is essentially just a convenience for us. The company actually sells mostly bulk heating oil that is delivered to your house. I doubt if more then 3 or 4 people a week get any gasoline there. Most of us drive to Ashley for it were it is almost $1 per gallon less.

We got the motor home a while back. Actually this is our second one we had a smaller one that we traded in on this one last month. It is quite an experience driving that thing. So far we have only driven it about 2,000 miles. It is cheaper to use the car ;D