We all got on a 6:30 AM flight from Portland to Minneapolis, rented cars, and got on the road. Mary and Jen (and Mary’s husband George) drove straight to our AirBnB, and Sarah and Mel and I detoured to Darwin to see the Biggest Ball of Twine rolled by one man. Sarah is a big fan of Weird Al Yankovic, as is my husband Greg, and Weird Al wrote a song about the biggest ball of twine in Minnesota. We played the song in the car as we drove into town.
The twine ball isn’t officially open until April 1, but Sarah contacted a volunteer named Josh who opened up the gift shop for us and told us about the man who wound the ball, Francis Johnson, who was also a wood carver and a collector. Josh was also extra nice and opened the twine ball’s enclosure for us, so we were able to stand inside next to the twine ball for the photo above, which Josh kindly took for us. Thanks to the wide-angle camera lens, the enclosure looks much larger than it actually is. There is juuuusst enough room for a person to walk around the twine ball inside the enclosure, being very careful not to touch it. We did not do this. We stood just inside the door.
Do NOT touch the ball of twine. The middle is 70 years old, and the outside is 40 years old, and it is all old farm twine so the whole thing smells quite musty and is probably very fragile.
TeaWithBuzz 
Love it!!!