[* Borrowed without permission from Monty Python’s Flying Circus, used as a segue’ for something completely the same.]
We got another inch and a half of rain Tuesday night. Unless I am badly mistaken (what, moi?), that brings the total for the month of July to about 10 inches. With the heavy snowfall winter and the cool, wet spring, grizzled veterans of the area say they have never seen the water on the lakes this high. People have been chasing down their floating-away docks all over the chain; boats have floated off their lifts; and in a lot of instances (such as ours) the high water prevents getting boats off the lifts as they can’t get out from under their canopies. Folks who live on the point between Big and Little Darling have sandbagged their property because wave and wake action has been “watering” their lawns. Here are photos of the Moby Obie in late June and again in late July – in June the water was considered incredibly high, now you can see the lake is at dock level and the Moby is floating:
And there have been weather things going on beyond the scope of deluge. We have had dew points – dew points like the state has never seen before. As you may recall from your weather lessons from your favorite TV meteorologist, if you have dew points in the 50’s, it’s comfortable; dew points in the 60’s means it’s humid; dew points in the 70’s means it’s tropical; dew points in the 80’s mean head to the meat lockers! Minnesota averages about 2 ½ days a year with dew points in the 70’s. In this glorious month of July, dew points in the 80’s have been setting records throughout the state. I have moss growing on my north side! And since dew points in the 80’s are not normal, abnormal weather, i.e., storms seem to follow. The neighbors lost a few trees at Mom’s, and we didn’t notice until this week that the tree in front Mom’s was “topped” by that same storm:
And yet during all that, it SNOWED! Well, it sure looked like it. The lakeside cottonwoods have been a little late spreading their joy this year – but on the hottest, most miserable day, an on-shore breeze kept blowing globs of SNOW . . . errr, cotton . . . up the hill until it had turned our backyard white:
[The above photo subsequently added from Rog “Travelin’ Man” Tweed actually shows the “snow” in the air.]
We also had a mini old home week in Alex. Brother Cam came up from Mounds View with his old buddy from Arlington, Virginia, Rog “Travelin’ Man” Tweed – both posed with the supervisor at dusk on the shores of beautiful Lake Le Homme Dieu. While they were here, we ate, and ate, and ate some more, including a mini reunion at Weston Station of ex-Victoria Heighters – members of the Dyke and Thompson families. Perry Dyke joined me for a round of golf at the AGC. Perry played for our Cardinal golf team going to state all four years, 1968-71, and fired a nifty 76 on his old home course where he hadn’t played for 15 years. He has been a TV sports anchor in Mankato for 30 years, covering the Vikings in training camp, and will be inducted into the Minnesota State University, Mankato, for his years of coverage thereof. We also discovered Alex has made the move to borderline urbandom – a Thai restaurant his mysteriously appeared in town (in the old Butler’s Pantry building in Willow Creek). We have yet to dine there though – but we discovered a real deal (?) on pizza!
Meanwhile, back at the Alexandria music scene. Spencer Christensen, of Funky Gumbo and recent high school graduation fame, turned 19. He played at SAWA that night with Funky Gumbo, while his mom, Jo, expressed a certain . . . um, curiosity about the follicly challenged.
And Sue Elliot submitted the following Patchouli video from Bryant Square in Minneapolis on July 12 (and the subsequent photos as well). Patchouli will be playing at Carlos Creek Winery tomorrow and at Art in the Park over the weekend.
http://www.youtube.com:80/watch?v=_iENU0XBP34&feature=email
From Mary Lou Thunselle: Our last performance–our “swan song.” Should be a hoot!! The Hot Dishes final performance will be Saturday, August 20, 7:30, at the Phoenix Events Center.
Finally, we get back to our roots. The staff photographer submitted hundreds more soccer photos from the Eden Prairie tournament. We led off this blog with a Super Fan favorite from the hockey team, Claire Illies, “the world’s toughest 80-pounder” – besides, it’s just a wonderful photograph of athleticism. Then, as if kismet, Claire received Echo Press coverage in the following article:
http://www.echopress.com/event/article/id/86647/group/Life/
From the photographer:
Hi Tom,
The girls did excellent! They tied for first in points and took second in a tie breaker, but they actually beat the 1st team 1 to 0. This weekend I watched 3 games so now I’ve watched a total of 4 ½ games. I’m a long way from understanding what is going on.
~ Greg
[Lauren Trumm (15) and Joie Warnes (19)]
[We began with Claire (2), it’s fitting we end with her.]
“And, sure, . . . our daughters have turned into daddy’s girls who play guy-style sports . . .” [“It’s totally a guy thing,” Peter Mandel (Minneapolis StarTribune, July 27, 2011)]
Up next: The Biddies take a road trip
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