I Love It Here!

Sauk Centre This Season

Sauk Centre Journal

Weather updated each hour

Wednesday, July 1, 2009. It's the time of year when many homeowner's heart turns lightly to thoughts of lawn ornaments: bird feeders, plastic deer, miniature bear cubs, but not, it seems, lawn gnomes. At least, I didn't see any in the Wal-Mart parking lot yesterday.

Assorted lawn ornaments and shrubs. Maybe. June 30, 2009.

Dutch elm disease is still a fact of life here in Sauk Centre. A tree down the street had been marked with that orange ring, and came down yesterday afternoon.

Another elm gone. Between the Ash Street Project and Dutch elm disease, there's a lot more open sky and sunlight on South Ash Street now. June 30, 2009.

After a few hours of delivering live streaming video this afternoon, my webcam went on the fritz again. Until the thing cam be made to work, I've put a photo of what it would have shown this morning in place of the live feed. I suppose I should be happy that, from December 27, 2007, to April 26, 2009, it was delivering one new picture every minute or so.

On a happier note, a big white fireworks tent is up in the Wal-Mart parking lot, with a half-dozen flags whipping in the wind.

Fireworks and the Fourth. That, and grilling burgers, are find American traditions. June 30, 2009.

This household won't be setting off any fireworks, but I hope to grill burgers on the weekend. Of course, I like to do that every weekend. I suppose we can think of something special for Independence Day.

I'm not lazy:
I'm efficient!

Easy Griller
Grilling year-round with simple equipment and almost no skill

"Small Town America: Central Minnesota"

Behind Every Website, There's a Webmaster

Wednesday, June 24, 2009. I jumped the gun a little in Sunday's entry, when I said we might have seen the last of the Ash Street Project. A crew was back Monday, painting the other half of Ash Street's new crosswalk and lane markings. Maybe this is the last of the project. Then again, maybe not.

More traffic cones, more paint, and we're done. Maybe. June 22, 2009.

A week ago yesterday, this part of Minnesota still had "Abnormally Dry" conditions.

From the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, U.S. Drought Monitor.

If they update the drought information weekly, we may see how much good the rains have done tomorrow.

I don't mind 'thunderstorms,' as long as they behave themselves. June 23, 2009.

Looks like folks east of us were getting rain yesterday afternoon.
June 23, 2009.

We got enough rain today to wet the streets, but I don't know how much. Checking around, I found out that Minnesota's high temperature was 87°F, in Cambridge, Roseau, Silver Bay and Windom. The lowest temperature was 33°F, in Princeton.

As I've said before: weather in Minnesota isn't boring.

There's a new business downtown. "Rite Now" is a tanning and hair salon. That's a catchy name, and probably a better choice than something like "Sizzle and Scissors" or "Hot Hairstyling."

New tan-and-hair service, next door to Hidden Treasure. June 23, 2009.

Sunset. June 24, 2009.

As a sort of bonus, the lines of rumbling weather rolling overhead this week have given us some nice sunsets, as well as needed rain.

Sunday, June 21, 2009. Father's Day. It's been raining for most of today, which made grilling at noon and for supper a somewhat damp experience. The LP gas grill wasn't affected, though, so the food came out fine. If I do say so myself. And, I've heard that we can still use the rain.

The big deal in Sauk Centre this week, I think, was the severe storms that didn't hit town. Which is more than I can say for parts of southern Minnesota. We were in a tornado watch area Thursday, so it wasn't a total wash, as far as excitement goes. I shouldn't joke about it, maybe: Austin will be doing quite a lot of rebuilding. (More at "Thursday: Thunderstorms, Hail, and a Tornado Watch," in one of my blogs.)

Lovely, isn't it? Clouds after one of the afternoon's rain sessions. That's looking west, more or less, near the County 186 bridge. June 18, 2009.

A storm put on quite a show, after passing over Sauk Centre. I took this photo, and the others, around 9:30, looking southeast: more or less.
June 18, 2009.

Another one. Or maybe two. June 18, 2009.

This gives a pretty good idea of what the sky looked like just before 9:30 Thursday evening. June 18, 2009.

That was a bright one. I took these photos over a stretch of about two and a half minutes. At that, I missed many (most) of the lightning bolts. June 18, 2009.

What may be the last chapter in the Ash Street Project got finished this week, on Wednesday and Friday.

There's a sort of choreography involved, loading the paving machine: often while it's moving. June 16, 2009.

Look carefully, and you'll see two more road machines behind the one near the guy with the sort-of-a-rake. June 16, 2009.

After the paving's down, it has to be pressed into place. Over and over again. That driver backing up, and making sure he's correctly positioned. June 16, 2009.

I was reminded of something I'd forgotten, getting those three photos: asphalt, when it's freshly laid, sizzles.

A crew had been setting out traffic cones. Friday, it was time to paint the street. June 19, 2009.

It doesn't take long to get each set of crosswalk markings painted. June 19, 2009.

Between that wooden guide and spray paint, it's a fast job. But it gets done, over and over, at each crosswalk. June 19, 2009.

It's been fun, in a way, watching the Ash Street Project unfold.

Earlier Sauk Centre Journal entries are in the Sauk Centre Journal Archive.

The idea, when I started this page, was to have a little journal, where I recorded events as they happen here in Sauk Centre.

It grew.

Above, you'll find this Sauk Centre journal. I update it twice a week.

Brian H. Gill, Webmaster, Brendan's Island

Mary Quite Contrary
"Growing up has never been so surreal"
Online comic by Brigid's World

This Season' Sauk Centre Journal Archive

I Love It Here! | This Season | Walking to Work | A House of Our Own
Attic Time | Things I Miss | In Praise of . . . | Factoid Man' General Information * F' M'' Climate * F' M'' Changes in Sauk Centre
Area Web Sites | More Web Sites

Brendan's Island home page
I Love It Here! (life in a small town) | A Walk on the Catholic Side
Brian's Attic | Attack of the Amateur Photo Album
Brendan' A Monk, A Boat And a Legend
Brendan's Island Guest Book | Visitor Information Center