I can now check a few more things off my bucket list. This is due to the second pre-class reunion get-together of some of the boys from the Red Wing Central High School Class of 1973. With our 50-year reunion next year, we were supposed to start planning it. I didn’t think it also meant … Continue reading "The Boys of 1973 Take On Colorado"

When telephones were first demonstrated, callers weren’t sure what to say to someone they couldn’t see. In one such demonstration one side said, “How’s the weather there?” The excited reply was “Oh, we’re not having any!” OK, we know that even warm and sunny summer days are weather. We do, however, retain the right to … Continue reading "How’s Weather in Your Personal Microclimate? "

It was the July 4 holiday at the family summer cottage. What could go wrong over just three or four days? Plenty, as it turns out. Let’s just get the weather out of the way. We were stuck in a pattern of almost everything – warm, hot, cool and cold. We had it all. Not … Continue reading "Real Life Adventures of a Holiday Weekend "

Have you ever wondered what people think about Red Wing as they pass through or arrive for a planned (or unplanned) visit? If you’ve lived here for awhile, I bet you don’t have to wonder. You’ve heard first-hand the good and the bad. Government and business entities study this in detail. And you can read … Continue reading "A Local’s View of Visitors to Pretty Red Wing "

We live in a world where even good things can have a downside. I’m talking about technology advances, often marketed as life-changing improvements. These are the “smart” devices and programs that allow us to monitor in detail a myriad of things, from our heart rate to who’s at the front door. In fact, not that … Continue reading "Future Tech Rules Our Lives Today "

Customer service has become a marathon that you can never win. Recently, our four-year-old refrigerator’s ice maker froze up, repeatedly. It had worked well for more than four years so I figured I just needed to check the internet on how to defrost it. There were numerous detailed instructions and videos on how to do … Continue reading "The Cold Truth Behind a Failed Ice Maker"

Did you enjoy spring? I think it was on a Tuesday this year. Most of us follow meteorological seasons which means that spring is March 1 – May 31. Assuming that, we will have maybe three weeks of decent spring weather this year. With the long, cold winter followed by a cold spring I was … Continue reading "Surly Spring Staggers Toward Summer"

Dad shifted the car into high gear, then leveled the speed. We were going about 25 miles per hour. Birds were passing us. That was the speed of Dad. In the car, around the house, doing just about anything. He was very methodical. Maybe careful is a better term. And that made him slow. At … Continue reading "Viewing the Countryside from the Way Back "

We buried Grandpa last week. He was the older of our two cats that I’ve mentioned before. His real name was Arthur and he was more than 16 years old. I’ve called him Grandpa for probably the last five years when he began to slow down. He was a rescue cat who was a mile-a-minute … Continue reading "We Grant A Gracious Goodbye to Grandpa"

How do Minnesotans know spring has arrived? The calendar says there’s more daylight than darkness. That’s about it, except maybe the first barge passing through Lake Pepin. Everyone has already gone through the seed catalogs and mostly decided on what the year’s plantings will be. But that doesn’t mean it is truly spring yet. Meteorological … Continue reading "Winter’s Great Weight Becomes Spring’s Great Wait "