The Blow is Over...Kind of

Yesterday, last night and this morning gave us nine inches of new snow. The bad part was the wind and drifting. We had a few five foot drifts that needed our attention after the 35 mph winds re-arranged the snow for us. The winds have died down to about 20mph and with the temperatures in the single digits, we have wind chills of minus 20 to 30.
For now I have all the snow blowing done. Of course, that wasn't without incident. Each Fall I put up reflectors that stand about four feet tall that line our one-third mile lane. This year I forgot all about them so while on the tractor I had to guess where the lane was. With the big drifts and blowing snow I had to guess where I thought the lane was. Needless to say, I ran the tractor off the lane and buried it. We hooked up the logging chain to the four wheel drive pickup and Sue pulled me out.
I wish I would have gone to work today as it would have been a whole lot easier!
The pictures really don't show the drifts, but at least you will experience a bit of winter at Coyote Ridge.

Let it Blow

Winter is officially here at Coyote Ridge. The weather prognosticators are calling for a blizzard warning through Wednesday night.

Blizzard Warning in effect until midnight CST Wednesday night...
Tonight
Colder...windy...snow. Areas of blowing and drifting snow. Snow may be heavy at times. Snow accumulation of 4 to 6 inches. Lows around 5 above. North winds 15 to 25 mph increasing to 25 to 30 mph after midnight.
Wednesday
Windy. Snow in the morning...then a slight chance of snow in the afternoon. Areas of blowing and drifting snow through the day. Snow accumulation up to 1 inch. Storm total snow accumulation of 8 to 10 inches. Highs 5 to 10. Northwest winds 25 to 30 mph. Wind chill readings 15 below to 25 below zero.
» ZIP Code Detail
Wednesday Night
Colder...breezy. Partly cloudy. Patchy blowing and drifting snow in the evening. Lows around 10 below. Northwest winds 15 to 25 mph shifting to the west 10 to 15 mph after midnight. Wind chill readings 17 below to 27 below zero.

We are hunkered in with the fireplace roaring and plenty of provisions to get us through the blizzard.

Eight to ten inches of snow is fairly easy to deal with...but...when you add winds of 30-35 mph, that is a different story. We will be drifted in for sure as I can blow out our country lane and it will be drifted in again within an hour.
I speak from experience, wait till the winds calm down, then hit the drifts with the tractor-blower combination.
Aahh....a day off in the middle of the week.

Stay tuned for pictures!

He Survived....So Far...

The firearms deer hunting season is on it's last leg as it ends Tuesday. Each day at about sunrise and sunset you can hear shots ringing out from the woods surrounding us here at Coyote Ridge. Last Sunday morning shortly before 7:00 I heard 32 shots.
Anyway, I could go on about people shooting carelessly trying to bring down a deer, but I will save that for another time.
I checked the trail camera Friday after work to see what critters may have wandered into it's path and was happy to see a nice buck that has so far survived.
As always, feel free to click on the picture for a larger image.


There will still be deer hunting after Tuesday. The bow hunters and muzzle loaders will still have their shot a the whitetails for a few weeks.

Mountain Lake,MN

We had the day off on Wednesday and decided that a road trip was in order. We piled into the truck and off we went. As usual, we had no idea where we were going. We got to the end of our country lane here at Coyote Ridge and literally had to stop and decide....turn right or left. Left it was and we we were off to who knows where.
We took all back roads, mostly gravel, and saw lots of new areas, or new to us anyway.
For years we have passed by a town called Mountain Lake, MN and never pulled off the highway to check it out. To say the least, we were impressed.
Mountain Lake website
We discovered a very nice city campground that has water, sewer and electric hookups for only $20 per night. It was very clean, well maintained and priced right. Looks like we will be adding that campground to next season's must do list.
We stopped and had a late lunch at the Parkside Depot Restaurant in Mountain Lake. The owner, Ron is a swell guy and a real train nut.

Do yourself a favor, next time you are anywhere near Mountain Lake, stop in. The train atmosphere is great and the service and food outstanding.

Last Leaf Removal Of The Fall

This past Saturday we spent about five hours doing one last leaf pick up here at Coyote Ridge. The only leaves left on the trees are the Oaks that will drop right after we change over the tractor from the mow mode to the snow blower mode.
We had to wear our blaze orange vests and hats while working because the firearm deer hunting season started Saturday and it sounded like a war zone out here.

For a larger image, click on the pictures.




The next order of business is converting the tractor over to winter mode with the attachment of the three stage snow blower and chains. Our son Ben helps with that every year. It is nice to spend the time together with him.

Saturday night we had supper at Sue's folks home. Once again Harv and Molly outdid themselves with a fantastic meal that was topped off with fresh dutch apple pie.

On the way home we saw the deer I am sure many hunters were looking for. It was pitch black and all of a sudden Sue exclaimed "DEER!" Standing in the middle of the dark country road was a beautiful ten point buck. I brought the truck to a stop about 20 feet from the trophy and he just stood there staring at us. After a few seconds he ran off into the ditch and out across a field where he disappeared into the darkness.

I was out on our back deck Sunday morning shortly before 7:00 watching the sunrise and the early morning calm was shattered by gunshots. Before the flurry was over, I counted 32 shots. Now, there must have been a huge herd of deer or hunters who were terrible shots. I have never heard so many shots in such a short period of time. I hope the big buck we saw wasn't involved.
Tune in again soon for another edition of "Now What Are They Doing?"

No Way!

On our recent trip "Up North", we ran into a cool place in Coleraine, Minnesota.
It is called Mt Itasca

They have several ski jumps there that are used for Olympic training. I can't imagine racing down the slippery slope on skis then launching into the air and being expected to land with some amount of control!

Two weeks ago they hade ski jumpers competing...without snow!
With the assistance of $130,000 in funding from the MASC, the Ole Mangseth Ski Jump was outfitted with plastic mats to allow for ski jump training and competition during the non-snow months. Since this addition was completed in 1999, usership and economic impact at the facility have increased significantly. Athletes from throughout the U.S. have trained in Coleraine for extended periods of time – at formal training camps lasting as long as ten days. Both the U.S. National Ski Jump Team and the Nordic Combined Development Team trained at the facility in the past two years.

This fellow has pretty good form...considering!


Once again...I repeat...NO WAY!


If I ever get the urge to do something like that, I will slowly walk to my recliner, sit down and wait for the urge to pass.

Fall Colors At Coyote Ridge

Today was a beautiful sunny day, the kind of weather that makes Fall such a nice time here in Minnesota. I spend about two hours on the tractor this morning chopping the leaves that had fallen the past week. By the end of the day today I am sure the ground will be covered again with leaves.

In the meantime, I have a few Fall pictures for you. As always, you can click on the pics for a larger view.

Our country lane leading back to Coyoter Ridge:


We are back in the woods completly out of sight of any gawkers that may be traveling the back country roads.














Highs in the low 60's and sunny....gotta love the Minnesota Fall!

This One Likes The Camera!

You never know what is sneaking around outside when we are not looking, case and point would be this deer that is not camera shy!

Click on pic for an even better shot>

With deer opener right abound the corner, they had better find their hiding places.....and fast.

Hawkins Mine-Nashwauk,Minnesota

I am glad to see that some of these big old open pit mines can turn into something useful after the mining operations are done. This one time open pit is now a recreation area.
Feel free to click pics for a larger image.



The Iron Range is an interesting area. It is full of small mining towns and they are all quaint and well kept. Here is Nashwauk,MN...where the Hawkins Mine is located.


Tune in again soon for another edition of "Now What Are They Doing?"

Fall Pictures From God's Country

Northern Minnesota is a beautiful place, espically in the Fall> This past week we spent a few days up there enjoying the beauty of it all. Of course I have some pictures for you. Feel free to click on the pictures for a larger image.





The very next day after these pictures were taken we had some snow up there. Glad we could get some pre-snow shots for you.
More pictures soon...so stay tuned.

The Kids and the Twins

Ben, Anna and Andy (the baseball addict) went to a Minnesota Twins baseball game Sunday afternoon. Andy wanted to take in a game while he was in town because it was his last opportunity to see his favorite team play in the Metrodome. The Twins will be moving to their new stadium next year.

Of course, we have a "self" photo from his iPhone.


Hang tight for more photos as we attended the wedding of our niece Jaime this past weekend.

Tune in again real soon for another edition of "Now What Are They Doing?"

The Red River is Doing It's Thing

As many of you know, I work for the American Red Cross and am very proud of it's mission and it's people.
It is times like this that I am especially proud of those who volunteer to rush into harms way in hopes of making a difference.
There is great sacrifice...time away from work (many times without pay), time away from family and many times, the absence of a warm comfortable bed to get a few winks.
On their own time, they spend countless hours in a classroom or in the field taking the necessary training so that they can be prepared for duty like they are experiencing as you read this.
For a week now, many of our volunteers from our chapter have been on the ground serving thousands of meals to other volunteers filling sandbags, building dikes and those that have been displaced from their homes wondering if they will have a home to come back to.
Others from our office are working in shelters and others (our Red Cross nurses) are taking care of the physical needs of our clients and our workers.
And then we have our mental health professionals. The mental health needs of those worn thin by the pressure are great.
One of our mental health professionals from our office writes a daily blog and he has captured many of the thoughts and feelings.



"Colleagues and Friends

An quick email sent out this morning around 8:00 a.m. bounced back to me, so
if you are getting a second one of these, I apologize. This is an update as
of 7:00 p.m. Thursday, March 26th.

This has been a brutal two days for the people of the Red River Valley and
its tributaries. Temperatures have been in the 20s with winds upwards of 30
m.p.h. Driving in yesterday was in snow, the last 60 miles over glazed ice.
Sandbaggers and volunteers are working 24/7 against a water that fails to
crest and continues to refuse to follow predictions; it continued to snow
all day yesterday and last night. The latest word is that the crest will
not come until Sunday and when it does it will be 2 or more feet over the
1997 levels. Optimism and hope are continually bashed by more snow, wind,
and rising water. Many remember the last floods and have discovered that
those anxieties never went away, they have just been dormant. Local first
responders often serve at personal cost to their own homes; while they are
busy evacuating others, their own property is at risk--heroes in the truest
sense of the word.

Mental health was immediately assigned to the field yesterday. Most of
yesterday was spent in the rural areas which are, for now, some of the worst
impacted areas--when and if we could get in because the roadway was still
above water. In many instances, it is the only strip of land which is above
water. I-29 south of Fargo is about 12 inches from being covered. We have
worked with assisting agencies within the federal govt (FEMA, Coast Guard,
National Guard) and local law enforcement to support local citizens as they
are evacuated by air and water. If you had told me that the Coast Guard
would be rescuing people in North Dakota driving airboats across snow
covered and packed fields and miles and miles of flooded lands, I would have
said you're nuts, but that's what we've been interacting with for the last
two days. We have also worked the helidrop areas with evacuees. Shelters
are beginning to get more people as additional areas have to be abandoned.
A typical scenario: After days of 24/7 sandbagging on an "island" of high
ground and keeping the water at bay, homeowners lose their home when water
collapses the basement walls and rises from underneath the house. They are
evaced by helicopter or airboat with a couple of garbage bags full of
clothes and the family pets--if there's not enough time for both, then they
come with the pets. And this story is repeated over and over. A
90-year-old woman is airboat evacued; she declares it to be the most
excitement she's had in the last 30 years.

Tomorrow we return to work with the Fargo area emergency operations center
to serve both staff and clients as needed. These are short days--only 12
hours each. Longer days await all of us. We are tired, but that is to be
expected, and the least we can do for those who need help."


This is a rough time for everyone involved....both the residents and the thousands of volunteers.
I am so very proud of our Red Cross volunteers who have put their lives on hold and live by the words "Service First Before Self."
I am also proud of my staff who have worked so hard training these folks so they could be totally prepared, wherever they go.

The needs are so great right now and if you are wanting to help, you can do so by making a contribution to the Red Cross. Here is the link.
American Red Cross

It costs money to provide this service and we rely on the public for that support.

Im am sorry (not really) for such a serious post, but I just had to recognize some of our folks who are working so hard to help.

Tune in again soon for another edition of "Now What Are They Doing?"

A Minnesota Sunset

The other evening we had another beautiful sunset that just had to be captured somehow.
Sue grabbed the camera and collected some digital images from the back deck for all of us to enjoy.

Click on the picture if you would like a larger view.




With daylight rapidly fading away Sue clicked off a quick shot of the woods to our South from the same vantage point.


About a half hour after that picture was taken it was dark as night but as noisy as one could ever imagine.

The noise all started with one coyote letting out a howl. It was immediately followed by yips and howls from at least 40 more of the brush dogs who all seemed to be in competition with one another to see who could be the loudest.

It was indeed a concert to behold.

Tune in again soon for another edition of "Now What Are They Doing?"

Tornado Towers

If you lived in the Mankato, MN area in the 70's and 80's you were well aware of this landmark.

In about 1971 some guy had the brilliant idea that this concept was the wave of the future.

People would purchase a mobile home and a crane would slide it between the concrete supports. Then when they wanted to move, a crane would drag it out of it's nest and they would put wheels under it and haul it to it's next concrete and tin highrise.

Well, the idea flopped. Once those babies were put in they stayed until they fell apart and torn down by the city.

I will say that I knew someone who rented one while we were going to college. They were pretty nice inside until the winds blew. At that point it got interesting. They would shake, rattle and almost roll. Propped fifty feet in the air made the pucker factor rise several notches.

About the only thing nice about that place was the fact that all you had to say was Tornado Towers and everyone knew what part of town you were talking about.

Thanks to my brother-in-law Chris for sending me this picture to show you.
Tune in again soon for another edition of "Now What Are They Doing?"

Great Food!

In my last blog I promised you I would tell you about the great food we enjoy from our favorite little Chinese restaurant.

It is called the Hunan Garden on Belgrade Avenue in North Mankato,MN.

The restaurant eating area is very basic but the food is to die for. We get takeout from there once a week and it is fabulous.

As you can see from the pictures, the servings are huge!

All that food for $24.00....and that is enough for two people...or four meals.

Here is half the food dished up.


I am hungry all over again just looking at the pictures!

Tune in again soon for another edition of "Now What Are They Doing?"

Friendly People

After work today I did my part to ward off the serious side effects of the flu. I went to one of our Walgreen's stores and rolled up my sleeve and told the person in the uniform to be gentle. Apparently the clerk in the camera department was not authorized to give the shot. He told me I would have to go talk to someone else.

I felt a little foolish rolling up my sleeve like that so I figured I would really look prepared for the shot. I walked over to the fragrance department and dropped my pants notifying the painted lady behind the counter that I "was ready".

Now that move really got the ball rolling. In mere seconds the store manager was running down the isle waving his arms. So being the friendly person that I am, I started waving back. These folks are really friendly. The woman behind the counter was also waving her arms, kind of like the guys who wave their arms at the airplanes as they are about to hit the terminal.

This was turning into a real party except for several older ladies who rushed out of the store covering their eyes mumbling something about democrats. Those same blue haired ladies met several police officers who were rushing in the door. They were also very friendly as they were waving their night sticks at something. MMMmm bees you suppose?

The cops worked their way back to the crowd that had formed around me and said something to me about pulling up my pants.

Now what the heck was this all about? I thought I would drop my pants in advance so they could give me my shot without having to wait for me. By this time several other people had formed a line behind me and dropped their pants as well. It took them a bit longer to drop'em because they were carrying little brown bags with a bottle in them. I suppose they were just trying to keep up their fluid levels prior to receiving their shots. They were soon arrested for drinking in public and taken back to the shelter.

And me? How was I to know that I was to get the shot in my arm instead of the butt?

No harm done, just a little mistake. I am now looking for another location to receive my shot. I have been banned from Walgreen's. One of the cops said that I may get the immunization at the jail when the public health department is there taking care of the inmates. Now what would I be doing at the jail? My court date is next Wednesday.

Check back soon as I am going to tell you about the best Chinese food around.

As always, thanks for stopping in and make sure you visit again for another edition of "Now What Are They Doing?"