Take Me Out to the Ball Game

Yesterday we did some walking around the new Twin's Ballpark - Target Field. Games were being played by high school teams, so that was kind of special for them and for their families. It was a beautiful day to be out walking or watching baseball. We saw a few of the Light Rail cars go by while we were there. I actually managed to take a video of this with my camera and not ruin it by sneezing or having someone walk in front of me.

Bad Weather - Ouch

Half of this tree landed across the street in this neighborhood. Hopefully it didn't damage the house across from this one. The road was either blocked or very slow going in the morning. One thing's for sure, they won't have as many leaves to rake in the fall.

I took this photo in early afternoon so this shows you how quickly everyone got out and cleaned up the tree, branches and twigs. Other than the obvious missing branches, tree trunk stumps, and some missing sidewalk squares, you wouldn't realize how many trees were damaged or destroyed. Our neighbor read in the paper that 2000 trees were affected!

Bad Weather, No Parking

This tree did a lot of damage to the fence and yard, and possibly some damage to the house. Or perhaps it is more than one tree, or this tree caused a domino effect and brought down other tree branches. I do wonder what it sounded like when the tree hit the ground, but I don't actually want the chance to ever hear it. Do you notice the No Parking sign? Look further down the street. Typically the signs are about six feet tall. This one was pushed down into the ground by the weight of the tree. Perhaps if it had fallen from a little bit different angle, it would have bent the sign post. But this sign is going to be difficult to take out. Yeah, I know, they probably have the proper equipment to yank this sign right out of the ground and replace it with a new one that is the correct height.

Bad Weather - Something's Gotta Give

The tree split off and most likely blocked the driveways for a while in the morning. As you can see, when the tree got uprooted, it took the sidewalk section with it. The people in the house in the background suffered no visible damage to the actual house. The homeowner said that if the tree had to come down, it came down in the best place. His wife then reminded him to stop talking to all the passersby and keep raking.

Interestingly enough, a few houses down was another tree that made it through the night and through the storm. It had a large red painted dot on it. That means it is destined for cutting down. Too bad it couldn't have toppled instead of this one.

Bad Weather Makes Weakest (Chain) Link (Fence)

This tree tipped over at its base. It may be that the roots girdled the tree and tipping over was inevitable. Tree experts and city foresters will tell you that many trees have been planted wrongly. See next post for more on that.

This tree landed on a chain link fence. It did not do much good for the fence. I think there may be some damage to the house also. You can see different views of the base of the tree trunk. It would be interesting to have the city forester look at these different trees and speculate on why some trees toppled while others held their ground.

At least the two boys found that a tree is much easier to climb when it is close to the ground!

Bad Weather - Tipsy Tree

This tree tipped over at the base. I'm not sure, but it might be a Linden tree. We used to have a Linden tree. It was about this size, maybe a little bit bigger. One night, one windy night, it tipped over. Just like this one. Most likely it was root bound. For future reference, when you buy a new tree and plant it, the roots should not be confined inside a burlap root ball. They need to be stretched out or cut so that they don't eventually girdle the tree at its base.

I only did a quick Google search, but here is some information from the University of Minnesota about the correct way to plant a tree. Pay special attention to the section with Figure 3. Cutting pattern for rootbound container stock.

Later in the day on Friday, this tree had been cut back to the point that it was just a trunk with a few short branches at the top of the trunk.

Read the next post for lots more information about the storm.

Bad Weather

We were promised bad weather for Thursday night by all the weather gurus and we got it. It turns out that there was a tornado in the northwest part of town that was responsible for the worst of it. Some homes suffered a lot of damage. Roofs are gone, garages separated from houses.

Our part of town was luckier. There were downed branches and trees all over, but not the extensive damage that was caused by the tornado. On the way to work, people often had to figure out quick detours because many roads were blocked off.

I will digress here just a little bit to say, "People, the street is blocked off with barriers!" We watched about ten cars drive through on the green light and weave their way past the saw-horse barriers that had been put on a street. Large branches were easily visible and yet they drove through the barriers. In about fifteen seconds, they all had made a U-turn and were heading for a different route. "People, the street is blocked off with barriers and you can see tree limbs, huge tree limbs in the street!"

Anyway, some people had to call co-workers for rides to work because they could NOT get out of their driveway. All day long you could hear chain saws. By late afternoon, most streets in our area were cleared. Some of the trees were trimmed just enough today for traffic to get by and the rest of clean-up will be tomorrow, but I was amazed at how quickly and efficiently it all got done. Our neighbors were out in their yards doing clean-up. People down the street sawed off the parts of the tree that were blocking the sidewalk. The street cleaners were out getting the smaller twigs and leaves out of the street so that they don't clog the storm drains. Insurance claim cars were driving in the neighborhoods. It's like well-oiled machinery.

Rain Rain Go Away

Yes, I understand. We are the water planet out of the eight or nine planets in our Solar System. (Sorry Pluto.) But I am getting tired of the constant dribble and drizzle. Everyone's grass is getting so long. I worry that the beans I planted will rot and I will have to replant again and it will take that much longer before I have beans to eat.

Of course, for me, it is just an inconvenience. Luckily we have had just steady light rains for the most part. Down in Oklahoma and Arkansas they are having flooding with property damage and loss of life. So we don't really have it that bad at all. Just the natural tendency of people to complain about the weather all the time. If it's hot, we want it cooler. If it's raining, we want it drier. And if it's hot and dry, we want cool, wet weather.

This photo shows the grass next to our garage. I counted over 140 mushrooms where we usually have none. Wednesday is what I hear for an appearance by the sun.

"Gentlemen, start your lawnmowers."

Powell Gardens

I think I enjoyed the various metal sculptures and trinkets scattered throughout Powell Gardens. This reminded me of the child's game of Jacks, although these large spheres don't look anything like Jacks.

Powell Gardens

I will be posting photos and commentary from various gardens this summer. Today I will start with my first photo from Powell Gardens in Kansas City. There was a small greenhouse area attached to the main building. It was, how do you say.... very humid in there! I would imagine in winter these plants would be especially nice to see.

Check out the website for Powell Gardens. From May 29 to October 3 there will be Big Bugs at the Gardens. I do mean Big. I wish we could have seen these bugs, but we will have to be satisfied with all the normal sized bugs in our own yard.

Happy World Metrology Day

Metrology as in measuring things. Also important is Standards. It would do no good to say something is three meters long if we all used a different standard for how long a meter stick is. Our world would be pretty messed up if we didn't have standards of measurement.

Let's say you want to buy some property in Florida. You are told that it is 40 acres and will cost a pound of gold. Sadly for you, the acre that the seller is using is only the size of a cereal box. However, luckily for you, the pound you are using for gold only weighs as much as a marshmallow.

So, standards are good and insure that we can carry on all kinds of commerce, use medicine to heal us, know how long it will take to drive to Florida and back (to view your property), and more uses than you could count in an hour!

When is it Actually Spring?

Most people around here say that seeing a robin is the first sign of spring. I disagree. I have seen robins in December, drinking at our (heated) birdbath. Some of them stay for the winter, opting not to make the long flight south. It is one of the signs of spring, but not the only one.

Some also would say that when the juncos leave and fly north is a true sign of spring. And yet still today there are juncos around. Dandelions are up, at least a few of them. The grass is greener. Trees are starting to bud out. Magnolias are in bloom.

But what I used to consider the real sign of spring was a centipede in the house. We saw one just a few days ago. It was a young one, hiding unless you knew where to look. Let's just say that he went swimming and leave it at that.

The final sign of spring for me was seeing my first earwig outside. This is not a sign I relish. I do not like them as you may know if you have been reading and following closely. He was outside in the sand that moments later was swept up by the street cleaner. If I saw one, then I am quite sure there are thousands more hiding out under leaves or planters or mulch.

Earwigs are a sign of spring that I could do without.

Happy Pi Day

And yet another Pi Day comes and goes. Where are the cards from Hallmark for this occasion? Why is it not a national holiday? I guess the best we can do is to think of circles, diameters and circumferences on St. Patrick's Day and make that suffice for our celebration.

Of course I shouldn't complain. I could have baked an Appl Pi and I should have. I have no good excuse.

Everybody will just need to celebrate as best they can. Maybe next year I can send out Pi cards to all my friends and family.

Lift Bridge Cover-Up

No, that's not my clever title. I found it over at a really neat website with cool webcams and great photos. It's Duluth Harbor Cam. The Cover-Up he's referring to is the planned painting of the bridge. Not a fun time to be working on the bridge, but in the summer when the bridge is going up and down as ships arrive, well you can see how that would be even worse.

You can watch some short time-lapse videos of scaffolding and poly wrap being put up on the north tower of the bridge. It's really interesting to watch. And as I remember how I struggled trying to untangle Saran Wrap to put over a cake pan of cinnamon rolls, I am impressed how effortlessly it seems to be done. The scaffolding is being done by Scaffold Service, Inc St. Paul, MN. The painting will be done by Rainbow Painting Co.

Spend some time looking at this website, including the archives, and more info, (on right margin), and Northernimages link (at the top). It's just like being in Duluth except without the cold and the wind.

Hoar Frost

We had three nights of foggy weather and therefore three days of hoar frost. The trees were all so beautiful. I wish I could have taken photos of all the lovely landscapes I saw as we drove to Twin Cities or just shopping around town. Some of the best views were in places that it would have been too dangerous to stop and snap a photo. But here is one just to give you an idea of the friendlier side of winter.

Happy Palindrome Day

01.02.2010

The Strib had a short, short article noting that today is a palindrome. So everyone go out and celebrate.

Oh, and also... Happy New Year!

Birds and Blizzards

The birds have been busy at the bird feeder. I have seen as many as four female cardinals at one time on the feeders. I've also noticed that the juncos are perching on the feeders now to eat and not just eating off the ground. There is room for 10 or maybe 12 birds at one time at our feeder, so often the birds have to wait in the tree for their chance to get a good spot.

We are winding down from our first significant snow of the season and it has been a blizzard. So far we have about 10 inches. Schools, churches, and many businesses are closed. Meetings have been postponed and smart people are staying off the roads if they have the option of staying at home.

Student Dashboard

Occasionally I look at the webcam from the University of Minnesota's Institute of Technology. Today the weather is great. At lunchtime there were lots of students walking on the Mall, plus students sitting on the grass studying or talking and even two guys playing Frisbee. I looked around a bit more at the other links on the IT website and found that they even have a link to find food and restaurants in the area. It's good to know that they can keep important stuff in focus.

Colder, Windier, Rainier

"The livecam is currently unavailable due to the weather. Enjoy this photo of Lake Superior big waves."

That's from the Visit Duluth.com Livecam today. It could be that there's just raindrops showing up and blocking the view or maybe it's all blurry from blowing back and forth in the wind. I didn't really think there would be kids playing at the beach today.

The LSMMA webcam shows the true weather in Duluth. I can't see that it's colder, but I'm pretty sure it is. The water is browner that usual. I'm assuming that is from the wind a few days stirring things up so much. The green gates are open again today. There's more water on the sidewalks than a few days ago when I last posted. And at about 10:30 a.m. some of the lights are on.

Perhaps summer really is gone.

Cold, Windy, Rainy

One week ago I got my flu shot. I wore a short-sleeved t-shirt. It's amazing how quickly the weather can change. We have not had frost overnight here yet, but we have come close. It's 50 degrees now and raining on and off, mostly on. It's been like this for a few days, so we can sadly bid summer good-bye.

Today I have been looking at the Duluth Web Cam at LSMMA, the Lake Superior Marine Museum Association. It is really, really windy there. The green gate is closed, the waves are reaching the top of the canal wall and all the sidewalks are wet. Even so, the Web Cam usually shows a person or two braving the blustery winds and rain to take a look at the canal.

The photo shows a warmer, calmer day with lots of people watching the Walter J. McCarthy departing Duluth. I took this photo at 11:11 a.m. on 11/11 of 2006.