weekend with the family

After all the anxiety about the long trip, all the failed travel plans, and all the angst, Regis and I made it to Otter Tail Lake about 6 on Friday and we had a good time. Here's a list of the attendees and their place of origin:
Mom- Canby
Bruce (brother) and Jody- Fargo
Cybil (daughter of Bruce) and Shawn- Ohio
two daughters of Shawn and Cybil- Ohio
Evynn and Darby (daughters of Cybil and Shawn)- Ohio
Pat (brother) and Helen- Luverne
Amanda (daughter of Pat)- St. Paul
Teresa and Regis
David (brother) and Joan- St. Paul
Tiernen (son of David)- St. Paul
Jeremy (son of David)- Fargo
Deb (cousin) and Larry- Arizona
Steve (brother)and Michelle- Fargo
Nicole (daughter of Steve) and Jason- Moorhead
Caleb, Duncan, Ian, Ezra, and Chloe (Steve's)- Fargo
That's a total of 28. Pretty good turn-out and the resort, Barky's, was lovely. We managed a few hours in the sun, a potluck, a few fishing outings, a pontoon ride, a trip to the candy store in Battle Lake, and a ride around the lake. We had breakfast at Betty's Pantry (potato pancakes and wild rice omelets) this morning and we all headed our separate ways. A good time was had by all.

I thought I had learned my lesson when it comes to sunburn. Yesterday morning was cool, breezy, and only partly cloudy. I should not have been in the sun that long because today I have a rousing sunburn on the top of my head, my face, and my chest. I feel like I burned my eyeballs. Ouch.

We left home in such a hurry on Friday that we made several mistakes in packing. Regis only brought the pants he was wearing, I didn't have sunglasses or sunscreen (who knew you'd need THAT stuff?), and we forgot the camera. So, no pictures. Mom will send some later, maybe, and I'll post those.

Back to work tomorrow. Ugh.

whoops, not yet

I thought I would be on the way to Ottertail Lake by noon. See the green arrow on the map to the left. Cousin Deb called this morning and said their flight was delayed until this afternoon, apparently a result of last night's bad weather. So....the don't leave AZ until almost noon meaning I can't meet up with them until 4:30. The alternatives are that I go to Canby and ride with mom. Whoops, she's leaving at noon. Regis, my kind and caring husband, has already packed and is ready to head out as soon as he punches out today. He doesn't want me getting in the car and traveling all that way alone because he knows I'm half loony during car travel. Besides it's windy beyond description today and that agitates me. And have I mentioned that I can't seem to get my estrogen filled? I've been to the pharmacy four times and have called the clinic three times. I don't think they realize with what they are dealing, attempting not to end a sentence with a preposition. Regis says the big cost to me will be a bag of jelly beans and a stop at Culver's. I have a feeling there may be some beer involved at some point, too.

whew

Made it through the night with no disastrous weather. We got some wind about midnight but that's it. My last waking thought was to wonder aloud if we would hear the weather radio. We have two in close proximity to the bedroom so Regis assured me we would.

I'll be out of blog touch for a few days while I travel to Ottertail Lake. Maybe I'll be able to post a few pictures and stories on Monday.

weather update: PDS

PDS (Particularly Dangerous Situation) Tornado Watch posted for southwestern MN until 1 am Friday....does not include the metro area. Isolated storms near Worthington, Windom and Pipestone may produce violent, long-lasting tornadoes.

Here's some terrifying stuff on the Weather Channel. It's on the right side of the page, called Raw Video: Tornado Rips Apart House.

june 5 the garden

The fat frog and my new rhubarb leaf birdbath.













The rooster guards the walk.













I love the color of the cheddar pinks!











Look at these poppies waiting to burst into bloom.









We're in a tornado watch tonight and the forecasters are bleating ominous reports everywhere you look. Natural disaster predicted. High risk for plains states. Regis wants me to watch a security video film from a bank in Iowa where they had an F5 tornado. Yeah, I want to see that. Check out the blog of Paul Douglas is you want your pants scared off your ass.

Rain in Biblical proportions

Oh lovely...I stopped downtown to get a sweatshirt for my trip and the sky started to look like it was going to thunder down on us. We get nervous in St. Peter when the skies get dark. One lady was hanging out the back door of a shop with a weather radio in her hand. Here's what the NWS has in mind for us today, Miles: A raincoat, an umbrella, but better yet, stay indoors.

FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR MUCH OF CENTRAL AND SOUTH CENTRAL MINNESOTA
AND MUCH OF WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN FROM 400 PM THIS AFTERNOON
THROUGH 600 AM FRIDAY MORNING...

A STRONG AREA OF LOW PRESSURE WILL LIFT NORTHEAST OUT OF THE
CENTRAL PLAINS INTO THE UPPER MIDWEST LATER TODAY AND TONIGHT.
THIS SYSTEM COMBINED WITH A VIGOROUS UPPER LEVEL JET WILL PRODUCE
A LARGE SWATH OF THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE UPPER MIDWEST. THESE
STORMS ARE LIKELY TO PRODUCE REPEATED BOUTS OF HEAVY RAINS WITH
RAINFALL RATES EXCEEDING OVER AN INCH PER HOUR.

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHANHASSEN MINNESOTA HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR MUCH OF CENTRAL AND SOUTH CENTRAL MINNESOTA
AND WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 400 PM THIS
AFTERNOON UNTIL 600 AM FRIDAY MORNING. THE WATCH WAS MAINLY WEST
OF A LINE FROM LADYSMITH...EAU CLAIRE TO AUSTIN. SOME MAJOR CITIES
INCLUDED IN THE WATCH ARE ALEXANDRIA...SAINT CLOUD...WILLMAR...
MANKATO...REDWOOD FALLS...FARIBAULT...MINNEAPOLIS...SAINT
PAUL...NEW RICHMOND AND RICE LAKE.

June 4: Dad's birthday

Yesterday, June 4th, was my Dad's birthday. I meant to post this picture last night but I was on the porch and my pictures were in here. He's been gone a couple years now but I can still hear his laugh and see his face. He would have loved this weekend at the lake.

On another note, we have turbulent weather ahead. Here's the forecast from PD at the Trib:

Storms bubbling up across Iowa may spread into the metro area and much of southern MN by Thursday AM, making for a slow and soggy AM rush hour.

Moderate risk of severe storms, hail, violent straight-line winds and isolated tornadoes on Thursday over central and southern Minnesota...I do expect 1-3 tornado touch-downs Thursday statewide.

When do we catch a break? More storms Friday, another round late Saturday...Sunday should be drier and sunnier.

My neighbor with the riding lawnmower was on my front lawn, right outside my bedroom window, mowing our grass last night at 9:30. With a halogen headlight on his mower. I am going to put a stop to this crazy business. Who needs that coming by the bedroom window when you're trying to sleep?

Off to the races.

goat names

I was the namer of another goat. I seem to have a knack for it and this time, suggested the name Moonshine Yarrow for a goat who needed a Y name. Yarrow is a plant that can become a troublesome weed in the garden. Probably the same with goats.

This is probably one of the most stressful weeks of the school year. We do curriculum writing and people are frazzled and it's enough to give you the screaming fantods. I can't believe it's only Wednesday.

I don't know why the weather men do this, but they have published, in the newspaper to be read tonight, a warning about tornadic activity tomorrow in our area. I believe that could dissipate in the next 12 hours so there isn't a reason to alarm people tonight. Really. Do I need to spend today worrying about that? I have enough weather issues. Miles: Stay home, keep the weather alert radio on, and keep your weather eye peeled, buddy.

Betty and I did our twenty minutes of exercise today. We tried to think of active hobbies we could pursue but we couldn't think of a one besides lawn golf and croquet. Regis wrote up a little weight lifting regime for us to do. He actually asked if we wanted something that required reclining on the floor. I gave him a sideways glare and said no, as I wanted to retain some hope of being vertical at the end.

travel anxiety

I'm going away for the weekend. I know some people would be excited and see it as a way to relax, but not me. I have a bad case of the flaming fantods. I can hardly finish making plans, I'm obsessed with all the things that could go wrong here and there, I can't even think about packing, and I'm a wreck. I suppose you could view this as a problem I should think about resolving but I don't see it that way. I'm not at all distressed by people who like to go away and I think they ought to just do it to their heart's content.

I noticed on my way out of the driveway that we have a burgeoning rabbit population in my garden. I used to cuss the neighborhood cats but now I see they served a purpose when they laid waste to the bunny nests. That's a gruesome thought, eh? Once in a while, a mentally challenged rabbit would make a nest in our backyard which is the size of a large postage stamp. What, she couldn't smell the dog? The nest always came to an abrupt and bad end. The rabbits were sniffing around my lilies today so I'll have to get out the putrid egg spray again to dissuade them.

Regis stumbled onto a website today which I won't print here because I don't want to disparage anyone's religious beliefs. But this site claims that it will send out an email to those you left behind six days after you are wafted up into the great beyond. I say this with all due incredulity. This is not an individual wafting but a group waft, if you get my drift. One would assume that the person sending out this mass email was not worthy of the waft himself, if this is truly the case. Of course, if a person had the time and the inclination, it would probably be very frightening to see just what kind of nonsense is out there as fact.

I'm going to go about my trip planning and hope for the best. Here's a Billy Collins poem for the road:

The Willies

"Public restrooms give me the willies"
—ad for a disinfectant

There is no known cure for them,
unlike the heeby-jeebies
or the shakes

which Russian vodka and a hot bath
will smooth out.

The drifties can be licked,
though the vapors often spell trouble.

The whips-and-jangles
go away in time. So do the fantods.
And good company will put the blues
to flight

and do much to relieve the flips,
the quivers and the screamies.

But the willies are another matter.

Anything can give them to you:
electric chairs, raw meat, manta rays,
public restrooms, a footprint,
and every case of the willies
is a bad one.

Some say flow with them, ride them out,
but this is useless advice
once you are in their grip.

There is no way to get on top
of the willies. Valium
is ineffective. Hospitals
are not the answer.

Keeping still
and emitting thin, evenly spaced
waves of irony
may help

but don't expect miracles:
the willies are the willies.
-Billy Collins

observations on being busy

I've always been a great sitter and a champion napper. It's probably had some ill-effects for me health-wise, but for the most part it's been a lifestyle I have enjoyed. Not to say that once in a while I don't appreciate going to bed weary and muscle-sore, but most of the time, I enjoy not doing that.

I've embarked on a eating healthier and exercising regime. I call it a regime because I view it sort of like one of those evil dictator regimes. This is not something I enjoy, believe me, and don't try to tell me I will. Betty (another great sitter) and I have decided to exercise for 20 minutes three times a week. I know, I know, it isn't exactly something that would be endorsed by Jack Lalane, but it works for us. We've also decided on weekends when we get together for our grilling escapades, we will play either croquet or goofy golf (left) rather than reclining in a lawn chair in the shade. Well, at our age, did you think it would be handball?

The eating healthier part of it is only in the form of saying no to the really gross things I would usually eat without thinking, like fruit slices (not real fruit...the gummy things that come in garish colors), cookies out of the freezer, and french fries from fast food places. Give me some time.

I realized on my way home that I have little dirty spots in my car from the guts of mosquitoes that have been unlucky enough to follow me into the Beetle. A clean car is also not one of my important life values. I have a neighbor who has a feather duster in his garage and dusts off his car when he drives it in there. I will go through the car wash when the salt starts to get on my clothes in the spring, but mostly I spend little time thinking about car cleaning, inside or out.

Isn't it funny what people spend their time on? I'm not saying my things are the right things because I'm sure the anal retentives of the world think they're right, too. LOL Some people would rather die than have the dust under their beds that I pulled out from under mine yesterday but I don't care. Neither of us have dust allergies and some peopel in the world live in houses with dirt floors.

I learned this week that some people can text message through their pants pockets and the record number of text messages in a month is 15,000. I'm going to do the math now, with a calculator, and the result is 500 a day. I guess if I can write this kind of drivel on a blog, I shouldn't think disparaging thoughts about people who write 4COL and AWLTP all day. Check out this world's largest list of chat acronyms and text message shorthand. Who thinks of this stuff? It's like a new language!

That's enough of all the news that's fit to print today.

sunday

We had a great, productive Sunday that ended with a nice sit around the grill while Regis cooked a corned beef and some sweet potatoes.

We got up early to go buy groceries. We hardly ever go to Mankato anymore so there are a few errands to do when do finally go. I needed a pillow at Target and we wanted to buy a few more grill accessories at Home Depot. The one thing I didn't get that I should have was a grill pan for vegetables. We wanted to cook onions on the grill but discovered they are prone to drop through the grate.

I was tired by the time I took a shower (mosquito spray is necessary now) and got into my clean bed. I had borrowed some books from Betty: she took me into her library and handed me things and gave me a little review as we went. I took home six books. Last night as I looked them over, trying to decide which one would be first, I realized I had to books that were exactly the same. She apparently bought two identical books, then gave them both to me, and neither of of us noticed. I wonder if she read it twice. The ironic thing is the title is: Revenge of the Middle-Aged Woman.

Off to work. More later.

El Kabong!

Mosquitoes are out in full force here! It could be like the year you had to spray yourself to take the trash container to the curb safely. The gnats are also something to contend with. I had a knob on the back of my head from a gnat bite like I'd gotten the El Kabong from Quick Draw McGraw. Little bastards.

We've had thunderstorms popping up all afternoon and evening. There were tornado warnings for some counties but I don't think they amounted to any sightings. Keep your weather radio on tonight, Miles.

It was nice to meet Miles today. He's just as blue-eyed and happy as he looks in his pictures.

weekend

I love Friday nights because the whole weekend stretches out in front...and last night, the whole summer stretched out in front of me because yesterday was the last day of the regular school year. Today they both start ticking away. Another weekend phenomenon: I don't know why it seems on a school day I could sleep until 9 but on Saturday, I wake up at 5:30.

Today I'm going to Jill's to meet Miles, my weather report buddy. Miles lives a ways from St. Peter so he always wants to know what he should wear when he comes to visit. Unfortunately, I've had to advise the Patagonia quite late in the season this year. Also weights in the pockets a few times as it's been so windy.

We watched the movie Dan in Real Life last night. What a waste of plastic and human energy. That was the sappiest, stupidest movie ever made next to Joe Versus the Volcano. One of the reviewers said, "I had a friend named Dan once. He stole my wife, killed my dog, and burned down my house. I still liked him better than Dan in Real Life." That about sums it up. We could hardly make it to the end. We knew how it was going to end anyway and we just didn't care. There's a family talent show scene where you will want to take a long break in the kitchen if you decide to watch this bomber anyway. (Oh, one more thing: I am SO glad I didn't pick this movie out!)

On to the weekend. I have my cleaning chores to do, some more spice tins to assemble and display, and some plants to put in the ground. I think we're going to T&B's for a little grilling tonight. I bought two vegetable grilling cookbooks the other day so maybe I'll find a tempting artichoke recipe. Ha!

the tides of life

When the tides of life turn against you
And the current upsets your boat,
Don't waste those tears on what might have been,
Just lay on your back and float.

-- Ed Norton

dude, aka Duwayne

Regis met a guy on the phone yesterday whose name is Dude. Well, really his name is Du-Wayne. Or at least, that's the way he said it.

It was a beautiful afternoon. Regis wanted a light dinner but I wanted to cook wieners on the grill and I won. The elder son stopped by and had dinner with us...I loaded up the tray with condiments and a bag of chips and we ate wieners off the grill right in the front yard. How gauche.

This is Ella with her umbrella chair that Tiffany gave her last year for Christmas. She spends a lot of time dismantling the umbrella part which I guess if you're a little kid is half the fun.

It was dang cold on Memorial Day, even with a camp fire but the mosquitoes weren't out yet. Today they are out in full force and big as hell. You have to hug the grill and stay in the sun to discourage them. Gads, they are nasty critters. I can hardly get Regis outside when the temp is below 80..and there is no chance when you throw in biting insects.

Speaking of critters, I think I discovered the answer to the mystery of the giant bird poop in the front yard. My neighbor hypothesized that it was duck poop but I said what are the chances of three ducks walking down my walk on the same day and pooping in such close proximity... as it was unlikely the poop would land in such good shape if they let it go from the sky. If you're interested, you can check here, or put grackle poop into google and see what you discover. The link is very funny...the guy has a great sense of humor about bird poop. Hey, it's a big world and you ought to learn about it.

Here's another story that captivated me. I read an essay about a guy named Phillippe Petit and got interested. He's a highwire artist and once walked a wire between the Twin Towers. Get it? Walked on a tightrope wire between the Twin Towers. Carrying a pole to help him balance. So high that if you fell you would be a little bitty grease spot on the asphalt down below. I get dizzy standing on a chair so I really can't imagine this at all. Not for a second. This would be like climbing Mt. Everest, not even in the realm of possibility for me. My friends know I am not the adventurous type. I have to buy a map and pack a bag to go to Minneapolis.

I'm sort of disgruntled with the book I'm reading which I'm not going to disparage here as it might be me. I just can't keep all the characters straight (a character will be called by two names in the same paragraph...huh?) and the story is not linear which doesn't appeal to me. I miss the Mayo brothers and their interesting lives.

So, there you go: Duwayne, grackle poop, highwire walkers, and books. It's a full life here in this small town.

Memorial Day

These are pictures from our traditional trip to Green Lawn Cemetery, the first one established in St. Peter when Minnesota was still a territory.












It's a beautiful place, full of old oak trees, columbine, wild strawberries, and dappled sunshine. Unfortunately, today it was also full of gnats. You had to wave your hand in front of your face to keep from swallowing them.










This is the headstone of the Pettijohn family. There are three small children buried here and a young man of 19. In these days, people hoped their children made it through infancy, they didn't expect it. I can't imagine living through the deaths of all those babies. We wondered if the young man died in the Civil War. There are many veterans buried here, some from the Indian Wars in New Ulm and from the Civil War. Someone takes good care of the graves and they all had stars and little flags today.








I was admiring these beautiful columbine flowers and turned a little to the west to see...













this tiny fawn napping in the grass. Regis isn't as close as it appears. He made sure to stay a safe distance and had the camera on zoom. He isn't very old as you can see...he barely came above the grass.












I thought he was soundly sleeping, in fact, we wondered at first if he was alive. In the picture, if you look closely, you can see that his eye is open. His mama was probably in the brush waiting for us to leave.

Better on the funk-o-meter

The dark cloud has lifted. It helps that the wind has stopped for now. We didn't get any of the violent weather but the tornado in Hugo and the one in NE Iowa were terrifying. Peter made it home safely from the concert he went to and we're spending a quiet Memorial Day by visiting the pioneer cemetery this morning.

There were baby birds everywhere yesterday. The robin in Tom's next was liberated sometime while we were there taking care of Gonzo and managed to make it out of the yard before he became pug lunch. On the way over there, we saw a grackle mama feeding her fledgling baby right in the road. What was she thinking? I know every baby bird ever hatched can't live into adulthood or we'd be over-run with birds, but nature is so cruel. It's a good thing I don't have to witness it everyday.

I have some planting to do this morning and that should be pleasant since the temperature has cooled down. I'll get my garden hopper out and take a cup of coffee and watch the birds while I dig. Regis is going to dig a new (small!) bed over by the fence which is the only sunny spot we have left. I bought quite a few profusion zinnias. They're one of my favorite annuals. The grow into a nice little mound and they bloom constantly with none of that boring dead-heading. I like low-maintenance plants.




We also bought quite a few basil plants. We like to use basil in lots of things and we like to make basil gimlets and it takes a lot of basil to make a few drinks. I'll post the recipe later in the summer. Basil is such a gorgeous plant, too...bright shiny green and needs little care. I bought some other herbs, too, but I don't cook with them as much as just walk by and pick one to smell.





I can't remember if I mentioned this here but I ordered two books on grilling vegetables. We like to cook vegetables on the grill but I read an article the other day that said how you do it really matters...you might end up with blackened and dried out stuff. Yup, that's what happens. We've tried sweet potato, peppers, asparagus, green beans, onions, cabbage, and baby reds. Sometimes good, sometimes not so good. Maybe the cookbook will help.





On to the holiday. Travel safely if you're on the road and watch the sky!

the blues in the dumps

I woke up with a serious case of the blues today. I was weeping into the dishwater after breakfast and I don't have an explanation, at least not a good one. I could say it's hormones, the weather (which is turbulent), or some other reason but I don't think it's any of those. I think it's a force from outer space. It's weird when that happens.

There are storms moving into southern and central Minnesota. That always makes me nervous and I have to be gone for a couple hours this afternoon which makes it worse. I feel a little calmer in my own house. But I don't think it's that making me feel like this.

Then of course, add the guilt for not really having a good reason to feel like this, other people have terrible things to deal with and I'm just in a mood, and you get a great goulash of nasty mood.

I have nerve-wracking things coming up: a 250 mile trip, a portfolio presentation, things like that. But I don't think it's that either. Those kind of things make me lie awake at night and get stiff muscles in my neck but they don't make me cry in the tub. This is more than ennui, believe me.

I need a dark room in the basement with a hot tub, a bottle of wine, lots of candles, and some sad country music...maybe Dwight Yoakum. Something I can sing to. It's that kind of funk I'm in.

windy

It's been a full day. We went to the grocery store for a deal on pop this morning, then to Fred's to buy the same plants I buy every year: basil, parsley. profusion zinnias, marigolds, and some other herbs that I buy based on smell. I had a haircut this afternoon while Regis went to Walgreen's and bought me some lotion. We went to Prairie Pride and picked up the pork for Joanne's party then drove to LeSueur to drop it off.

We wandered on to Lexington to a favorite resort that we try to get to once a year. I asked if they had any unusual beers since Regis was drinking from a glass that advertised a Czech beer. The hickey-studded waitress said they had Leinekins Creamy Dark or Bud Lime. Yes, well, I guess. Bud Lime might be real beer but coming after Leinekins, I wasn't so sure. I thought being so close to Montgomery they might have something more interesting but it was not to be.

This resort does their own fresh mushrooms, onion rings, and green beans in their own very light and crisp batter. I don't know any other restaurant that does that. Most sell those frozen things that are something to eat when you're hungry but are not really food. The taste of the mushrooms is amazing after eating those rubber things they sell most places.

For the first day of a long weekend it was very nice but action packed. We stopped to see Peter at his dog-sitting job then came home to watch Starman. I would like to plant my flowers and herbs tomorrow but the weather sounds questionable. Bring your umbrella, Miles!

Saturday

I went out to the garden to find two baby grackles sitting on the edge of my fairy pond. The babies are kind of cute; too bad they grow into those grotesque looking adults. Also saw that the peonies were blooming. It's a beautiful flower, sort of a tighter smaller version of the regular size peonies.

What a perfect day. I slept until 7 o'clock and can sit around in my robe until noon. The only thing I have to do this morning is to make sense of my paperwork. I loathe that job but I've been putting if off long enough. Gas is 3.85 a gallon here now so it's a good thing Regis isn't commuting too far. You have to sell a lot of beds to pay for gas at that price.

Here's some information on the old cemetery we like to visit on Memorial Day:

GREENLAWN CEMETERY  EST 1856

Plaque:
OLD TRAVERSE CEMETERY

March, 1856 - Traverse des Sioux and St. Peter organized a cemetery
Assoc. purchasing 10 acres.  Early Missionaries, pioneers, and Civil
War Veterans are buried here.

Rev. T. C. Williamson, first Missionary in this area and Rev. Stephen
Riggs translated the Bible, hymnals, and text books to the Sioux
language.  Rev. Williamson after the Sioux uprising walked to Mankato
every week to preach to the Indians in prison.  Many later became
missionaries to their own people.

It's a beautiful cemetery and an very interesting place. It's kept up pretty well
considering the age of it. I'll post some pictures on Monday.