Memorial Day Weekend, 2012: Another Night, Another Storm

Sunday, May 28, 2012. Memorial Day Weekend. This weekend means quite a few things. It's another three-day weekend, the unofficial start of the summer vacation season, and a federal holiday. I gave my take on citizenship and patriotism on one of my blogs:

• "Being Catholic on Memorial Day Weekend"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (May 27, 2012)

I'm keeping this Sauk Centre Journal brief, partly because I want to enjoy the weekend with my family: and partly because I was out of town for part of the week, and got a little preoccupied.

So I'll add a few photos, and call it a day.


Our Lady of Angels church, early Saturday evening. May 26, 2012.

We had a severe thunderstorm warning around midnight last night. Also flash flood warnings. Around two or three inches came down in as many hours.


Around midnight, sometimes the sky looked like this - - - May 26, 2012.


- - - and sometimes it looked like this. May 26, 2012.

There's another severe thunderstorm warning in effect just now, but most of the excitement is east of Sauk Centre. Here's what wunderground.com radar showed:


Here we go again. May 27, 2012.

Like I've said before, Minnesota's weather isn't boring.

"Just For Fun" Band Concert: Two More Photos

When I wrote about the last band concert of the season at Sauk Centre's school, I said I might post some more photos:

• "Band Concert, Hail, and a Soo Bahk Do Tournament"
  (May 20, 2012)

I thought these might be worth sharing:


"Just For Fun" band concert at Sauk Centre school. May 14, 2012.


"Just For Fun" band concert at Sauk Centre school. May 14, 2012.

Band Concert, Hail, and a Soo Bahk Do Tournament

Sunday, May 20, 2012. I don't have a photo of the inch-and-a-quarter-size hail that came down around 11:00 Friday night. Our Lady of Angels church's Father Statz said that he'd left his car out that night: and that in the morning it looked like someone had gone over it with a ball peen hammer.

This isn't exactly a new development: but this week I noticed that Jitters Java (jittersjavacafe.com) and Main Street Theatre (mainstreettheatremn.com) have their own websites.

I heard "Just For Fun," the last grades 6-12 band concert of the school year, Monday evening. I enjoy those concerts: partly because my son plays trombone in one of the bands, partly because I like the music. They had the usual mix of styles, from "Drum Schtick" to "The Pink Panther" and "Puttin' On the Ritz." Near the end, band members did a sort of presentation/recognition for the band director, Melissa Vorderbruggen. (I sure hope I got the name right.)


"Just For Fun" band concert at Sauk Centre school. May 14, 2012.


Presentation to the band director. May 14, 2012.

Now that temperatures are summer-like, we've got yard sales and garage sales.


Summer and yard sales: part of life here in Sauk Centre. May 18, 2012.

My wife and #3 daughter went to St. Cloud on Saturday, for a Soo Bahk Do tournament. I went along as driver and photographer This one wasn't as crowded as they usually are. Maybe the looming Memorial Day weekend has something to do with that. "Looming" isn't quite the right word.


Soo Bahk Do tournament in St. Cloud. May 19, 2012.

That's about if for this week. Unless I decide to post a few more photos of the Soo Bahk Do thing on the Sauk Centre Journal Blog.

Mother's Day, 2012

Sunday, May 13, 2012. Once again, for reasons I may never learn, Mother's Day and the first weekend of Minnesota's fishing season are synchronized.

This is another week where 'all I know is what I read in the papers.' Or paper, in this case: the Sauk Centre Herald. There's a pretty good op-ed titled "Heroes and role models," discussion of parking restrictions at a city council meeting made above-the-fold front page, and so did concerns about Sauk Centre's evolving downtown: that last is the "Downtown bar owners express..." item.


Sauk Centre Herald: Another week in small town America. May 13, 2012.

Charlie Company is still home, for which we're all grateful. And this week there weren't any tornado warnings: which I don't mind a bit.


Saturday afternoon. May 12, 2012.

Things at my household haven't been as uneventfully serene as that photo of Saturday afternoon might suggest. #2 daughter and son-in-law and #1 daughter were here for the weekend - and Mother's Day. I've re-arranged my schedule to make room for a new project or two: more about that will be in tomorrow's post on Apathetic Lemming of the North. Nothing spectacular: but by life hasn't been dull, either.

Mostly Photos: Welcome Home, Charlie Company; Lilacs; a Rainbow

Sunday, May 6, 2012. Apart from a tornado warning, and the sirens going off at about 5:00 Tuesday afternoon, I don't have much to write about this week. But, boy: do I have pictures


Those clouds were still rumbling when we left the basement. It's a bit faint on the left side: but that's a full rainbow. May 1, 2012.


Same rainbow, a closer look. May 1, 2012.


Rain, sunlight, a little time, and we've got lilac flowers. Almost. May 2, 2012.


Same bush, same day, different angle. May 2, 2012.


Field, Interstate, and Sauk Centre's water tower. May 3, 2012.


"Welcome Home, Troops" on Main Street Theatre's marquee. May 3, 2012.


"Charlie Company Thank You," although you can't see it too well in this photo. May 3, 2012.


"Charlie Company Thank You," a closer look: and you can see the little flags, too. May 3, 2012.


Yellow ribbons, lots of them, downtown. May 3, 2012.


A detail from the same photo. May 3, 2012.


Lilacs: after more rain, still more rain, even more rain, and a few days. May 6, 2012.


An enthusiastic cluster of flowers. May 6, 2012.

That's it for me this week. Next week, I'll probably have more.

A Tornado Warning, and Sirens

We spent a few minutes in the basement around 5:00 this afternoon. Quite a bit of central Minnesota is under a tornado watch until 10:00 p.m., there was a storm headed our way, someone east of Glenwood had spotted a tornado: then the sirens went off.

The last I heard, the storm was bearing down on Albany, Avon, Holdingford, St. Cloud, and other parts of eastern Stearns County.

I haven't heard of any damage, injuries, or deaths: and won't mind at all if this storm produces 'none of the above.'

The other good news is that the warning sirens work.