..Donnie reports:
"It has not rained in 2+ weeks but the heavy showers we got earlier in the month were enough to produce a swarm of mosquitoes.
So, after brief rejoicing over the rain, we are now worrying about West Nile Virus. Most of the infections and death have occured in Texas."
AUGUST 2014
Saturday, August 04, 2012
At 2 PM it was 68 degrees in La Crosse. The windows are open and there's no A/C running. I don't remember how many days it's been since I could say that. I lost count. We've really had some nice showers this afternoon. In the past 6 hours we've picked up 0.96" inch of rain and every drop was more than welcomed!!
Drug dealing in La Crosse sounds like it's becoming a major problem for the city. Read this latest story in the La Crosse Tribune. As I walk down the street, it looks like the same old La Crosse to me, but I guess it isn't.
Friday, August 03, 2012
Autumn will be here before we know it and it will be time to get the slow cooker out. COOKING LIGHT has a web page full of their favorite slow cooker recipes.
Rita and Roger get a magazine called Birds and Blooms that they share with me. The magazine also has a very nice web page that you can link to here. Check it out.
HERE'S THE SHOCKER OF THE DAY: It's so hot in Oklahoma that THE STREET LIGHTS ARE MELTING!!!! Read the story and see the picture here.
Somebody from Chantilly, Virginia was visiting our blog yesterday. Chantilly is home to Dulles International Airport. Wonder if Donnie visited Chantilly while he lived in the Washington area?
Those were the days!
The only chantilly I had heard of, before, was the Big Boppers "Chantilly Lace". Remember that one? "Chantilly lace, a pretty face, a pony tail hangin' down....."
Those were the days!
Rita and Roger sent me this website featuring the most beautiful beaches and coastlines in the world. Rita and I laid out on one, the San Blas Islands of Panama and I got the worst sunburn I ever had in my life on one of the other ones, Coney Island in New York. It was back in the stone age when the #1 song in the nation was Bryan Hyland's "Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini" and, believe me, that was not enough protection from the sun.
There's an attraction at the Wisconsin State Fair that I'm sorry I'm missing this year. The Wisconsin Historical Society is displaying two 60 foot wide murals of Wisconsin farm life that haven't been seen in more than 60 years. They were first put on display at the Centennial Exposition (state fair) in 1948. For more information click here.
We had a reader, from Sri Lanka visit our blog yesterday. That's the first visitor we've had from that country. Sri Lanka is that large island off the coast of India. Read more interesting facts about Sri Lanka from the C.I.A. facts page.
I love this story about the St. Louis, Missouri man who's upset that BUDWEISER BEER is no longer an American company. He's introducing a NEW beer that's MADE IN THE U.S.A. but is it being made in St. Louis, Missouri?? No way, Jose! It's being made in LA CROSSE, WISCONSIN! READ THE STORY HERE FROM TIME MAGAZINE.
There's an interesting story, this morning, in the LA CROSSE TRIBUNE about the record breaking heat this summer. July broke all records as the hottest month La Crosse has seen for as far back as records have been kept.
TODAY IS
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Guess where the watermelon got its start. It grew wild in the Kalahari Desert of South Africa and was known, there, as a tsamma melon. The "desert dwellers" prized the melon as a good source of water. The watermelon is also depicted in the hieroglyphics of ancient Egypt. I'll bet you, also, didn't know that there are over 1200 varieties of Watermelon.Thursday, August 02, 2012
I never thought about this when I was young but, I've discovered that when you get old, little by little, you see everything you knew in your lifetime, slowly disappear.
The latest is film. By the end of next year the studios will stop distributing their movies on film all together. The theaters that haven't gone digital yet will have to do it soon.
READ THE WHOLE STORY HERE AT DEADLINE NEW YORK.
Where are most folks going for the Labor Day weekend? SEE THE LIST OF THE TOP 10 DESTINATIONS FROM MARKET WATCH
I've been to 9 of them so, I guess, I'll stay home. It was interesting to see Lima, Peru on the list.
For 50 years, "Citizen Kane" has been considered the greatest movie ever made but Donnie sent a story from the Hollywood Reporter that says there's a "new greatest".
A panel of 846 movie "experts" says the greatest film ever produced is Alfred Hitchcock's 1958 movie "Vertigo". I don't think I'd agree with that but what do I know?
136 years ago today, Wild Bill Hickock made a fatal mistake. He sat down to play a game of poker, with friends, at one of Deadwood's saloons, with his back to the door.
The Deadwood Pioneer news paper reported, "On Wednesday about 3 o'clock J. B. Hickock (Wild Bill) was killed. On repairing to the hall of Nuttall and Mann, it was ascertained that the report was too true. We found the remains of Wild Bill lying on the floor. The Murderer, Jack McCall, was captured after a lively chase by many of the citizens and taken to a building at the lower end of the city, and a guard placed over him.
As soon as this was accomplished, a coroners jury was summoned with C. H. Sheldon as foreman, who after hearing all the evidence, which was in effect, that while Wild Bill and others were at a table playing cards, Jack McCall walked in and around directly back of his victim, and within three feet of him raised his revolver, and exclaiming, "damn you, take that" fired the ball, entering the back of the head and coming out at the center of the right cheek causing instant death, reached a verdict in accordance with the above facts."
Boy! This makes me feel like a caveman from the stone age!
Rita and Roger's grandaughter, Jessica, is staying with them for a few days.
I babysat her when she was a teeny, tiny baby. It seems like it was just months ago but, apparently, it was longer than that. Just look at her now!
That's the trouble with life, it goes too fast!
Wednesday, August 01, 2012
The weather records just keep on falling. We have set a new record for the HOTTEST JULY LA CROSSE HAS EVER SEEN! If it hadn't been for the watermelon I wouldn't have made it.
By the way, the new format on the National Weather Service web page is just about as worthless as everything else coming out of Washington.
So sorry to hear of the death of GORE VIDAL at the age of 86. I loved his wit and comments.
"Any American who is "prepared" to run for president should automatically, by definition, be disqualified from ever doing so."
"Apparently, a democracy is a place where numerous elections are held at great cost without issues and with interchangeable candidates."
"As societies grow decadent, the language grows decadent too. Words are used to disguise, not illuminate, action: you "liberate" a city by destroying it. Words are to confuse, so that at election time people will solemnly vote against their own interests."
"Any American who is "prepared" to run for president should automatically, by definition, be disqualified from ever doing so."
"Apparently, a democracy is a place where numerous elections are held at great cost without issues and with interchangeable candidates."
"As societies grow decadent, the language grows decadent too. Words are used to disguise, not illuminate, action: you "liberate" a city by destroying it. Words are to confuse, so that at election time people will solemnly vote against their own interests."
Here's a travel reminder: If you're planning to fly and you want to take your pet, most airlines won't accept pets as cargo or checked luggage if the temperatures are above 85 or below 20 degrees along the route. It would be a cold day in hell before I'd put Thunder, or any other animal, in the underbelly of an aircraft no matter what the temperature was but, for those who do, I would hope they'd use some common sense.
Getting hungry? Donnie sent some info on a new restaurant in Minneapolis that was made to order for folks with some Scandinavian blood in their veins.
You might want to check out this website for THE BACHELOR FARMER and keep it in mind the next time you're in the Twin Cities. I can think of a few Norwegians, in the family, that would shovel this food in their mouths like it was gold.
I checked out the menu and I think I'll pass on that restaurant adventure. I'm sure it's great food but my Viking tastes, when it comes to food, ends with the lefse.
While most folks are thinking about getting ready for winter and back to school...there are some lucky ones...like the old folks....that can enjoy the luxury of travel in September.
LONELY PLANET has an excellent article on some great places to visit while the seasons change. Donnie and Willard will be interested to read that the article suggests that this is one of the best months of the year to visit TEXAS and I'll be anxious to know if Donnie agrees that September is a chance for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere to enjoy a second spring with a holiday in Santiago, Chile.
The last time we were at Paul and Dorothy's, Paul showed us "a thing". He bought it at an auction but he had no idea what it was. Doesn't that sound, exactly, like something that a Norwegian would do?
Now, there's a follow-up. Paul says, "Remember that thing I got at the auction and showed it to you when you were here? I took that "what is it" over to Dorothy's dad because he collects tools.
He said, "Oh, yea, I have one of those behind the garage door". Sure enough. It was a twin.
He said it was something to get the hay off the wagon. There is a spot for the rope to go through and, I think, attach to the trigger to make the barbs go in and out. Not sure how it all worked though."
That made me think. Paul, a Norwegian, bought something without knowing what it was. It took his father-in-law, a Dutchman, to tell him what it was.
That explains why I do so many really stupid things (the Norwegian) but I'm smart enough to know it's stupid (the Dutchman).
I put up with temperatures like this, year-round, when I lived in the Valley, and it didn't bother me. Of course, it's supposed to be hot in South Texas and I was younger then.
90 degree weather in Wisconsin, day after day, is another thing. It's not supposed to be this way in Wisconsin and it's plain to see, I'm a lot older now.
Today will be another scorcher with highs in the low 90's and nothin' but sun and I'm tired of this.
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Christmas tree growers have lost nearly all of the trees they planted this spring. They fell victim to the drought. They'll have to plant twice as many trees next year to make up for the shortage. No worry for this year. There are plenty of mature trees to go around. I never thought I'd see it so dry around here.
Not a lot to "fest" about when it comes to corn this year. The Department of Agriculture says 43% of the Wisconsin corn crop is in very poor to poor condition. The reason is obvious. No rain.
Drought and bugs have, also, taken their toll on hay fields. Probably a good thing Roger got rid of his horses when he did. I'll bet hay prices will be sky high this season.
Our mutt was "Skippy", when we were growing up. Wherever Donnie or I were, Skippy was near. Her favorite human, however, was Mother.
Mother always said she didn't like animals but Skippy sure liked her and, when we weren't looking, Mother was nice to Skippy too!
Skippy came to Wisconsin, with us, a time or two. I used to have a picture of her sitting on the floor on the sun porch at Grandma and Grandpa's in Holmen. She was on her best behavior the whole time we were there. Sadly, I lost that picture.
Rita has "dog duty" to celebrate the holiday today. She's taking the dogs to the vet for their annual check up. She's going to drop some off coupons on her way.
Rita has "dog duty" to celebrate the holiday today. She's taking the dogs to the vet for their annual check up. She's going to drop some off coupons on her way.
I suppose part of it is that I spent so many years in broadcasting, but I really enjoyed the DAN RATHER book, "Rather Outspoken".
I have never been a big fan of Rather but there's never been any doubt in my mind that he was totally screwed by CBS. The book makes it clear that Dan felt the same way. That comes as no surprise.
Beyond that, the book exposes television news for what it has become. A pretty shoddy exercise in ratings and revenue and a propaganda machine for the government rather than the watchdog it's supposed to be.
For an inside look at the small minded people who run the huge corporations and the pin head underlings who will sell their soul for a salary, I recommend this book.
Monday, July 30, 2012
SO MUCH FOR SECURITY. Did you read about the 11 year old boy who went through security, in Manchester, England, got on the plane and flew to Rome WITHOUT A TICKET? Yup! Just walked on and sat down. They finally caught on to him in Rome and sent him back home.
I suppose it makes us feel better to have the security so we can believe we have everything "under control". The truth, of course, is we don't have anything "under control". Never have have had. Never will have. Peggy Lee sang it best, "Que Sera Sera".
Scratch Peggy Lee. It was Doris Day. I knew that. I really did but It took Rita to remind me. She's younger than I am but she remembers older stuff.
I remember logging on to the Internet a couple of minutes ago. Anything older than that would require a verification from Rita.
Scratch Peggy Lee. It was Doris Day. I knew that. I really did but It took Rita to remind me. She's younger than I am but she remembers older stuff.
I remember logging on to the Internet a couple of minutes ago. Anything older than that would require a verification from Rita.
Here's an interesting piece of OLYMPICS video that you didn't see on TV. One of the performers in the opening ceremonies wore a hidden camera and captured their entire performance. SEE IT HERE FROM GIZMODO This is what it looked like from the performers view.
It's going to take about 5 minutes to load which gives you time to get a beer or go to the bathroom or bake a cake. Whatever. I think it's worth the wait.
It's going to take about 5 minutes to load which gives you time to get a beer or go to the bathroom or bake a cake. Whatever. I think it's worth the wait.
KNOW WHAT THIS IS?
This was the first shoe store in La Crosse.
Back in the early 1800's, if you needed a new pair of shoes, you came here and the cobbler would measure your feet and make you a pair with a perfect fit. I'll bet they lasted a lot longer than a pair of today's shoes and we know they were a lot cheaper.
The old guy must have been a pretty good cobbler. He was in business for over 60 years.
Where is this treasure from the past? Right across the street from City Hall.
How about a trip to the LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE? The LA CROSSE TRIBUNE has a really nice article on a day trip to one of the homes of the famous author. This was the "house in the woods".
Here's an excellent report on the lowering water levels along the Mississippi River and the impact its having.
Sunday, July 29, 2012
It's taking a long time to bring ECO PARK in MYRICK PARK going but they've added some great new stuff that I haven't seen. There's a story and some super pictures in the LA CROSSE TRIBUNE this morning. I think I'll put "a trip to the park" on my list of things to do this fall when the weather cools off. A few years ago, I walked all the way over to Myrick park. I wonder if I'm still up for taking such a long hike?
Today is NATIONAL CHICKEN WING DAY. That was one of Mother's specialities. Did you know, we eat over a BILLION CHICKEN WINGS each year. Chicken Wing Day was started in Buffalo, New York in 1977 which is why they're sometimes called BUFFALO WINGS.
The other thing we remember about today is that VINCENT VAN GOGH died on July 29, 1890. He was only 37 years old. There's a Dutchman who packed a whole lot more living into 37 years than I have in 72.
Speaking of Dutchmen, there were two Terpstra's in line at the Co-op Checkout yesterday. MARK TERPSTRA was ahead of me with a cart full of groceries. He's Gordies son. Gordie, of course, is Donald Terpstra's son who was Dads only brother.
Donald and Marge operated TERP'S RESTAURANT for many years, on the North Side, next to Logan High School. Whenever I see an old episode of "Happy Days" I think of Terps Restaurant. It the THE hang out for the high school kids after school and the Juke Box would be playing, non-stop, every afternoon.
Sunday dinner at Terp's was a regular weekly affair for many families...if you could get in. The place was always packed. And, if you never had a piece of MARGE'S PECAN PIE, you don't know what really good pecan pie tastes like!
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