A September Flood in Minnesota?

Even landlocked schlubs like me are pretty attuned to hurricane season. Mid-August to the end of September is the window of time that invites hurricanes into the south Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico. Otherwise, severe weather in other regions of the country are usually not a problem at this time of year.

In 2010 we seem to have turned natural tradition on its head . . . at least in Minnesota. On Wednesday evening in Northfield it started raining and it rained all night and into the following day. It rained HARD. It didn't stop raining until 4:30 or 5:00 on Thursday afternoon. We're told that the accumulation was somewhere between 5.5 and 7 inches. Superficially, that seemed innocent enough. However, that same level of rainfall and more happened over a wide portion of south central and southeast Minnesota and given what we know from experience about rivers, it guaranteed that the next several days could get quite interesting at best and at worst, devastating.

Communities south and west of us received 8-10 inches of rain in the same 24 hour period and all that water fed into the Straight River and the Cannon River, waterways that directly affect Northfield. Within hours the water level in downtown Northfield began to rise and by 4 or 5 a.m. on September 24 it was reaching record levels. I took pictures at about 8:30 a.m. and the power of the river was not only stunning, it was terrifying. I've lived in Northfield for a significant percentage of my days on the Earth and I can tell you that since 1956, there's never been an event like this. There was a major flood in 1965, but it didn't hit as hard or as fast as this one. I don't think it crested as high either. And as I write this at 8 p.m. on Saturday, the river is still moving at the same manic clip (7-8,000 cubic feet per second) at roughly the same height (25+ feet). I can't even comprehend the total volume of water that has passed through Northfield in the last 48 hours. It would constitute a good-sized lake.

The Ames Mill Dam is nearly irrelevant

The Minnesota National Guard took up positions last night to maintain a perimeter and moved folks back about 100 yards from the water on both banks from 2nd St. to the HWY 3 bridge. Businesses fronting on Bridge Square and Water St. on the east bank and businesses on Water St. on the west bank were closed today. The Tavern Restaurant is going to serve breakfast at the Grand on Sunday morning because they've been forced to suspend operations in their location in the Archer House.

Sandbagging to protect the west flank of the Archer House

The devastation is actually much worse in other communities. Whole blocks are underwater in Owatonna and roads are overrun or washed out in many locations. The governor has declared a state of emergency in 34 counties and will most likely call a special session of the legislature to provide relief to the affected areas. Zumbrota is an especially hard-hit community. We're fortunate that no one has been seriously injured nor have there been any fatalities that I know of.

The forecast for the next seven days is for above average temps and lots of sun so when the river level begins to fall the land can start to dry out, but it's gonna be a slog for days to come. And that's when we can start to retrieve the thousands of sand bags that were thrown down yesterday and help the property owners downtown clean up and reopen. Our work has only begun.

A Summer Revelation: Get a New Mouthpiece!

I've been playing trumpets and cornets for a long time, but I've never had anyone tell me to try a different mouthpiece in pursuit of a better performance. I sorta feel like an idiot for not figuring out for myself that it might make a difference, but that's my story. I began to get a clue about the gap in my knowledge (after all these years, just exactly how many of these so-called "gaps" are there?)  this past summer when mates in the community band started jabbering about the different mouthpieces they used. That's when I started hearing about "backbores" and "cup" sizes and "rims" and other minutiae. The thing of it is,as I've since learned, all of that stuff really matters.

I became curious and started to google the web for information. For the past seven years my trusty, everyday mouthpiece has been the Bach 7C. I've got a Bach 10C in my case for some unknown reason and it's been a reassurance of sorts, but I've never actually used it (and owning it wasn't the result of a conscious decision!). The Bach 7C was part of the original purchase and I never thought another moment about whether it was the right one for me or if something else might have been better.

In the search process I discovered two websites by James Donaldson,  The Trumpet Gearhead and The Schilke Loyalist. Here I found advice on choosing the right trumpet, cornet, mouthpiece, mute, and several other dilemmas facing the trumpet and cornet amateur. Donaldson acknowledges that many trumpet players begin their study with the Bach 7C mouthpiece. Sound familiar? When the student is ready to advance beyond the beginners level, he highly recommends Schilke mouthpieces and in particular, the Schilke 12A4A as a strong and satisfying "everyday" mouthpiece. So that's what I purchased.

 

I actually bought a couple of Yamaha mouthpieces with which to experiment, but I haven't found the time to play them yet, because the moment I put the 12A4A in my horn I was smitten. I haven't had that kind of revelatory experience in a long time. I suddenly could play stronger in both the lower and upper ranges. It was visceral! I find that I'm not missing as many notes as I usually do (particularly in the upper ranges), I don't get fatigued as quickly as I'm used to, my sound is brighter and bigger, and I'm hearing myself better. It's a phenomenal change.

I haven't had a chance to do any ensemble work with the new mouthpiece yet, but that will happen soon. In the meantime, I'm beginning my horn life anew and hoping to proselytize on the subject of mouthpieces. This is too good to keep to oneself.

                    

 

It's Just Like a Styrofoam Cup

The bike pros have been telling me recently that a fella needs a new lid every 3-5 years. Even though I'm on my third helmet, the updates so far have all been serendipitous. I bought the first one sometime in the 80's when it became apparent (at least to me) that these tools weren't just for time-trialing freaks, they could actually prolong your life in certain circumstances (the likes of which I didn't want to experience, thank you very much). That was my Rhode Gear Darth Vader helmet. The second one I bought when it was clear to me that the first one was beginning to look a little odd and antiquated. The third one wasn't even the result of a conscious decision on my part to abandon the second one, but was a gift from my forward-thinking and two-wheel companion daughter.

As I was gearing up for the Defeat of Jesse James Days Bike Tour, I had two different bike professionals alert me that wearing a helmet that wasn't going to crack into multiple pieces upon impact was important and asked me if I knew how old my current helmet was? 3-5 years is the max, that's what they said. They said "when they're done, they're kind of like frozen styrofoam cups: if they're too old, when they hit the ground hard, they're going to shatter, not protect." Whoa, that wasn't what I signed up for.

So what should I do about it? I could go with the fine offerings from Giro and Bell, which is what all the pros do. The Giro Ionos is a fine helmet and when I tried it on I was sold. However, I hesitated. That's when I first learned about the Lazer line of helmets. I found them because of my catalog buddies at World Cycling Productions. They declaimed the Lazer as the "Best-Fitting Helmet Ever." I still didn't budge. Actually, at this point I was kind of paralyzed. I didn't want to make a mistake I might regret five minutes after I made  my choice. During the Jesse James Bike Tour I used the services of Mill Town Cycles to correct a chain slip that was annoying me, and I received confirmation of the assessment from the folks at WCP. Yes, the Lazer is the best helmet, hands down, of anything out there, according to Ben Witt of Mill Town Cycles.

Well, that kind of talk spoke volumes to me. After the ride and a shower, I trotted right down to Faribault and picked me up one o' them Lazer's. I've used it on a couple of rides so far and I have to admit: I've never worn anything on my head as comfortable as this. My latest life lesson was a confirmation of the wisdom of speaking personally to another human being in the process of making a decision.You can't go wrong with that strategy.

I actually wanted a yellow Lazer, but Ben didn't have one in stock and I didn't want to wait. Red was my second choice and I'm very happy with my purchase. It's going to get a real workout in a couple of days. Chequamegon here I come!

Musical Mania

For some reason (I'm sure I'll remember it one of these days) our household has been gripped by "Musical Mania" for weeks now. We've been renting and re-running movie musicals until we can't see straight. Besides the many fantastic performances and creative concepts, we've been stupified by the enormous number of movies that qualify for consideration and review. We thought we'd seen 'em all!

As a case in point, over the past weekend we watched "Brigadoon", the Gene Kelly/Cyd Charisse fantasy by Loerner and Lowe about a little Scottish town that time forgot and that we just happened to stumble upon. Neither my mate nor I had seen the movie before, but we were both sure we knew what that plot was about. Our ideas were contradictory and yet in the end, neither of them was correct. It was enjoyable nonetheless. The sight of Van Johnson tap dancing is really sweet and I didn't know that Liza Minnelli's dad Vincente, directed the movie. There's all kinds of connections to make.

Another show that neither of us had seen before was "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers." Besides enjoying the preposterous nature of the story (what musical isn't based on a preposterous premise?), we realized that one of the actors, Russ Tamblyn, played a major role several years later as Riff in "West Side Story." Unless you do this kind of retrospective exercise (or you have an enormous memory bank), you might not make connections like this.

We've seen "Hair", "Carousel", "Showboat", "Flower Drum Song", "South Pacific", "Oklahoma",  "My Fair Lady", "West Side Story", "Brigadoon", "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers", and "Yankee Doodle Dandy". In our queue we have "Oliver", "State Fair", "Damn Yankees", "The Unsinkable Molly Brown", "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat", "Rent", and "Godspell". I guess we could watch "Fiddler on the Roof", "The Music Man", "Sound of Music", "Phantom of the Opera", "Paint Your Wagon" and "Bye Bye Birdie" again, but maybe we can postpone those since we've seen them countless times. Our copy of "Funny Girl" wouldn't play after multiple attempts. Ghrrrr!

                                                    Mitzi Gaynor in "South Pacific"

We'd appreciate any suggestions from the audience. What have we missed?

The Shelf Life of Blogs

This is my second attempt at blogging. The first was a few years back and lasted for about six months until I either got distracted or lost interest. I don't recall the reason I stopped. That effort was focused on the public sector, particularly physical community infrastructure and why things did or didn't happen on a particular project. You can still read it if you're interested, it's called "How Come? If You Don't Ask, You May Never Find Out."

Now that I've begun another blog, I wonder how long I'll stick with it. This one's going to be more personal, but I'm not sure if that will be a better motivator for blog longevity yet. It's only been a couple of weeks. I know there are folks who have multiple blogs, but I don't know how they have the stamina for it. Some probably get paid for their work, but most probably don't.

I'm curious if there are any data that examine the average shelf life of a blog and estimate how many inactive blogs there are in the blogosphere. Conversely, what blogs have endured the longest? I know there are several bloggers in Northfield that have been at it for seven or eight years or longer. That's impressive.

If I really get rolling, maybe I'll pick up "How Come?" again and shine a light of some more recent projects. Or maybe not. After all, that bench on Lincoln Parkway is still there looking as forlorn as ever. It hasn't been repaired yet nor has it been painted.

Searching in the Past for Family Connections

I spent several vacation days this past summer exploring the stomping grounds of my Minnesota ancestors. My mother's people settled in the west central part of the state, her mother's folks in Dawson and her father's folks in Madison. I visited the area many times as a child, but didn't really get a feel for the intensity of the connections until now.

My first stop was the Lac qui Parle Historical Society in Madison where I was able to locate newspaper obituaries of many of my kin and also identify the relevant cemeteries in the county. Between all the members of my family in the county, we were major land owners. My mother's uncle, Sam Holtan, owned a farm that was larger than 500 acres, probably the largest single holding in the county at the time. None of these properties passed down more than a generation.

I appreciated the opportunity to visit the graves of my great-grandparents, Hansine and Nils Tryggeseth and my great-great-grandparents, Johanna and Ingebrit Lindeseth. I felt as though I've known these folks my whole life, but finally got the chance to actually meet them. It was a little strange, but very powerful. It took me about 45 minutes to actually locate the Lindseth's. Their headstones were completely covered by an overgrown bush. I had to hack away a number of branches before they were easily visible. It was worth the effort.

T-6 for JJBT and T-13 for the Chequamegon

OK, so if you're interested, we're counting down the days until the two biggest cycling events on this boy's calendar. Well, excepting for Le Tour de France, Giro d'Italia, the Tour of California, etc. No, we're not talking spectator sports now, we're talking "let's clip in and get 'er done". It's 6 days until the Jesse James Bike Tour in Northfield and 13 days until the Fat Tire 40 which starts in Hayward, WI and ends in Cable, WI.

My first Jesse James ride was in 2003 when I managed the 30 mile ride. I've since done a 60 and three century rides. I can't remember why, but I missed the 2009 event. This year, I'm planning on doing another 60 since I really haven't gotten enough miles in the saddle so far to do a century. My daughter and I did the MS 150 in June from Duluth to White Bear Lake, but that was almost three months ago and I haven't kept up the pace.

Actually, the more pressing personal need is to be ready for the Chequamegon 40 in two weeks. This is a fat tire race that's half on the Birkebeiner Ski Trail and half on the gravel roads of Wisconsin. It's a serious challenge and I'm hoping to make up time on my PB of 4:30:03. That's really not very fast, but you have to have something to shoot for.

Paul, Nick and Dan get ready for the 2009 Chequamegon 40

Today I set out on my training run in the rain, because I missed the 2008 affair (a real washout) and since I've never ridden in inclement weather, I thought I should get a little practice time in during conditions that weren't ideal. It turned out to be a very enjoyable ride, lots of grit and splash and slippin' and slidin'. Fortunately, the temperature was quite comfortable at about 66. What kind of unnerved me was the amount of sand that got into the cassettes and the derailleurs. It made a fairly unpleasant sound and made me wonder whether I needed to do something to clear it out. I need to give my brother-in-law a call. He'll know.

Memories

As I was driving into town today, I saw a guy seal-coating his driveway: pushing a swab back and forth with some seriously black stuff on the pad. I instantly flashed to my dad doing that on a fairly regular basis at the old homestead. He's been gone almost four years now, but it's moments like these that bring him to mind instantly. It's actually not even a deliberative process. I'll be thinking about something and  some tableau will present itself (sometimes out of the corner of my eye) and my dad pops into my consciousness (happens as well with memories of  my mom).

I'm not sure why I never seal-coated the driveway (I participated in every other preventive maintenance activity around the place: mowing, painting, patching, cleaning, etc., but I didn't. It's possible that my brother got to "assist" with the driveway and saved me the hassle. Sometimes it's a matter of timing and nothing more.

Andrew,  Bob, and Tripp--Christmas 2006

Suffice it to say that I don't care about seal-coating or who did what, when. Anytime I get the chance to relive times with my folks, even it's just in my head,  I'm there.

It's All About the Wind

Every morning, one of the first things I check is the direction and speed of the wind. At the end of our driveway (in pursuit of the morning newspaper), I can see enough of the St. Olaf College wind turbine to determine both of those facts. Thursday, the wind backed around to the west after days of delivering steamy, hot southerly flows. Friday morning, the temperature dropped about 15 degrees and the clouds were scudding past to the southeast at a good clip. They resembled barge traffic on a big river, lots of barges. In fact, it was one of those skies where it seemed like the world had flipped upside down and all the action was where you weren't.

It blew with real intensity all day yesterday, not stormy, but just constant, something that is not uncommon on the prairie. The kind of wind that actually causes the turbine known as "Big Ole" to stop its work. There can actually be too much wind for even a giant like that.

This morning it's all quiet. A beautiful, sunny day with just a slight breeze. Perfect for any kind of outdoor activity, especially one on two wheels. I just have to decide which bike to use.