alexandriacardinals

Honest to poopsie, I thought today I could finally go to a ballgame.  The softball team is hosting St. Cloud Apollo this afternoon.  The possible absence of rain made it look promising, but by mid-morning we were back to 100 mph winds again.  The only outside activity we can see are surfer dudes and dudettes on beautiful Lake Darling.  Yup, got some nice breakers coming in.  But we’re getting a little tired of finding lawn furniture from Lake Ida in our yard!

In the absence of an ability to cover any sporting activities, I thought I’d try to post something before I forget how to do photo transfers.  So the following will just be a compendium (n. a summary or abstract of a larger work) of mostly indoor activities that have occurred since the last posting.  I’m sure you can hardly wait(?).

April 8

[I went out on this day in search of a softball game.  This is the parking lot at Woodland Elementary School,  where the games are played.  I thought it odd that an elementary school had a designated “kissing” area?  On return home, research disclosed “busses” is an acceptable alternative to “buses.”  Sorry, I didn’t know?]

[I found no game at Woodland?  Maybe they were playing at the new high school?  Nope!  Postponed, wet grounds.  But as long as I was here, new views from the south.]

[Football field foreground; school background.]

[Ditto]

[Rapidly growing housing complexes across the road.]

[Cheer, oh cheer, for Alex!]

[For Brother Cam, there’s your main front entrance, facing south.]

[Seating capacity?  Well, not quite Texas standards.]

[The home side.]

April 10

[Thursday night, date night, SAWA, and enjoying a new wine.  🙂 ]

[Components was playing . . . ]

[With the largest crowd of other area musicians I’ve ever seen.]

[Recommended.]

[Artsy shot.]

[Components]

April 11

[The Alexandria Golf Club opens for play.  Hey, a few snow piles are no deterrent!]

[Robo and I were the very first to play the course this year.  First tee time – high noon!]

 

[My first visit ever to a “snow” trap.]

[Love shooting to a backdrop of a still totally frozen lake.]

April 12

[The Salty Dogs rock the winery . . . ]

[Apparently “Hallelujah,” as Tom reaches for that high note . . . ]

[A “you write the caption” photo!]

[All the Dogs . . . ]

[Bruce also agrees with the quote at the end of this posting.]

April 21

[The adult education program this year had nine sessions about the 60’s, hosted at Grand Arbor, just across the street from the new high school . . .]

[This was the final – music of the 60’s.  Naturally, we boomers were excited to hear the presentations of Terry Kennedy (above), Paulette Friday, and Bill Riggs.]

[Oh, I guess the screen tells you all that.]

April 26

[Wendy Webb had a signing at Cherry Street Books . . . ]

[She was a new author for us (interesting bio, look her up).  We had a lovely chat . . . ]

[Then it was on to Broadway Bistro for lunch.  Across the street, you can see the AAAA Theatre where we would matriculate for the next day’s matinee of “Black Comedy,” which we enjoyed immensely.]

April 28

[Another adult education class (sheesh, you’d think I’d be getting smarter?). Rachel Barduson’s presentation on the grand hotels and resorts in Alexandria’s history!  My goodness, you not only learn stuff – it’s fun too!]

April 29

[Yup, more classes!  The University of Minnesota Alumni Association, West Central Lakes Chapter, in conjunction with Senior College at the ATCC, sponsored the U of M’s Bee Squad Coordinator, Dr. Becky Masterman, who told us everything we ever wanted to know about bees.  Fortunately, for those whose only information on the matter will be gleaned from this issue, the following YouTube presentation by Dr. Masterman is a good starting point.  🙂  ]

Bees: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVyut0G2WhM

May 1

[It was cataract surgery day with Dr. Deb Ristvedt (see if you can pick her out). We did a first-time experimental procedure where a coat hanger is used first to pop out the eyeball, which is then Fed-Exed to a lab in Duluth where the old lens is removed and a new one is inserted, then Fed-Exed back to Alex where it is popped back in and riveted in place through the right temple and the top of the head. I need not see the Doctor again for two years when it will be time to replace the rusty rivets. (But seriously folks, all went well and I anticipate being back playing the piano in no time at all! Many thanks to Dr. Ristvedt and everyone at the clinic who endured my aging antics.   Oh, and I got a DQ malt for being a good boy.)]

[Who was that weird guy??]

[Good-bye (riddance)!]

May 2

[After a 14-year love affair with her Dodge Dakota pick-up truck, the supervisor decided it was time to have some fun.  OK, and with the kids moving to Minnesota, they need a pick-up, so . . .  The super had a Gold Sun Bug in the 1970’s and felt it was time to re-live those halcyon years of convertible-ness.  And we tired of always buying for Minnesota winters – hey, we have a 6-month top-down season here too!  😉 ]

[Are you really going to be 70 on your next birthday?]

[Oh, and the flowers are a Mother’s Day present from the kids.]

[Sweet]

May 3

[Do you know these famous Grand Rapids-ites? After years of trying, I was finally able to create a reunion at the winery. Anthony performed at the winery again on Sunday, in the “Big Room;” I’m not sure what Martha did that day?]

[Like tourist destinations everywhere, staff takes a group patron photo.]

[Here it comes again . . .]

[And they sit at the bar . . .  ]

[And put bread in my jar . . .   ]

[The super is joined by Deb Trumm, our adult education coordinator.]

[Honestly, they were still on their first glass!]

[Fun, fun, fun]

Run For The Roses Fundraiser for Theatre L’Homme Dieu at the Minnesota Lakes Maritime Museum

[In full derby costume . . . ]

[Going through the buffet line (though I was previously done in by cheese cubes at the winery).]

[The supervisor checking out the  . . . fois gras and caviar?]

[Noted Twin City educators and Alex summer folk . . . ]

[I won a cake!]

[Rumored to be related to the SAWA proprietors.]

[Brother Cam deigned to make an appearance all the way from Mounds View and ran into classmate and fellow Victoria Heighter, Terri McCabe Steidl.]

[The 1st Annual 0K race in conjunction with Run For The Roses . . . ]

[I believe judges are still reviewing the videotape to determine a winner?]

[All Victoria Heighters who grew up to be responsible adults . . . well, except for Cam.  BTW, Cam is now better known as the guy who is married to a partner and the CFO for the Cuningham Group, the firm who designed our new high school.  Karen hopes to be here for the ribbon cutting.  🙂  ]

[Where we were – yup, same place as the resorts class.]

May 5

[Oh, and Cam has a new car too!  So, he was our chauffeur on this day.]

[While driving toward Geneva . . .]

[Somewhere near Nelson?  We never heard what it was?]

[The Brothers Obert show up for the finally final good-bye to Big Jeff, with some in the guise of an all-class reunion.  Cam only went through the 6th grade in Alex . . . yet he ran into, and was recognized by, more classmates than me.  Sheeesh.]

[A history of Big Jeff . . . ]

[My era . . . ]

[Ice cream in the cafeteria – never made it there?]

[Future site use plans.]

[“Black Pete’s” 10th-grade English classroom – remember it was right before lunch!]

[A hallowed hall.]

[Social sciences upstairs; science sciences downstairs.]

[Mr. Melby’s 12th-grade chemistry classroom.]

[After the high school “reunion” it was back to the winery for the quarterly party for members of the “club.”   Anthony Miltich again performed, this time with the aid of his brother.]

TWO ALEX VIDEOS:  The first is Craig Mischke’s LiveCam on the corner of 3rd and Broadway, a great way to track the beginning of the Broadway makeover beginning next Monday; and the second is about Alex being rated the No. 7 micropolis in the country for liveability:

http://www.alexmn.com/live-cam/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-iX6h3MbEU

The evidence indicates that woman is, on the whole, biological superior to man. ~ Ashley Montagu

[All track meet photos herein were pilfered from other folks’ Facebook postings.  (This from Mark Erickson of the MSHSL.  Great photo!  😉 )]

Report from dad Hasz: Great race for Megan & Bethany Saturday night in the 3200-meter race. Megan 1st 10:32 & Bethany 3rd 10:40.  [And they’re still just sophomores.]

This is the video of the meet – if you scan it forward to about the 3 hour and 8 minute mark, you can see the whole race. Megan runs down the Chanhassen girl in the last 200 meters:

http://www.ideatapstudios.com/elitemeet

[These three were all from dad.]

[Dad Hasz posted 5 more photos, so I swiped them too!]

In other news:

The Great American Ice-Out continues! Will we make it by May? Beautiful Lake Darling yesterday afternoon and early this morning (the first three). You can see how it’s moved around from a few days ago. We were open in front here for a week or so, but now north winds have blown it back down to us and the north end looks open. Latoka was open yesterday, Cowdry was totally open driving by it this morning (awesome to see waves again), but Carlos (always last) has a long way to go. And then just a few minutes ago, the north wind has blown the Lake Darling ice down to our end again and we’re iced in (the last three photos):

 On more other news:

[Lisa Lynn and I wore the same outfit at SAWA last night. Fortunately, we both thought it would be way to cutesy for a “team” photo.]

[Lisa’s own FB contribution from last night – her guitar case.]

In more other more news:

[We, and 350 of his closest friends, said good-bye to Kevin Kopischke yesterday.  In his 10 (+ ?) years as president, he turned the Alexandria Technical and Community College into a juggernaut – 4,000 students, top 5 percent in the country in both graduation rates and graduation job placements.  Congratulations again, Kevin.  And we were all introduced to his successor, Laura Urban.  I do not know if she is related to Keith Urban.   I know Mr. Urban is a country music star, but I couldn’t pick him out of a line-up.  But if he is a country star, shouldn’t his last name be “Rural”?]

In more other more other news:

And the beat goes on.  The Alex girls’ golf team won the first conference meet by 39 strokes, with Cards individually placing 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th.  As Robert Klein used to say, “How do we do it?  Volume!”  (I think this is right that the girls have won something like 20 conference titles in a row?)

[I’ll get around to covering this stuff soon.  Saw the first game of the Fergus Falls doubleheader, where the team did not play well.  Then they won game 2, 15 – 2?  Go figure?  I think they’ve only played 3 games so far because of the weather.  Same with the baseball team, and I’m looking forward to seeing them play as they’ve romped through their opening few games.  Rain forecast for all next week again . . . so who knows?]

As any psychologist will tell you, the worst thing you can possibly do to a woman is to deprive her of a grievance.  ~  Beverly Nichols

[January 12, our last full day in Lala-land.  Final lunch on the porch.]

[I can’t remember if it was a carry-out or make your own.]

[But that evening we did go with the kids to Phil’s BBQ, a place we had heard about and told we must frequent from the day we arrived.  They post signs along the sidewalk outside telling you how long a wait you have to get in if you are at this particular spot.  It was a Sunday night, we had no wait.  🙂  ]

[January 13, our final morning.  We said good-bye to the lake and the fowl.]

[First, enjoy a bottle of “my” water on the porch . . .]

[Then head to the San Diego airport and taxi down (or is it up?) the runway.]

[We’re starting to get airborne as downtown appears out the window.]

[Aloha (or is it Sayonara?), California.]

[Point Loma and Cabrillo National Monument in the distance.  We did not go there, or downtown, on this visit. ]

[How much should I charge Southwest to use this photo in an ad campaign?  😉   ]

[Protected port.]

[Nice buffer zone for the city from the ocean and the surfer dudes.]

[I wanna take you higher . . .    ]

[A quintessential peninsula . . . or just a piece of land jutting into the water.]

[From altitudes, shooting as we flew away . . .]

[I’m trying to see if I can see our place 35 miles up the road from downtown?]

[This is the city.  San Diego, California.]

[Over the coastal range to the interior valley, a/k/a, “the desert.”]

[A reservoir in the distance?]

[Borrego Springs, with the Salton Sea coming into view above.]

[Irrigation.]

[Irrigation, part 2.]

[The entire Salton Sea, 15 miles by 35 miles in size, just slightly larger than beautiful Lake Darling, though it isn’t as deep!  It is 226 feet below sea level, which also makes it a lot lower than beautiful Lake Darling.]

[And it looks like all the irrigation is to the south, likely from water before it reaches the Sea (the largest lake in California), which is salty.]

[Quite a place . . . ]

[On the San Andreas fault in a very hot and very dry climate.]

[What I really saw . . . ]

[I guess I wanted to make sure I got it!]

[OK, the last one.]

[The irrigation border.]

[And now the exurbs of Phoenix come into view.]

[Don’t know where they’re getting the water for these places.]

[Phoenix]

[This was the stop-over, change planes, for Indy.]

[I’ve been here before, but didn’t realize there were two downtowns?]

[Looks like Minneapolis – St. Paul, minus the snow of course.]

[Yup, looks like two cities to me.]

[ASU, of course, stands for A Sunny University . . .]

[And a little more of the campus.]

[Buenos dios, Arizona!]

[The mountains that protect Phoenix from “The Scourge of the Gila Monster.”     ]

[A tower designed to thwart the harmful rays of the sun, and other things poisonous.]

[And we’re off again, heading to the land of the fearsome Hoosier.]

[My guess would be Theodore Roosevelt Lake . . . ]

[Which I’d never heard of until I just looked it up on the map.]

[Mt. Vesuvius?]

[Definitely some crater-like objects?]

[Did we take a wrong turn and are now over the moon?]

[The friendly skies . . . ]

[The lights of Indiana . . . ]

[Indiana wants me, but I can’t go back there . . . ]

[Thank you, Thomas Edison.]

[January 15, after a day of rest, it’s Minnesota or bust (and we did get busted (up), as you’ll soon see).  Passing the grandson’s university on northbound I-65, where we soon came to a complete standstill for 45 minutes.  A tractor-trailer had jackknifed, caught fire, and was blocking all lanes.]

[Through the Netherlands . . . ]

[Well, you need all the help you can get driving in this part of the world in winter!]

[God’s country!  Shortly after crossing the St. Croix River from Wisconsin, you hit the state capital.]

[And if you want to go to the capitol.  It’s been a while, but that dirty white stuff along the side of the road is called snow.]

[The Cathedral of Saint Paul.  But if you want to go there, drive a light truck.]

[Famous as the place of my birth.]

[Where I alma matered from.]

[The ‘U,’ on a beautiful (?) winter’s day.]

[The delay on I-65 in Indiana cost us dearly.  We’re now in Minneapolis rush hour.  😦  ]

[The Metrodome on the right no longer exists.  I think they’re turning the Teflon roof into cargo pants.]

[And then it began.  We knew a storm was coming.  We thought we had a chance to beat it.]

[So we had the delay on I-65, then with this it took us an hour to get through Minneapolis.  No chance of making it home in daylight now.   And that proved to be onerous . . .]

[Just outside of Melrose, just a little over 30 miles from home, we saw a couple of cars pulled off on the shoulder with their lights on.  We started easing over into the passing lane, as required, when . . .  BOOM!  We hit something that I never saw, and Ruthie, who was driving, didn’t see until she was hitting it.  We were out in the country, pitch black, an SUV had flipped and was on its roof in the middle of the interstate highway, no lights or reflectors visible.  We subsequently learned three other vehicles hit it too.  Fortunately, no one was hurt.  But after the discussion and paperwork with the highway patrol, we finally limped home about 5 hours later than we thought we would.]

[Kinda hard to use the punch panel.  The entire left side of the car was damaged, but it was still drivable.  A tad over $5,000, and about three weeks later, we’re up and running again.  Did kinda put a damper on the whole vacation though.  Ruthie does not want to go out on interstates, after dark, in winter, again – and I don’t blame her.]

[But once home, the supervisor could take comfort . . .]

[In the comforter she and Jami made together from our old tee shirts!  🙂  ]

[Ahhhh, don’t wake me until spring!]

All sensible men are of the same opinion about women, and no sensible man ever says what that opinion is.  ~  Samuel Butler

[California Dreamin’, again, some day.]

HAPPY EASTER!

[For all you snowbirds, I’m happy to report that we were able to “open up” the house this afternoon, and the supervisor was at long last able to get out in the yard and get all dirty (she has been pacing the house for weeks waiting for this day to happen!)]

[As further proof that we are trending in the right direction, this afternoon I received this photo from my cub reporter (Paul “Rock” Fieldhammer) at the other end of beautiful Lake Darling.  The lake is still mostly covered by ice, but this is the first reported boat sighting of the season.  🙂  ]

We now return to our regular story . . .

[January 11, a Sunday, Beth and Chris drove up from San Diego so was just decided to make a day of it in San Marcos.  First on the agenda for The Biddies and me was to eat lunch locally before “the kids” arrived.]

[So, we began by perusing the city’s famed restaurant row.  Based on her expression, a believe the supervisor has a target sighted!]

[Oh, Tom, you really make me laugh.  I’m so lucky you married me!  (Did I really print that?)  😉 ]

[And here’s a photo by the supervisor on her tablet.  I believe the first (and most important) things she reports on Facebook are where we eat!  Reetz and I are at the entrance of Acapulco, which gives you a clue it’s not Chinese.]

[And now it’s menu time, an ordeal that now always begins with, “Are there any specials today?”]

[It’s always easy for me to order Mexican, as the supervisor captured on her tablet, just bring a dark beer, chips, and salsa and I’m good to go!]

[While The Biddies figure out the bill (they used Mexican numbers), I meandered outside to shoot the neighborhood (this actually isn’t very far from where we “lived”).]

[And here’s where we were.  Spotted on day one, I said we gotta spend some time at this place!  🙂  ]

[Bill figured out, half the meal in a Styrofoam box, The Biddies are ready to boogie.]

[As I recall, after Beth and Chris arrived, we all spent the afternoon just vegging outside, in the sun, each totally concentrating on our social media devices, just like a bunch of teenagers.   And then it was time to go back to Double Peak Park, our third time up but a first for Beth and Chris.]

[So we just mingled, awaiting the inevitable sunset.]

[Where we were . . . ]

[Where we’re going.  We just stayed in the parking lot the previous night, so we decided to live dangerously with the five of us and go up one more “flight” all the way to the top.]

[Shooting back to the university.]

[A closer-upper of said university.]

[“Our two-week home.”    ]

[Creeping neighborhoods are moving up the mountain . . . ]

[The supervisor doesn’t like that at all.]

[Looking toward the ocean.]

[A little PDA photo from the supervisor.]

[A much better night for viewing this time – no haze, marine layer.]

[It would have been a great sunset . . . but note that dark cloud impinging from the right.]

[Still getting some good shots.]

[Looking east as the sun sets.]

[Jostling for position.]

[Or is it just quality family time?]

[Oh, we’re just so happy to be here!]

[A perfect evening – light jacket weather, no wind.]

[It’s gonna happen soon!]

[ Ahhh, great light disbursement by the clouds . . . no extra charge for the contrail.]

[But the dark cloud did obscure the denouement (that’s French, for denouement).]

[But we came close!]

[Now what do we do?]

[Loved the contrast of the lone tree at the summit with the moon overhead . . . no extra charge for the jogger.]

[Did anyone bring wine?]

[When I first looked at this, I thought it was an optical delusion.  Their bodies say Beth is standing behind Reetz, but their heads say the opposite?]

[Now the moon is tangled in the top branches of the tree.  Oy!]

[It may be mine, but I like it.   😉  ]

[And this one, too.]

[And now it’s time to go . . . ]

[Rita, you take the point . . . ]

[But don’t get lost.]

[Say good night, moon.]

[Good night!]

We’ll leave you now with three more photos from “Rock.”  He and Pris had been home (from Arizona) for less than a week when he shot these two days ago.  He saw the eagles pulling up dead ducks from where there was now open water.  There must have been terrible attrition on the water fowl that wintered here:

Up next:  We may actually be able to get some spring sports events in next week!

Any idiot would know women’s needs are simple.  All we want is your basic millionaire/brain surgeon/criminal lawyer/great dancer who pilots his own Lear Jet and owns oceanfront property.  On the other hand, things being what they are today, most of us will settle for a guy who holds down a stead job and isn’t carrying an infectious disease.  ~  Linda Sunshine   [Editor’s note: And takes out the garbage and doesn’t play with his navel lint?]