Friday Cat Blogging

Sam stops to smell the flowers.

 

Don't forget to check out the Modulator's Friday Ark.

Flashback 1977

In the summer of 1977 with myself and my 4 siblings in tow, my Mom drove us from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, to the Cascade Mountains of Washington. Our destination, a place deep in the forest called Holden Village. This was a trip sponsored by Grace Lutheran Church , and without a doubt ranks at the top of my experiences growing up.

Pictured here are myself, flanked by two of my brothers, Steve and John. We had just completed a long hike to a lake where we planned to spend the night. Fearful of bears and other night stalkers, I "chickened" out, and made the return hike back to the village. If I recall correctly, my Mom ended up carrying my pack most of the way back.

 

Here I am again standing with my pack on, with brothers Mike and John in the foreground.

 

Hanging with John and Bei

We spent Sunday afternoon with John and Bei at their new house. The kids had a great time seeing their cousins. Here are a few of the sights from that visit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Interesting Weather

We've had some interesting weather lately, Sunday it was a cold weather funnel, this morning a rainbow, and this evening many smaller storms rumbling through. This set of clouds made for interesting viewing while I was grilling out.

This shot is looking to the East from my back deck.

 

This shot is looking Southwest.

 

Here is a shot looking due West from Towanda Avenue.

 

Morning Rainbow

I was on my way to work this morning and I noticed the clouds off to the West looked very ominous. I considered the possibility of a rainbow, but then soon forgot as I melted into the morning traffic. Then, as I was making my way around the curve on Veterans Parkway as it veers to the West, I saw it, a bright double rainbow. I managed to get a few shots of it, but unfortunately it was already fading before I laid eyes on it. Even fading, it still qualifies as the bright point of my day.

 

 

 

 

A Visit From Lisa

Lisa drove out from Sioux Falls to spend some time with us. Here she is with a very happy Michele, who has missed her friend dearly.

 

Funnel Cloud

We were driving South on Main Street at around 4:20 pm this afternoon, when we noticed what appeared to be a funnel cloud off to the West. This seemed kind of odd since the sky didn't look all that threatening. I stopped the car a few blocks North of Downtown Bloomington and captured the following photos. Within minutes of taking these shots, the funnel disappeared back into the clouds.

 

 

 

We saw the funnel again about 10 minutes later by The Den golf course. If you look between the houses you can see the funnel running horizontal across the sky. We watched it for about 10 minutes as it slowly dissipated into the clouds.

 

One of my photos was shown on WEEK News at the beginning of their Weather Segment. The Weather man identified this phenomenon as a Cold Air Funnel. I also spoke to a guy at work who saw the photo aired on another local network. I missed recording that one since I forgot to set up my VCR. Sounds like it was very similar to the one I did record though.

Blog Rating

I wasn't surprised when I tested my blog's rating, and it came back as:

Mingle² - Online Dating

This blog will always be rated G, well, my definition of G anyway.

Friday Cat Blogging

Dolly does a close up

 

As always, plenty of animals to see at the Modulator's Friday Ark.

Flashback - 1979

Steve Shea and I posing in the Bighorn National Forest. We planned this trip for a year, hiked up into the mountains and lived off the land for two weeks. Well, not exactly. We lived on the land, but not off the land. We brought freeze dried food, added water and heat, and lived like kings. It was a great trip, I hope to get back there someday.

 

Summer Run Club

Here's Alex as he finishes up a 2.5 mile run with the summer run club. They get together three times a week, putting in between 2 and 4 miles per run. He's thinking of doing cross country in middle school next year, and this seems like a good way to train over the summer, plus he gets the opportunity to meet some of the other runners at the school.

 

 

 

Rec Softball - Rain Out

Most of the team huddles under a tree - probably not the safest place considering all the lightning - to keep dry.

 

The official approaches to let us know the game is cancelled.

 

Looking to the North East as the storm rolls over the field from the South West.