Early Christmas Lights

Tuesday, November 29, 2011. Here's what I said I planned to get done, back on Sunday:


Remember that picture I took, on Saturday, November 19? Here's what it looked like by the next Thursday. November 24, 2011.


This is the picture I was talking about: Saturday's snowfall. November 19, 2011.

Twas Thanksgiving eve, and we view on the lawn
Eight reindeer, a sleigh, plus a tree and a fawn:
All spangled with lights colored blue, green and red,
And picture of Santa Claus hung on the shed.

Nope. I don't think that's going to outshine Clement Clarke Moore's "A Visit from St. Nicholas."

Christmas yard decorations start showing up before Thanksgiving, though. Which is a good idea, here in Minnesota. Quite a few folks got theirs out before the snow fell.


It's the night before Thanksgiving: time for the first Christmas lights. November 23, 2011.


Christmas lights at the corner of South Ash and 9th. November 23, 2011.


I like the way neighborhoods light up, this time of year. November 23, 2011.

The 'Sauk Centre Gills' visited #2 daughter & son-in-law for Thanksgiving, and I'm just about recovered from that trip. I hope you had a fine Thanksgiving, and will see you Sunday.

What a Beautiful Day!

Sunday, May 15, 2011. What a beautiful day! Blue sky, mild temperatures, and too early in the season for mosquitoes. Neighbors across the street had a yard sale this weekend, folks farther down the street have a boat for sale.

I grilled burgers around noon, and relaxed for the rest of the day.

I'll get around to writing something tomorrow.

That's the plan, anyway.

Winter Storm, and an Open Door

Monday, February 21, 2011. I still 'only know what's in the papers.' Mostly the Sauk Centre Herald, plus a few major news websites. The 'cattle rustlers' I mentioned, back in December, are in the news again. Like I said then, I think it's great when young people show initiative and try to start a business. But stealing cattle isn't a smart way to start a dairy operation. By all that's sane, how did they expect to account for those calves?

Moving along.

One of the things I like - a lot - about living here is that quite a few folks care about something besides money. Don't get me wrong: I don't think there's anything wrong with money. For one thing, it helps pay the heating bill. What brought that to mind was something else in the paper.

Looks like some of the state legislators want to have Minnesota liquor stores open on Sunday. In a way, I can see their point: There's a little tax revenue going to other states in border cities. Then there's the owner of Westside Liquor, here in Sauk Centre. Darin Thompson says he doesn't want to be open Sunday. He said "It's the one day our staff can spend time with their families" in a February 15 Herald article.

Like I said, I like living here. A lot.

Maybe not having to go outside today helped.

The phone rang this morning - maybe around 6:00 - letting us know that the Sauk Centre schools weren't opening today. Smart move, considering how much snow was coming down. It was a pretty sight, and not much of a problem for traffic. Here in town: thanks in large part to the street crews coming by with plows at intervals.

I found a report of snowfall amounts, and put some of the information on the Sauk Centre Journal Blog.

Yesterday, around 5:00 p.m., one of my kids noticed that a neighbor's front door was open. With nobody in sight. That got my attention: mid-February during a central Minnesota storm is no time to let the front door stay open. A little later the door was closed again.

Does checking back on that open door make me a nosy neighbor? Maybe. But if the door of our house stays open for no apparent reason: I hope our neighbors are just as "nosy."

As I've said before: Living in a small town doesn't give a person much "privacy." Not if "privacy" is taken to mean living among folks who don't know you, and don't care what happens to you. Again: I like living here. A lot.

Accident

Around 6:00 p.m. we heard what we thought was a car door being slammed very hard. Later I saw two police cars parked, with flashers on; and two other cars also parked rather close to each other in the intersection here at Ash and South 9th. An ambulance showed up - out of an abundance of caution, I hope, and a wrecker. The ambulance is gone now, at 6:30 p.m., and the wrecker is in the process of loading one of the cars onto its bed. The other drove off earlier.

I sincerely hope nobody was badly hurt.

What a Beautiful Day!

Wednesday, September 8, 2010. It's been a nearly-perfect day: nearly-clear skies, a bit of a breeze, and a high around 67.

My neighbors across the street, north, have a crew at work repairing and restoring what was damaged in Friday's fire.


The restoration crew was blowing something out of the neighbor's house this morning. Maybe insulation. September 8, 2010.


Restoration work at Ash and South 9th: Even with one of the men spraying the dumpster, some of the dust got away from them. September 8, 2010.

I've turned my 'Small Town America: Minnesota' webcam to face the restoration work, and plan to keep it that way until the neighbors get caught up to where they were before the fire.

Meanwhile, down by South 12th, whatever's being built is moving toward completion. This afternoon they were digging at the west end of the site.


Excavating for - something - at the west end of the construction site on South 12th. September 8, 2010.

I'm trying to decide whether to ask around and find out what's being planned for that Fairlane Drive & South 12th construction: or have the fun of being surprised when its finished.

Sauk Centre Americana: Sawdust Plant, Basketball Nets, Gardens, Race Track and All

This post is mostly for people who don't live in Sauk Centre, or any other small town: which is why I'm pointing out some obvious things.

Sauk Centre, like most small towns, doesn't have the heavy industry that places like Detroit have. Considering the way things are going these days, I don't mind a bit.

We've got 'industry' here - but it's more along the lines of 'light industry.' Like Felling Trailers Inc, the Minnesota Sawdust & Shaving Company, Engle Custom Tank Builders, Kane Transport and Advanced Lighting Systems. (ALS got acquired by Nexxus Lighting in September, 2007 - not bad for a small-town outfit).


Like most small towns, this isn't the sleepy - or festering - backwater you read about in stories. We're pretty much like New York, Detroit, or Los Angeles. Except the air's cleaner, there isn't as much crime per capita, our traffic jams clear up in minutes, and the cost of living's lower.

It's rough, living without all that major metropolitan areas have to offer: but I can stand it.


Like most places in America that I've been, you'll see basketball hoops on driveways: permanent ones like this, or something that can be taken down and stored in the winter.


Quite a few folks around here have the usual flower gardens: and sometimes their own produce. You won't be able to feed a family on what'll grow on a city lot: but it does help with the grocery bills.


Speaking of groceries: this is Coborn's, a couple blocks down from where I live. Don't let the appearance fool you: The folks working here are my neighbors, friends of my kids: a great bunch. If you don't live in town, they won't know enough about you to ask about your family - but my guess is that they'll be friendly.


Picturesque? I suppose so. This is in the Prospect Avenue area. It could have turned into a sincerely high-end residential enclave. Instead, it's a really nice-looking neighborhood.


Propane tanks: lots of them. Lake Wobegon Trail is behind that line of trees, and the back yards of a house or three are past the right edge of the picture. Industrial blight or contemporary landscape sculptures? Take your pick. I like the way sunlight shines off them.


Quite a few householders have set those ground-level lights along walkways or around their house. I'd think they're a bit hard to mow around, but they look like a low-power way to light things up.


As it says on the City of Sauk Centre's Tourism page: "I-94 Raceway / Racing every Saturday night." The raceway's own website seems to be down right now. Too bad. They put on fireworks displays now and again: we can see them from an upstairs window. There's advantages to living this close to everything else in town.


You want Americana? We got Americana. Home-grown, spontaneous. The sort of thing that happens when there isn't a neighborhood association to keep people from expressing themselves.