|
|
I Love It Here!Sauk Centre This Season |
 |
||||||||||||||
|
|
Sauk Centre Journal ArchiveChoose a year
|
2006Sunday, December 31, 2006. New Year's Eve. A fine, wet snow frosted trees in time for his holiday. Then today we had something a lot like rain. Streets were in rare condition by noon, lending excitement and thrills to a short drive from church, to grocery, to home. Quite a few houses in this neighborhood still have their Christmas displays lit tonight. If folks follow local (at least) traditions this year, the lights will be off after this. I like to keep observing Christmas until Epiphany, next Sunday, but that doesn't seem to be a common habit. I observed the passing of the old year and the coming of 2007 in my usual way. I watched television coverage of about a million people in New York's Times Square shout out a countdown as an extravagantly lit and ornamented ball slid down a pole. Alexandria's Echo Press assures us that law enforcement will have extra officers on duty tonight, encouraging folks to drive in a hooch-free condition. For those who pursue a more traditional approach to celebrating the new year's advent, the paper gave telephone numbers for two taxi services that promised to stay open for partyers: Viking Taxi and Taxi Guy. Air traffic is usually light over Sauk Centre, apart from bunches of birds now and again. The other day, skeins of geese crisscrossed the sky: or more likely one set of birds having a serious problem deciding on a route to follow. If so, they weren't so much flying in circles as flying in pretzels. On a personal note, this has been an unusually interesting year for me: getting laid off, then having both hands and both hips operated on. It feels a little odd, not planning for another trip to the hospital followed by a dip into the lifestyle of pain killers and occupational therapy. I'm doing incredibly well with these artificial hips. This week I climbed a flight of stairs, and hope to grill burgers next weekend. One of my kids, hearing my weekend plans, cheered and said, "briquette burgers again!" It's nice to be appreciated. Wednesday, December 27, 2006. We had a white Christmas in Sauk Centre, thanks to about an inch of snow.
I don't know that anyone celebrates Lille Yuleaften in town: Sauk Centre is traditionally German and Irish, so Norwegian celebrations aren't on the cultural radar. Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, on the other hand, don't pass without some pretty serious attention. Our Lady of the Angels church, where this family goes, had at least three masses during those two days. Folks know that they've had Christmas by the time we're through.
This year's Yuletide celebrations weren't as exciting as they were last year. The Christmas tree by the altar didn't fall over. I understand that Father Statz put on a hard hat during the mass, just in case. I'm pretty sure that was a joke.
Next stop on the holiday circuit: New Year's Eve. Starting New Year's Day, folks will be able to park on residential streets overnight, unless there's a snow emergency. They've been able to all along, of course, but were likely to be ticketed and/or towed. We're supposed to leave the parking lanes free from 1 to 7 in the morning downtown, and from 2 to 7 on other streets. The Sauk Herald says that the city council has been talking about this change for about 2 years. The parking ordinance has been rough on folks who have a car, but don't have a garage or parking lot to put it in. I've heard that quite a few folks living in rented space are in that position. That news item was the Sauk Herald's front page lead story. Below it was a photo about a foot across of the Holy Family School students' in their "O Holy Night" Christmas program costumes. I'll say it again: I like living in a place where that sort of thing is front-page news.
Sunday, December 24, 2006. Christmas Eve. Yards in town were the same brownish tan they've been this winter for the first half of the week. What may have been the only snowman in town was on display on the other side of the street. I've no idea how they collected that much snow. Thursday, one of the kids looked outside and said, "I don't know if it's snow, sleet, or rain: but at least it's white." Today we've got snow on the ground, not quite covering medium-height blades of grass. It's much more of a white Christmas than I expected. The folks getting the Wal-Mart supercenter ready are probably glad that standard-issue winter weather waited until they got the walls and roof up and sealed. There aren't many signs of activity there now, aside from subcontractors' semis parked in back, and cars and SUVs of the crews in front of the store. An article about a Sauk Centre family covered almost half of the Sauk Herald's front page this week ("It's the Season of Giving" at the Herald Web site). The photos told the story rather well: Mrs. Rivers and the six kids were in upper left corner; Mr. Rivers was over on the right side. He's been away from his wife and six kids since April of 2005, training for duty in Iraq and then serving there. Except for the two times he surprised his family and got home for a brief visit. They're expecting him back to stay in the spring. It's great, living in a place where a family gets on the front page with good news. The gift shop at St. Michael's up on the north side gets inspected regularly by the facility's resident cat, Sassy. I learned Sassy's origins this week, thanks to one of my daughters. A few years ago, a sick stray cat decided to follow a lady as she went to work at St. Mike's. When the two arrived, the lady and some other of the staff noticed the cat, and the cat's condition. A trip to the vet helped bring the cat back to health, but the creature still didn't have a home. Folks at St. Mike's decided to adopt her, naming her Sassy. My daughter thinks that Sassy's background explains why "she likes to be patted and played with so much - and doesn't know what to do with a ball and a string."
Finally, I see that NORAD still has its Santa-tracking site up and running (Santa Tracker http://www.noradsanta.org). You'll need the current version of Macromedia Flash Player to keep an eye on Santa this year. Wednesday, December 20, 2006. Christmas is next Monday. Five days. Roughly a hundred hours. Hundreds of high-velocity school kids will be released this Friday for about ten days of vacation. Other folks are either getting ready to visit family and friends, or waiting for someone to show up. Tape cassettes from the elementary school's "holiday musical" came home today. This family watched part of "Snow Biz!" during supper. Boxelder bugs came inside here yesterday and today. That's a little late in the season, but this has been an odd winter. It's been warm, and snow-free: apart from a token shower now and again. Skiers, and the folks who make a business of helping them have fun, have been depending on snowmaking machinery. Farmers don't have that option. The recent drought left soil dry, and frozen ground won't soak up much of whatever snow comes down this winter. A DNR hydrologist said on the news that the dry weather we've got now is just an adjustment. He said we're making up for 15 years of wet weather. I suppose it helps, knowing that this is a natural cycle, but that still leaves farmers with the issue of finding crops that will yield enough to pay for the year's expenses, or getting very efficient at feeding their cattle. One of the nicest things about getting laid off and needing four operations in the same year is finding out what sort of folks live around here. We got some unasked-for and very welcome help with the Christmas holiday a little while ago. Sunday, December 17, 2006. The corner of Ash and South 12th Street is more nearly ready for our Wal-Mart supercenter's traffic. Ash Street's south end now has three clearly marked lanes, and it looks like lane markings are on the supercenter's north drive, too. I hope the traffic light is in place and working there before the store opens.
I took a closer look at this week's Sauk Centre Herald, and found a word about the company that lost its computers. The word is in the December 7 entry of Police news / Sauk Centre Police Department: "Burglary" - right between "damage to property" and "10-38--written warning". I talked with a few folks, and found out that those computers are still missing, there aren't any suspects, and the police are still investigating. Happily, the company had some old computers lying around. The folks there are using those digital relics now. It's a little like a carpentry shop having its power tools stolen, and staying in business by using some old hand tools they found in the wood shed.
The Herald had a colorful and Christmasy front page this week. The middle of the page had pictures of a Sauk Centre man and some of the Christmas gifts he made this year: big, shiny wooden toys. Below the timber toys was a photo of the local Knights of Columbus and the nativity they set up on Main Street. They had a lighting ceremony there last Tuesday. I wish all the news could be that pleasant. The man who kidnapped a woman in St. Cloud a week ago Saturday was arrested this Friday. He drove her to Minneapolis, used her ATM card, and raped her. He's charged with first-degree sexual assault, robbery and kidnapping, KSTP news said. Police in St. Cloud told people to keep traveling in groups, since there was another, similar, attack Wednesday. They're not sure whether it was the same guy, and don't want folks to take chances. That's too close for my comfort, especially since I-94 goes right past St. Cloud on its way from here to Minneapolis. Finally, decades of television Christmas specials are dripping from dozens of cable channels, with no relief in sight for at least a week. Enough schmaltz and syrup drip from most to make me worry about folks who are vulnerable to diabetic shock. Wednesday, December 13, 2006. This has been a beautiful day. Sunlight shining through winter-ready trees cast sharp shadows across tan lawns, bathed brickwork and boards on buildings, and would have sparkled on the snow, if we had any. Which, as far as I can tell, we don't. Radio news reported a loud explosion around Long Prairie recently. As of this morning, they don't know what caused it. This reminds me of the time in March, 2003, when someone east of Sauk Centre tried helping a brush fire with gasoline. Nobody was hurt that time, happily. In Orange Township, near Osakis, about 10 miles down the road, a householder fought off a daring daylight attack by a mink. Normally, minks hunt small critters like mice and muskrats, and do it by night. This marauding mink went after a Mr. Mostad in broad daylight. Apparently, the mink missed Mostad by a whiskers-length or so on the first two attacks, and then made the mistake of wandering away from the door. That gave Mostad time to draw his gun and shoot the mink. After talking with a conservation officer, Mostad thinks the mink may have been rabid. There wasn't anything in the Sauk Centre Herald about last week's theft of computers, or maybe I missed it: which is quite possible. The rest of today's entry is going to be mostly about me, so feel free to skip it. Recovering from having my left hip replaced took most of October and November. By the end of last month, I was taking long walks, inside, sometimes over 25 feet, with nothing but my cane for support. And so, I went back last week to have the right hip replaced. I was a little nervous about going back, which may explain why that cutlery commercial kept running through my mind: the one where the announcer says, "it slices! It dices!" Everything came out okay, and I got back home yesterday. Today, thanks to prescription pain-killers, the leg doesn't hurt - as much as it would otherwise. I'm looking forward to walking around outside this spring. Sunday, December 10, 2006. Christmas is about two weeks away now. Stores have more red, green, and white stuff on the shelves than they do any other time of year. I suspect that folks here are just as capable of putting off holiday shopping as our big-city counterparts.
The last half of this week started with the first Minnesota wind chill advisory I heard this season. It was for the northeast part of the state, but Sauk Centre got chilly, too. Wednesday night I noticed a stream of cold air flowing down the stairs and pushing a curtain out about fifteen inches. It looks like we missed something while winterizing the house. 'Small town America' is a great place to live, but we've got problems, too. When some folks I know opened their office Thursday, about a half-dozen computers were gone, stolen. That's bad. They need those things to get their jobs done, computers are expensive to replace, and worse yet, it sounds like information they need was stored on the missing units. On a happier note, holiday displays are shining and flashing on more yards now. Most seasons, I make a point of driving around town to see what's been set up. That isn't happening now. With the sun setting earlier now, though, I've had a chance to see a few light shows while being driven back from some errand.
Wednesday, December 6, 2006. Snow covered the ground Monday morning. It wasn't thick enough to be a blanket: more a sheet of snow, thoroughly but thinly covering the ground.
Between Monday's coat, and a little more that came down today, it's starting to look more like Christmas. Garlands and banners on Main Street help establish that some sort of holiday is happening. Melrose clinic and Eyes On Main, Sauk Centre's fairly new spectacle emporium, have reasonable imitations of evergreen trees on display inside, loaded with tiny yellowish-white lights. Stores reinforce the holiday message with racks of poinsettias, shelves of candy bars, and inflated Santas on display. One Santa rode a motorcycle.
Instead of proclaiming the presence of warm bread pudding, the sign in front of Main Street Coffee Company's antique-and-stuff shop told folks to 'visit our new gift section for unique gifts.' Maybe it's my upcoming operation, but lately I've felt a little slow on the uptake. For example, my daughter and I were at Alco this afternoon, picking up batteries and a printer cartridge. I couldn't find the batteries. One of the folks at the store pointed me to the kind I was looking for. They were in a perfectly logical place: the girls' clothing department. Talking with one of the owners of Main Street Press this week, I got caught up on that company's big move. Main Street Press opened their doors on Main Street around the first week in November. Hauling any business across town is a major project, but a print shop has some special issues. The printing presses were so heavy, they bent the moving company's piano-carriers. A couple weeks later, around Thanksgiving, some old water main in front of Main Street Press burst, making a sort of fountain in the sidewalk. I'm glad I'm not involved in getting that print shop settled in. I've got enough on my mind as it is. Sunday, December 3, 2006. It was cold enough to be winter today, but we still don't have more than a few grainy flakes on the ground: and those are in the shade. I'm hoping for a white Christmas, but we've had grayish-brown ones, too. Some of the season's changes are routine:
Main Street Press is in its new quarters downtown. I assume that Extras is in it's new location, too, but didn't have a chance to check. I think the print shop's front office is a lot classier than the old refurbished supper club, and I'm glad I wasn't involved in the move. That had to be a lot of work.
Down on the south side, on 12th, Wal-Mart's supercenter has plastic wrap on the east entrance. Most of the construction work must be inside by now.
Next door, Alco was observing the holiday season in its own way, displaying an inflated Santa, a snowman, and a sort of cross between a titanic snow globe and a beach ball. The overgrown globes have been around for a few seasons, and keep changing every season or so. A few years ago they started having ersatz snow blowing around inside, this time the new and improved version has a carousel inside, carrying a reindeer, a Santa, a snow man, and a penguin on slow spin.
Wednesday, November 29, 2006. Holiday season is here. Sauk Centre's downtown streets have their red and green garlands overhead, and great banners of greenery and lights proclaim "HAPPY HOLIDAY" to travelers on Highway 71. There's a skim of ice on Sauk Lake, probably enough to support a medium-size bird. I doubt anyone will be testing its strength with snowmobiles or fishing houses soon.
Some sort of street work had a car-sized chuck of Main Street downtown relieved of its pavement and accompanied by a sand pile this week. The joke goes that the Minnesota seasons are fall, winter, spring and road work, but we can enjoy artificial potholes any time of year. I tried taking a photo of the pavementless patch this Monday as my daughter was driving me downtown. She called the picture an "interesting artistic piece." I thought it was just a blurred picture. You can decide for yourself.
Somebody was getting snow on Monday. Some vehicle, probably a large truck or semi-trailer, had collected a fair fraction of a gallon in its wheel well and dropped a sample on Main Street. A few flakes have come down here, but we've yet to keep any on the ground. Work on Wal-Mart's Sauk Centre supercenter is probably going on inside. The exterior hasn't changed much lately. The base of what will probably be part of Sauk Centre's third set of traffic lights is in place at Ash and South 12th. It's good to see them installed before cars pile up there. Sunday, November 26, 2006. Christmas lights went on Thanksgiving night. Our neighbors with displays have had them lit on the three days since.
Colorful lights in outdoor displays are one of the things I like about the time from Thanksgiving to Christmas. It's also nice to get together with family, which many folks do in this season.
This is going to be a very short entry. I've been a little distracted. The rest of this entry is about me, so feel to skip it and check back another day. Between our 10-year-old son enjoying a four-day weekend and sharing some of it with me, and our college-student daughter packing as much as possible into her Thanksgiving break here at home, it's been a full four days. We didn't go to my father's place, since I'm still not all that mobile, and anyway he's getting over a long session with pneumonia. Introducing him to a family-full of out-of-state bugs didn't sound like a good idea. We learned tonight that he's back in the hospital, with a new health issue. As I said, I've been a little distracted. There should be more about Sauk Centre to report later in the week. Wednesday, November 22, 2006. Good grief! Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day! This holiday sneaked up on me.
Sauk Centre's Wal-Mart supercenter will probably open in March of next year. At least, that's what I heard from someone who is what reporters call a 'reliable source.' I'm looking forward to seeing the place open, and seeing what folks around here say about it. A baby who's probably less than two weeks old is alive, because someone noticed a car seat at the side of a gravel road somewhere in rural Stearns County. The car seat held the little girl, a blanket, and not much else. The Stearns County Sheriff's Department is interested in learning who the baby's parents are, and why she was left by a remote gravel road. On a happier note, two turkeys will visit Disneyland soon, instead of someone's oven. Following a tradition started back in 1947, during President Truman's administration, the president was presented with prime poultry. Then, also following tradition, the president pardoned the turkey. Actually, two turkeys, since these days the National Thanksgiving Turkey presentation is a national event. There's a backup bird, in case the first fowl is indisposed. This year the National Thanksgiving Turkey is Flyer, and the backup (Vice Turkey?) is Fryer. Visitors to the White House Web site voted on a short list of names, and that pair won. This year, we could have had Plymouth and Rock, Corn and Copia, Ben and Franklin, or Washington and Lincoln. I didn't vote this year, but I think I'd have chosen Corn and Copia. Back in Sauk Centre, some folks are visiting relatives, or getting visited. Our college-student daughter arrived tonight: a happy event, but one that slowed down my getting this entry prepared and posted. A household near my home is doing a fine job of decorating their yard and house. I was puzzled, though, to see that they had added a leprechaun riding a reindeer. I think it was his green pants and green hat trim that made him look Irish to me. Come to think of it, why shouldn't a leprechaun moonlight as one of Santa's helpers?
Sunday, November 19, 2006. The Wal-Mart supercenter looks much more like a large, empty store than a construction site now, with what appears to be a greenhouse for lawn and garden supplies at one corner. The front of the building seems complete except for the signs. Lean light poles tower over a vast and mostly-empty parking lot.
My daughter drove me around part of Sauk Centre this afternoon. I appreciated being able to take a look around town.
Signs of the holiday season are all around us:
It's the season for two kinds of bird migrations, too. I assume that hordes of turkeys have migrated from their ancestral turkey barns to home freezers, but I haven't confirmed it. By now some of them are in the refrigerators of those who prefer the slow-thaw approach over the cold bath. Meanwhile, wild geese are making their way to their winter homes. My daughter saw a V-shaped formation of them flying east over St. Mike's late this week. Several minutes later she saw a long goose racing after the flock. What puzzles me is how a goose could be forgetful or dilatory. Wednesday, November 15, 2006. It's still a week and a day before Thanksgiving, and folks are already setting up their Christmas decorations: not a bad idea in Minnesota. Our winters are notoriously whimsical when it comes to the timing of blizzards.
My oldest daughter took a camera with her and scouted out holiday displays in town. As usual, both Christmas and Xmas are celebrated. It looks like wire-frame animals and Yule trees in the form of an abstract helix are still with us, as are the traditional crèche. In a more innovative vein, neighbors across the corner from us have Santa (I think) and a reindeer riding a small ski lift in their front yard. I assume that Wal-Mart's supercenter is still moving along, or rather staying put and getting closer to completion, and that stores now have Thanksgiving and/or Christmas displays set up. I'll have to ask someone in the family to check that out..
My recovery from having my left hip replaced is going well, but traveling through three rooms is still a long walk for me, I still haven't climbed more than three stair steps, and driving will wait until next year. Staying in the house is a wonderful opportunity to catch up on Alexandria's Echo Press and the Sauk Centre Herald. Over in Osakis, Someone named Dennis Larson wants to put 18 lots on the southeast side of Lake Osakis. The problem is that map made by an "advocational archeologist" in 1902 showed over 200 Indian burial sites around the lake. The Private Cemetery Act makes it a felony in Minnesota to disturb ground that you think might have been used as a burial ground. Sounds like a good idea to me, but it's stopped the project for now. Here in Sauk Centre, there's a crime wave going on. Someone's tried to break into several businesses, including Thread Shed III, the Mustang Bar, and Glen's Moonshine Shoppe. Friedrichs Tire & Oil wasn't so lucky. About ten days ago someone broke into the shop, and the shop's safe. Besides being stuck with repair costs, Friedrichs' is missing quite a bit of cash. Meanwhile, over at the school, a couple of cars were broken into. I'd still rather live here than in, say, Pittsburgh. On the positive side, a lot of folks voted in last week's elections. Here's how the USA in general, Minnesota, and Sauk Centre did in terms of turnout. Eligible voters showing up at the polls:
Sunday, November 12, 2006. Southern Minnesota got in the national news Friday, for the usual reason: remarkable weather. Mankato got about a half-foot of snow, part of a small but sincere snowstorm. All we got was the cold weather that came along with it. I heard of someone saying that she'd be satisfied with enough snow to make a snowman, and that it could go away after that. Here in Sauk Centre, we're caught up in the usual round of holiday season routines. Christmas decorations have appeared, put up by householders who probably prefer snow-free yards and roofs to the whims of Minnesota's winter. I went to church today, thanks to a surgeon's skill, the healing of muscle and sinew, exercise, an accommodating family, and the elevator at Our Lady of the Angels church. I learned that music at the polka Mass I missed was performed by the Nite Owls. I'd heard that it was a bit livelier than many. Back in the seventies, when I drove through this part of the state regularly, I'd gotten used to hearing oompas all the way up and down the radio dial, AM and FM. After that experience, the first polka Mass I participated in was something of an aesthetic letdown. Instead of a band of brawny Bavarians blasting out Ave Maria on trumpets, an accordion, and a tuba, what I heard was a mildly brass interpretation of standard hymns. Wednesday, November 8, 2006. School was out Monday and Tuesday. For the kids it was a four-day weekend, for the teachers it was "Teacher's Work Days," and for me, it was time to visit a couple of doctors. More about that later. Dr. James Mohs, who has been with the Melrose Clinic for many years, is getting a combination birthday and retirement open house on the 26th of this month. His family and colleagues at the clinic are hosting it. Quite a few folks are in the position we're in now, choosing a new 'family doctor.' Christmas season has already started, at least in stores. Folks in the Melrose Clinic lab were discussing which toys to buy for the kids on their list, and ads for the usual assortment of Christmas movies are crowding out suntan lotion and vacation ads on television. The road heading east to the cemeteries has a fresh blacktop surface with bright lane markings, but isn't in use yet. A sign says that the bridge is still out.
Main Street Coffee Company now has "[see photo for quote]." Right now we have what was called "Indian summer" when I was growing up, but as soon as the temperatures drop again I can see the appeal of warm pudding.
We've got two construction projects on the south side now: Wal-Mart's supercenter east of the McDonald's, and some sort of pole barn structure west of the River of Life Church.
Back to me now. As usual, feel free to let your attention wander. I saw a couple of doctors the first two days of this week It was a routine post-surgery maintenance check, plus a flu shot. The new hip joint is doing fine, but I broke the leg bone it's set in: the femur, to be technical. Happily, it's more of a fracture than a break, and should heal. I'm told that the leg is okay to walk on, as long as I'm careful not to twist it. Aside from that, things are going fine. I'm looking forward to having the same hip-replacement surgery on the other leg before the end of the year. Monday, November 6, 2006. Yesterday was a nearly perfect autumn day. So was today. Most of the leaves that will fall, have fallen, leaving more sunlight to wash over yards, sidewalks and streets.
I saw three teenage boys with skateboards walking, rolling, and occasionally jumping, southward on Ash Street this morning. There's no school today, happily, so ungraduated folks could get out and enjoy the day. I'll be back Wednesday night with something a little more substantial to say. Maybe. Sunday, November 5, 2006. Small towns are notorious for a lack of the "privacy" that some folks want. This can be a problem or a perk, depending on your point of view. I like it. Someone came to the door this afternoon, introduced himself to my wife, told her that he heard I was recovering from surgery, and asked if we'd mind having our yard mowed and cleared of leaves. A little later, he was out there with a sort of vacuum cleaner / lawn mower hybrid, trimming the grass and inhaling leaves and clippings. Not that charity is a small-town monopoly. Earlier this week, KSTP's 5 Eyewitness News told about a metro-area family who had gotten hurt and lost their only means of transportation, two bicycles, in an accident. By Tuesday, people and companies had donated "baby clothes, bus passes, cash, food, and new bikes" to the family, using KSTP as a middleman. I'm turning from Sauk Centre to me now, so feel free to check out new guest book entries, or new links at the end of the St. Brendan page. Or another Web site, for that matter. I expect to be back with something about Sauk Centre Wednesday night. It's been just over a month now since I've gotten outside for a look around town, apart from a short ride from Interstate 94 to my home. It's a little frustrating, waiting while exercise and healing make stair-climbing, driving, and extended walks practical again. My wife plans to chauffeur me to a doctor's appointment tomorrow, so maybe I can take a short look around then. Since climbing stairs is as much of a challenge as we expected for me and the new hip joint, I've been living on the first floor of the house since I got back from the hospital. The only real problem was that the digital den where I do most of my Web work was two flights of stairs away, up in the attic. My family took the computer I use for most of my work from the attic to the first floor last weekend. Since then, I've been trying to catch up on almost a month's worth of projects. I'll say this about my life: I haven't been bored for a long, long time, least of all this year. Friday, November 3, 2006. I may have had my annual late-fall/early-winter bug this week. Sorry about the delay in updating this journal. Thursday, November 2, 2006. Our household didn't see as many trick-or-treaters as usual this Halloween. I suppose the threat of freezing rain kept many families inside. We didn't have candy this year, falling back on clusters of pennies and nickels. I wasn't sure how kids would react, but one young Halloween celebrant said "yea! money!" when he saw the coins. Centre Stage Music moved into the Oak Street Mall, a mini-mall near the new city hall. They opened on Main Street, part-way down the corridor that runs between Main and a parking lot, earlier this year.
Light poles are up in the Wal-Mart superstore parking lot. It's looking more like a store now.
The NorthStar's new owners have been changing the looks of their place on Sinclair Lewis Avenue. The big garage that used to sit next to the store is at the back of the lot now, the propane tank was moved over, making room for a new building, and they've put more pumps where the garage used to be.
I see in the Sauk Herald that the hospital and nursing home have a new flagpole now. I also learned that the place is called the St. Michael's Hospital and Nursing Home/Lakeview Clinic medical campus. I've got to admit that name has more class than "St. Mike's," which is how this family refers to the place. The original flagpole went up when the hospital was built, back in 1949. The Herald reports that Felling Trailer's Merle Felling made the pole, donating time and material, Centre Electric's Mike Froseth made a bucked truck and a crew available for putting the pole up, and that the Sauk Centre VFW donated money to cover other expenses. It's great, reading about people giving their own time and money to set up a public item like that. I don't know that putting up a flagpole is quite as personal an affair in larger places. Elections are coming in less than a week, and I'll be glad to get past November 7th. I like living time and place where ordinary folks can have some sort of say in who runs things. On the other hand, I don't enjoy the sniping that goes along with elections. Since I vote, I pay attention to campaigns, but it's not my favorite activity. Keeping track of the campaigns is a necessary but less-than-pleasant process, sort of like root canal surgery. Happily, the local races have been civilized.
Finally, a word of thanks to my oldest daughter, who helped keep this journal up to date. While I was in the hospital, she handled the technical side of publishing new entries, and this week she was my eyes around town.
Sunday, October 29, 2006. Halloween is a few days away. As usual, some households set up pleasantly spooky displays in their front yards. Others have their Thanksgiving decorations up already. Most folks limit their seasonal trimmings to a turkey or something of the sort. My family lets the trees in the yard add autumn leaves to the neighborhood's ambience, and leaves it at that. This is the time of year when ghost stories move off the fiction shelf and into the newspapers. Down the road, in Alexandria, tales of an eatery with a resident spook haunted the Echo Press' Lifestyle section's front page this Friday. Apparently, Alexandria's Old Broadway has a metaphysical friend who likes to turn lights on and once used a vacuum cleaner. Here in Sauk Centre, The Palmer House hotel is supposed to be slightly haunted, but I haven't seen any public recognition of the home town spooks lately. One of the good things about small towns is the support folks can get from their family and neighbors. The Breitbach family, in rural Sauk Centre, has been dealing with a rare kind of leukemia. Earlier this year, Mike Breitbach learned that he has myelofibrosis. They got some good news, too. Mike's brother Bob can donate tissue that should help treat the disease. Unhappily, this sort of thing costs a lot of money. Like quite a few people around here, Mike is part of a good-sized extended family. The Breitbach and Gertken families got together to have a "Spaghetti Dinner and Live Auction Fundraiser" yesterday, at Skeeter's on Main Street in Elrosa. The Sauk Herald ran an article on the Breitbach's situation last week. Wednesday, October 25, 2006. Things are changing on the south side of Sauk Centre. Sauk Centre's Wal-Mart superstore passed another milestone recently. They're laying tar on the parking lot. That's a big job in itself. I doubt they'll have the Wal-Mart open by Christmas, as originally planned. My wife heard that the shelves may be stocked and the doors open in March. Sassy's, the eatery that used to be just off Sincair Lewis Avenue on the west side of downtown, has a slightly new name to go along with its new location. Sassy's Restaurant and Catering is now Sassy's Under the Palms. They started in the old John's Place building, just off Sinclair Lewis Avenue on the west side of downtown, and now are where the Hayloft used to be on the lowest floor of The Palms motel. According to the Sauk Herald, Sassy's also got a liquor license: something they've been wanting for quite a while. Someone in the family has been volunteering at St. Michael's Hospital gift shop, and so I've learned about Sassy, the nursing home cat. The nursing home is under the same roof as the hospital. When Sassy, a white cat with orange-brown and gray spots, wanted to go outside, she used to wait for someone to come along and open the automatic doors. Eventually she learned how to open the doors herself. I'm told that, like many cats, Sassy gives the impression that she owns the place. She seems to like her home, except for a particular cart, which rolls by at intervals. When she hears it coming, she flickers along the wall to a corner, and then flees. As far as I know, there's no connection between the nursing home cat and the eatery under The Palms. The rest of today's entry is mostly about me, so feel free to skip it. Resting to heal muscles, tendons, and skin, and exercising has given me time to start catching up on some backburner projects. Now that I don't need as many pain pills, I can even think straight. I'm told that hip replacement recovery usually doesn't take this long, but I'm not surprised at the time I'm taking. Between dealing with a defective hip joint that was rebuilt in the mid-50s and muscles that had about a half-century to stiffen up, the surgeon had to work hard, and be a little imaginative about installing new parts. I'm pleased with progress to date, but I'm still limited to the ground floor of my home. I've much more familiar with the appearance of the front porch across the street than I ever expected to. Later this week, some of the family will be moving equipment down to the floor I'm on so that I can get some more work done. Sunday, October 22, 2006. Hats off to my daughter for taking care of the Sauk Centre Journal while I was getting a new hip installed. Sauk Centre's new Wal-Mart supercenter is enclosed now, or nearly so. Outside walls seem to complete, and it looks like the crew is putting roofing material on. At least, a dozen or so bundles or packages were on the roof Friday, and a lot of guys were moving around up there. Peaked facades on the north side show where the entrances will be. That's going to a big place. Over on the other side of Main Street, the River of Life Church's new building is in use. I read in the Sauk Centre Herald that the RLC has been around Sauk Centre since 1927. They've been working on their new building, between the Getty Street assisted care place and part of Sauk Centre's industrial zone, for two or three years. The Herald says their sound system was installed by Centre Stage Music, that new music place downtown. The last week and a half gave me a chance to compare medical care in a small town and in a not-so-small town. Much as I like living here, having more people around has very real advantages. The 160,000 or so people in St. Cloud's "metropolitan statistical area" are able to support more sophisticated equipment than you'll find in a place like Sauk Centre or Melrose. They've even got a digital food service. Someone came around with a sort of pad, told me what was available, and built a meal. The gadget even kept a running total of calories and other nutritional stuff. Melrose gives patients choices for each meal, but they use an old-fashioned paper-and-pen system. Now that I'm at home, keeping up with Sauk Centre events should be easier, More important, I'm with my family again. I think they're glad to see me, too. After I got back, my 10-year-old said, "It's nice to have you home, daddy." Wednesday, October 18, 2006. Webmaster's #1 daughter again. Halloween is fast approaching, and making its presence known. Around town people are putting out a few more pumpkins (real and artificial) and strings of orange lights. On TV there are the ever-present, and much less pleasant, holiday specials. The trees have gotten into the decorating spirit as well. This year's display isn't as spectacular as some other autumns, but it's done rather well considering the weather.
Tuesday, October 17, 2006. It snowed in Duluth on Friday. Snow in northern Minnesota isn't a big deal, but the 2.7 inches that fell on Duluth is some kind of a record. St. Cloud may have set a record for early snowfall earlier, but I haven't been able to confirm it. I saw snow showers around St. Joseph on Wednesday afternoon. It's been unusually cold this week, too. This being Minnesota, it could be balmy in a few days. One of the perks of living here is that we have a flighty climate. I'm looking forward to getting out into it soon. We had a Friday the 13th this month. I woke up in a Melrose hospital bed that day, but I'll count the experience as 'good luck.' I'm still recovering from hip replacement surgery, and have graduated from the St. Cloud hospital to the swing bed section in Melrose' hospital. Being a little preoccupied with all that medical stuff lately, I haven't kept up on events in my corner of small town America. We'll see how things go next week. Sunday, October 15, 2006. Things have been busy here. The webmaster is still not at his usual post, but at least he's a little closer to home now. As his #1 daughter, I have been given the duty and privilege of updating the Sauk Centre Journal for the duration. Some light snow fell on Wednesday as a prelude to winter. The new Walmart is coming along nicely, so if weather permits they just might make the anticipated pre-Christmas opening. Now, here are some pictures to liven up the webpage.
Sunday, October 8, 2006. Your friendly webmaster is in for repairs. :) 
Wednesday, October 4, 2006. Some folks over in Melrose have Halloween decorations already. A new wrinkle in Halloween marketing, at least new since I grew up, are Halloween lights. I expect more folks will have strings of orange lights up this year. Next thing you know, there'll be garlands of green lights for St. Patrick's Day, glow-in-the-dark Easter egg strings for Easter, and lighted drumsticks for Thanksgiving lawn displays. Come to think of it, I seem to remember seeing phosphorescent Easter eggs. Boxelder bugs are in bloom again. There's been a crowd of them milling around this household's gas meter lately, and a small squadron was posted outside the Melrose Clinic when I was there the other day. From what I've heard, the little red-eyed spooks have been selective this year. Some households are bug-free, others are, like ours, graced with the things. The Wal-Mart supercenter roof trusses have been going up this week. It looks like they make the Christmas-season opening date. I've heard that it will take over a month to fully stock the place, though, so the pickings may be a bit slim. Sassy's restaurant either has moved or is moving into the lower level of The Palms motel. The two businesses have an eye-catching sign on the building's roof-mounted billboard. Sassy's has been where John's Place was for many years, off Sinclair Lewis Avenue downtown. The "John's Place" location was a bit colorful, but secluded. To the east of downtown, the St. Paul's Church windows have been getting some needed attention. Scaffolds have been up at various spots on the church's south side for much of the summer.
Spending time at the St. Cloud Hospital has given me a look at some technology that hasn't made its way out here yet. There's an oversize, motorized, revolving door at the north end of the building that's big enough to accommodate wheelchairs.
At the risk of sounding like a small-town rube, I'll admit that I was impressed by how smart the door was. I'm slow on my feet, and so got bumped by the door. After I paused and the door tapped my heel again, it said, "Please step forward." When I got out of the way, it quite politely said, "Thank you." The artificial tree in the door's center is impressive, too.
Sunday, October 1, 2006. Coming back from St. Cloud Wednesday, I saw a sign promising road work on I-94 between here and Osakis the next day. I haven't been out of town since then, but that stretch of Interstate is probably getting attention by now. It's late in the year, but there isn't a lot of time in the fourth of Minnesota's seasons: Fall, Winter, Spring, and Road Work. That's a very old joke. I can remember running into it around the time color television was replacing black-and-white. Bright blue skies and a light breeze today were just about idea for grilling. My wife did the honors today, bringing in another set of near-perfectly-done burger patties. The burgers I bring in are more sincerely grilled. One of my daughters said that she likes the crisp-rimmed burgers I make. Hearing the word "Sauk" and "shot the principal" in the same sentence on the news Friday got my attention. Doing a little digging, I learned that the trouble involved a small town, but not this small town. A fifteen-year-old high schooler in Sauk County, Wisconsin, shot the principal of Weston School. The principal, John Klang, died later. He sounds like a nice guy. Last weekend he had been washing cars at a homecoming fundraiser. The sort of trouble we have is generally more like the case of the fugitive goat. The Sauk Herald assured residents of Sauk Centre that if they thought they had seen a goat running loose during September 12 to September 19, they probably had. It escaped while being brought in for butchering, and eluded capture for about a week. It looks like more trees are turning color. I'll try to get a few pictures before that hip replacement operation this week. I've made arrangements with my oldest daughter to update this journal while I'm in for repairs. Thursday, September 28, 2006. Gas was $2.149 a gallon tonight when I filled the van's tank. It hasn't been this low since last year. The price of gas, that is, not the level in the van's tank. Let's see: picture-postcard weather on Monday, more rain on Tuesday, an assortment pack of sun and rain yesterday, and what one radio announcer called "crisp" weather today. That's a fairly typical set of autumn days in Minnesota. Yellow, red and orange are showing up on more trees now. We may have a colorful fall after all. I enjoy the show that trees put on, getting ready to drop their leaves, but could do without the indecisive, flighty weather. Centre Stage Music has their "Now Open" sign suspended two stories up from the sidewalk: a commanding position, but I'm not sure how visible it is for pedestrians. They've been in business since about May, so I suppose this is more of a 'grand opening.' We had more demonstrations that small towns and rural areas aren't immune to annoyances and evils. A fiber-optic cable was accidentally sliced this morning. The cable service my household uses was out until about 1:30, and didn't clear up until after supper. Around Little Falls, a fifty-something man drove stopped his pickup near two boys waiting for a school bus and tried to get them into his pickup. The 12- and 9-year old boys had good sense, staying well away from him, and he fled when the school bus showed up. The Morrison County Sheriff's Department wants help identifying the man, according to KSTP.com, so here's the description: "thin, in his 50s with a gray or black beard, wearing a flannel cap and denim overalls." He may have been driving a Ford 1999 or 2000 F250 or F350 pickup with a long box and cab lights. Anyone with information is supposed to call 320-632-9233. I've been distracted lately, getting ready for a hip replacement operation next week. Yesterday I spent quite a bit of the afternoon in St. Cloud with a dozen or so other people who are having joint replacement done. The hospital there does a good job of letting patients-to-be know what to expect, and how we can help with the process. Health care has changed a lot in the half-century that I've been aware of it. Sunday, September 24, 2006. The Oak Street Mini-Mall will be missing a tenant soon. Stamp Paper Scissors is going out of business. The craft business has been there for over a year, and I'd hoped that they'd make a go of it, but those "35% off" and "fixtures for sale" signs up in the windows have an air of finality about them.
It started raining Thursday afternoon, and didn't stop until some time Saturday night. I suppose I shouldn't complain, but I would have thought that this sort of weather was better to get earlier in the growing season.
Fall is coming, time to get ready for winter. My wife got the other bedspread/curtain up, to control drafts, a few days ago. Our oldest daughter came home for the weekend to help winterize the house. The biggest single item accomplished was getting an air conditioner out of a window. I doubt we'll need that again this year. Now that I've written that, I remember the phrase, "famous last words."
I was under the weather today, and missed meeting the dad of a family we've made friends with. He's back on leave from Iraq. I'd been looking forward to that meeting. Staying in out of the rain yesterday might have helped. I was outside, grilling in the rain yesterday. The visiting daughter kept me company, wisely standing in a sheltering doorway. She loaned me her umbrella. I found out that I could tuck it down the neck of my jacket, getting shelter from the umbrella while keeping both hands free. Wednesday, September 20, 2006. The River of Life Church has moved into its new building at 705 South 12th. I noticed their bus parked outside the new place Monday. It was raining at the time. The RLC's dark blue bus, a parking lot of soggy sand, an off-white pole barn building, and a plain sign focused attention on colorful playground equipment near the building's south side. The RLC folks have a daycare that's been advertised on posters around town for a while. Someone who knows the place says it's well run. They're down by the Getty Street assisted living place.
Over on the other side of Main, Wal-Mart's supercenter construction is keeping the crew busy. Leveling land for the parking lot has been an impressive bit of work. I cant be sure, but I think around five feet have been filled in at the bottom of the old watercourse, mostly with dirt scraped from the east part of the property.
All that landscaping left Main Street Press at the top of a small cliff. Anyone taking a stroll around the south side of the building after dark would be in for quite a shock. Not that anyone would wander there.
It's been easy for me to get to Main Street Press all these years. They've been in that little green building on South 12th. That changes in November, when they move downtown. It's official now, with a sign in their front door. I see that they're changing their name, too. Main Street Press becomes Main Street Printing on January 1, 2007.
Summer is definitely making way for autumn. My wife took a bedspread out of storage and hung it in one of the doorways at the bottom or the stairs yesterday. That's the first step for winterizing the house, keeping heat in the room we use most. She had the right idea. It was a cold night. Finally, some personal stuff. Two weeks from now I'm scheduled to have the first of two hip replacement operations. I know it's a routine procedure these days, but waiting for it is really cutting me up. Sunday, September 17, 2006. Gas cost $2.369 a gallon when I filled the van's tank on Friday. Impressive. The last time gas was this low around here was March of this year. Of course, $2.369 a gallon seemed like a lot to pay then, not a low price. The Palms, a tropic-themed motel here in the heart of Minnesota, opened this week. I think they've got a good idea. It's going to be a wonderful contrast this winter, a coral-pink motel rising above the snow drifts, defiant palms flanking the entrance.
That north side property that's been called the home school and Oak Ridge got on the Herald's front page this week. There's an "Independent church group" called Christ's Household of Faith (CHOF) that's looking at the property. CHOF's described as a self-supported church group in the Herald. There was more about CHOF in an article by Jason Hoppin in the Pioneer Press (September 2, 2006). According to the article, members of the group give everything they own to the church. Then they're allowed to live in a church-owned house and work at a church-owned business. Pioneer Press says that CHOF's founder, Donald Alsbury, is "a sometimes controversial self-proclaimed prophet who preaches communal living and a return to Christianity's roots". Alsbury, according to the article, also says corporal punishment is okay, and that people can be perfect on Earth. CHOF hasn't had too much trouble through the years. In 1969, Alsbury said that he beat a demon out of a 17-year-old and told a newspaper that "if God would have said kill him, I would have killed him." In 1993, someone said that Alsbury wanted members to beat their wives. Followers of the prophet didn't bring charges, and aside from these incidents outsiders haven't seen any sign of impropriety. If CHOF moved into the old home school, they'd add about 10% to Sauk Centre's population, all members of one hard-working and very obedient group. I'll be very interested in how negotiations between CHOF and the home school owners work out. There's not much more to add today, not surprising since it's only been a day since my last entry.
As I wrote yesterday, it's been quite a week, and quite a year for me. Being laid off over the summer wasn't such a big deal: This is the third year running for that, and it's gotten to be a sort of routine. What I haven't figured out is how to get the bills laid off, too. Surgery on both wrists for carpal tunnel work was an exciting break in routine, and as long as I was "in the shop," they fixed a couple of fingers. Now I'm looking forward to getting both hips replaced. One thing is certain: So far, this year hasn't been boring. Saturday, September 16, 2006. It's been quite a week for me. I'll get back to that at the end of today's entry. Some trees are showing fall colors and dropping leaves early. I suspect that the summer's drought is responsible. The grass in our yard is made of tougher stuff. After the recent rains it started catching up on a summer's worth of growth. We dealt with the back yard around Wednesday, before most of it started growing seeds. The place looked a little like an untidily mowed hayfield when we were done. "We?" My wife, actually, ably assisted by the kids. More walls are up at the Wal-Mart supercenter construction site. That is going to be one big building. Those concrete block walls are braced with wooden poles. I suppose the contractor doesn't want one falling over. There was a brisk south wind most of today. The little green former eatery that houses Main Street Press is starting to look dwarfed by the walls of Wal-Mart growing off near the Interstate. Main Street Press has a notice up on their door now, announcing their upcoming move, and a name change. My wife had a package to send by UPS yesterday. She found out that there's a UPS pickup point at Fleet Supply. The package wouldn't fit into the box on Main Street. When she went out there, they told her to put her box on a pile that the UPS guy would pick up. That looks like small town informality. It's the sort of simple cooperation that can work because so many of us know each other, and have mutual trust. I really like living here! Enough philosophizing. I read that a six-year-old and his sister caught what looked like an odd, oversize sunfish in Lake Carlos. Someone with an eye for fish identified it as a pacu. That explains why the picture on Friday's Echo Press front page looked so odd. Pacus live in Central and South America, and are sometimes called "vegetarian cousins" of piranha. Someone from the DNR said that this icthian interloper had probably started its Minnesota residency in someone's aquarium. This entry normally would have been posted Wednesday night. Here's a sort of explanation. It's been quite a week. I was a little off my feed Monday, but went to my day job for a short time anyway. I've been spending a lot of time there for a guy who's laid off. I'm glad I went, but that evening I could tell that I'd pay for being diligent. I slept most of Tuesday, except for a brief interlude for voting in the primary and an errand or two. The poling place was in City Hall, using those new ballot-and-scanner voting machines. Wednesday I went to my day job, and stayed there for about 14 hours. Not surprisingly, I wasn't quite at the top of my form Thursday. I don't actually remember much of that day. Friday was better. I spent a little time at the day job in the morning, and got some other work done in the afternoon. Actually, it's been quite a year, but I've written at least enough for now. Sunday, September 10, 2006. Now I know why a household left over six feet of tree sticking out of the ground when the branches were cut off. A big wooden turtle now stands sentry at the end of their front walk: an excellent way to deal with a big stump. The streets of Sauk Centre, some of them, anyway, are getting a fresh surface. Pings and clicks of pea gravel shooting onto the van's underside make driving through town a sort of musical experience. It's at least as much fun to listen to as some of the avant-garde music I heard, back in the 60s and 70s. St. Paul's church has been getting work done on the south windows this summer. Those stained glass windows were due for maintenance. It looks like nobody's going to be driving out of town east from Sinclair Lewis Avenue anytime soon. That thorough bridge, utilities, and road replacement project is still going on. So is Wal-Mart supercenter construction. Enough of the walls are up to give an idea of how big the building is going to be. I'm starting to think that they may get the doors open by Christmas. I was at the public accuracy test of new voting machines at City Hall Thursday. One of them was a handicapped-accessible thing that shows magnified versions of ballots, and can read the ballot to someone whose sight isn't up to the job. I'm not feeling up to par today. I didn't even grill burgers this noon, and probably shouldn't have yesterday. This entry is finally being posted Monday morning. I.ll see to getting "today's" pictures added, probably around noon. Wednesday, September 6, 2006. Students have been in school for two days now. The most obvious sign of this return to academic pursuits is a horde of cars, each with a teen at the wheel, flowing out of the school parking lot around 3:00 in the afternoon. Things keep changing downtown. Northland Gallery has a new sign above their window. At least I hadn't noticed it before this week. A few doors north, The moving-sale sign in Extras' window is still up. I understand that they'll be out in November. Main Street Press is planning to move into the storefront where Extras has been. The Main Street Press folks are hoping for a late first snowfall this year. I'm not sure what will happen to the building Main Street Press is in. That one-story pile of green-painted concrete block and glass brick has been a feature on the 12th Street landscape for decades. Before Main Street Press moved in, the building housed the Peach, a regional advertising publication, and before that, it was a sort of restaurant or supper club, complete with a revolving sign. That was years ago, of course. I suppose they used the drive-in basement for receiving supplies. Back then, when you'd find a kitchen and not a darkroom where Main Street Press is now, I've heard that one of Sauk Centre's cemeteries was home to a sort of eerie phenomenon: a flashing tombstone. On nights when the moon was at a certain phase, as twilight darkened to night, a particular tombstone flashed with a strange, pale light. This would make a fine ghost story, except for one detail. The restaurant's rotating sign had a flat, reflective surface. When the moon rose at a particular spot on the horizon during a clear evening, moonlight bouncing off the sign made a sort of searchlight. With each turn of the sign, that moon-powered searchlight shone on the tombstone, making it flash. Monday, September 4, 2006. Labor Day. It's been a beautiful day, but I stayed inside except for a brief session before lunch, when I grilled burgers and a hot dog. There's nothing quite like standing in the smoke of a grill, waiting for that moment when the meat is done, but not incinerated. Sunday, September 3, 2006. So far, this Labor Day weekend has been ideal for folks who like to sit inside, contemplate the rain and an occasional rumble of thunder, and take the occasional nap. Clusters of mushrooms have, well, they've mushroomed in a few lawns during this damp weather. Here are some highlights of today and the past week:
Saturday, September 2, 2006. There's an explanation for this journal's mid-week entry coming on the weekend. You'll find it after today's pictures. Labor Day weekend is here. Cars and SUVs packed with families, with boats in tow, are driving through the gauntlet of flags in downtown Sauk Centre. Flashing clocks Friday morning told me that it'd be interesting at the fraction of a day job I've got. They were right. Sometime around 5:00 we had enough of a power failure to knock out computers all over town. I don't envy the feast-and-famine schedule of folks who get called for help on days like this, but I understand that it's their bread and butter. Thursday evening the kids who shot out windows in town last November got a chance to talk with the folks who, so far, have been paying the repair bills. I was one of the 19 people there. The process is called Restorative Justice. I'll get back to it a little later. The public elementary school had their open house Wednesday evening. School starts right after Labor Day. It feels as if the summer sneaked past me this year. Now that it's harvest time, we're getting rain. I'm no expert, but I could tell that the crops weren't in good shape when I drove to Moorhead this Monday. It's not a good sign when parched yellow fields fade to brown on the high points. A few patches were worse, where plants had died, withered, blown away, and the ground had a bleached look. Back to that Restorative Justice meeting now. The two kids who caused the damage and their parents were there, so were nine of the homeowners involved, including me, probation officers and other folks involved in the program. I'm not allowed to go into detail about what we talked about, which I think is a mistake, but I was satisfied with what went on. The kids have already had quite unpleasant experiences, and will be paying for repairs for a long time. The idea of meetings like this is to help people who commit crimes make amends on a social level, on top of whatever punishment they receive. There's more about Restorative Justice at Restorative Justice International, Prison Fellowship, and the Minnesota Department of Corrections. I took some photos on I-94 between Sauk Centre and Moorhead this Monday. These aren't the worst-hit fields along that route, but they give some idea of what it's like. There was also a spectacular sunset, but that will have to wait for the next entry.
The rest of today's entry is about me, not Sauk Centre, so feel free to stop reading here. It's a sort of explanation for why this entry is so late. Monday, I drove one of my daughters back to college in Moorhead. We've been enjoying her company for much of the summer. That trip took most of the day. Tuesday I saw a couple of doctors, which took more time. Wednesday morning, the land between here and St. Cloud was in a fog and so was I. Visibility was down to about two-tenths of a mile or less. On the road, that is, not in my mind. I was on my way to see a third doctor. By the time the sun set Wednesday, I had gotten x-rayed and CT-scanned, and learned that I may have an opportunity to learn what it's like to get new hip sockets. Part of Thursday got devoted to working out how to pay for the parts and labor, and stewing about the situation. I know that hip replacement is a routine procedure, but there's a definition of "major surgery:" It's any surgery that's done to you. I've already talked about Friday, so you know what happened then. I hope you have good Labor Day weekend. This journal should be back to normal tomorrow. Sunday, August 27, 2006. Sirens went off in town at about a quarter after 4 on Thursday afternoon. Weather forecasts being what they were at the time, my family and I headed for the basement.
The storm asserted itself with wind, rain, and hail for a few minutes. I went upstairs after most of the excitement was over, finding small drifts of hail and sincerely wet streets in this neighborhood.
State Road, by the school, had a sort of super-puddle at its north end. Water was deeper around the tiny triangular park where Grove Lake and Getty Streets don't quite meet at 6th. Some kids were having a good time, wading through water at the south corner of the park, and a pickup was up to the running board on the north side, when I drove by.
Oddly, with all that water and street flooding elsewhere, the low spot on Main Street, where it dips under Lake Wobegon Trail, was merely damp. I suppose pretty good drainage was built under the town's major street. There was water in the public library's basement. I'm told there was enough to soak the carpet in front of the Historical Society Museum's entrance down there. Aside from that, there didn't seem to have been much damage in town. I doubt that this storm did crops any good, though.
Wednesday, August 23, 2006. The new hotel in the old Super 8 building is called "The Palms'" A couple of guys installed signs with this puzzling name Monday morning. I wondered why a motel in central Minnesota was called "The Palms" until hearing that they'll have a tropical theme. At the other end of Timberlane Drive, walls for the Wal-Mart supercenter are still going up. Exposed ground at the southeast end of the project has been claimed by at least one flock of gulls. I noticed them for the first time this morning, driving on I-94 on my way to Melrose. I wonder: does that land count as a wildlife habitat now? Meanwhile, road and bridge work still has County 17 closed, east of town. Anyone going east has to go a mile south to 12th and follow the detour signs. There is a sort of bonus from this project, though. Besides from repair and maintenance on that road, we got paving on the dogleg formed by 393rd Avenue and 415th Street, since it's the County 17 detour. A little wild weather went through this area early this morning. Unofficially, Glenwood, about 20 miles west of here, got 95 hundredths of an inch, someone around Melrose got an inch and someone else got an inch and four tenths of rain. I understand that the soil is still dry from this summer's drought, so this rain was welcome. That "pizza kitchen" I saw last week in Casey's makes more than just pizza: hamburgers, cheeseburgers, and other food from breaded pork sandwiches to cheese breadsticks. Not exactly health food, but it sounds delicious. Sunday, August 20, 2006. Casey's Pizza, inside the Casey's on Main, opened over a week ago, on Thursday, August 10. The new service was pretty obvious, a sign out front, and a well-lit pizza kitchen back by the coffee machine, but I missed it anyway. I haven't been stopping in there for a cup of coffee for longer than I thought. The sign in front of Casey's says that it's their 10th year here, with or without pizza. The price of gas has been holding around $2'979 for at least a week now. It's odd: when gas prices go up, there's sure to be someone saying that it's a trick to make money for big oil companies. When the price goes down, I've never heard anyone say that it's a trick by big tire companies to make people drive more, wear out their tires, and buy new ones. Guys have been tearing up pavement and putting down fresh asphalt on parking lots and driveways for most of the summer, and the school has been getting roofing done, too. I thought that it was a good idea to get that done during the summer, until someone told me that the work had been blocking access to the baseball diamonds and the football field. I still think doing road and roof work in summer was good timing, although I got a better appreciation of how much those places get used.
A wooden moose showed up outside a house on State Road, across from the school, this summer. At least, that's when I noticed it. Three of the things are there now, all made by the householder, Brent Rutten. The moose on his deck is the first one he made, this spring. He's got another moose chained to a pole in front of the SuperAmerica, giving his work a wider audience.
Each moose is artwork committed with a chainsaw, although I think Brent Rutten must use something else to put the final polish on the things. I talked with him this week, and learned that he's started a business: Chainsaw Carvings & Crafts (320 250 9377 or BcRutten@mainstreetcom.com).
A younger entrepreneur offered a variation on the traditional lemonade stand. As well as the familiar summer beverage, he had baseball cards for sale. Maybe a bobble-head figure, too, although that could have been part of the street-side stand's decor.
Wednesday, August 16, 2006. So far this week, it's been pretty much business-as-usual. Which is good news, although it leaves me a little short on things to write about. Extras, a home-decor store downtown, is moving across the street and a couple blocks south. Their new home will be in that micro-mall at 5th and Main. Meanwhile, they've got a 'moving sale. sign in the window.
The Patton-Schad Funeral Service, out on Beltline Road, seems to be getting a new sign.
Most spaces at the lakeside campground are filled. A couple of parties there brought pontoon boats with them. That's a good choice for vacationers with no need to prove their maritime prowess. The pontoon boat is about as goof-proof a watercraft as any you'll find on Minnesota lakes, and was invented by Minnesotan Ambrose Weeres about the time I was born. (There's more about pontoons and their inventor at the Weeres Industries web site')
Wal-Mart's new supercenter is taking shape out at one end of Timberlane Drive, and the motel near Timberlane's other end had new siding up on most of the east side this mid-afternoon.
I finally found a coffee cup that matches my liking for the go-juice. Among the coffee paraphernalia at Jitters Java is a coffee cup the size of a stubby stovepipe hat.
Monday, August 14, 2006. Here a few pictures that belong with yesterday's entry. ("Monday's" entry is getting posted Tuesday, between 8:30 and 9:00 |
