Here I am, back at the old stand at Norsk Høstfest in Minot, ND. I got here on Monday, having ridden with another Viking rather than driving myself, this time. So far it’s been pretty low pressure. We’ve given ourselves lots of time for things. That will doubtless change in a few minutes, when the crowds start showing up for the first day.

Oh, by the way, I had a hot beef sandwich at Kroll’s Diner in Minot which far surpassed any I’ve ever before tasted, or dreamed of. This has been an unsolicited testimonial.

It will be interesting to see how how changes in the town make changes in the festival. Minot as we know it has always been a nice, small midwestern city with an air base, remote from the rest of the world. Then last year, after the flooding, it was a recovering disaster area, stubbornly refusing to lose heart.

This year it’s a boom town. The actual boom is centered around 120 miles west, around Williston. But the economic waves have spread to Minot now. At least a half a dozen (that’s what we’ve counted; doubtless there are more) motels are going up around town, and even before they’re opened they’re being leased by the drilling companies for their employees, who will live in the rooms and commute all the way to Williston to work. They’re making so much money, that’s actually economical to do.

Tough on some of the locals, though. Not only because the street traffic’s gone insane, but because prices have skyrocketed, and that puts economic pressure on anyone who’s not in the oil business.

On the plus side, the weather’s beautiful. And aside from the Oak Ridge Boys (as usual), we’ll have the New Christy Minstrels (who are pretty old now) singing at the stage around the corner this year. As someone who actually enjoyed the music in “A Mighty Wind,” that’s good news for me.

More as the situation develops.