These boots were made for walking, past the main downtown party area, or especially as well for hoofing and negotiating late-night rehab work on the evening before, as is fitting, Labor Day weekend. (This is one of give or take a dozen stores that have changed hands in the last year in the immediate area, as a new tenant is giving it a go and trying to rehab the building with a fresh start, but more on that later). I first saw this kinda Midnight Rider of mop washing front windows, on my way over to Dick’s, before leaving on a vacation in the true spirit of (Anti?) Labor Day? He was then to be well seen, with future store lights fully blazing unlike those low range LEDs Hudson has installed to serve “street light people” badly. And away he went, scrubbing up the back area by a doorway on my way back from Walnut Street, as I am reporting now after being on holiday in the Bahamas, yeah believe that one? Maybe the mopper, in the true spirit of Mott the Hoople, is one of those musicians who is having trouble getting gigs these days … so whistle while you work? Unless that attracts groupies, because we’re told we’re not supposed to have such groupings these days, especially since a three-day-time-off has now proven via the virus to be the newest culprit To End Our Search For A New Summer Of Love. Or is it in the air, that the summer is out of reach? Empty beach? Empty Street?
And then there was later in the week, when the upside down, plastic party table with legs propped straight up like a hunted deer, had actually been put in place for use after being hauled onto the driveway, from its resting spot on the edge of the lawn, or would that be sand from their recent project?
(That beach is not, though, out of reach for Captain Crunch even come fall snacking now that football has resurrects, and I know this ‘cuz it says it on the box, and you know all advertising is the truth?!? Word has it that he is holed up now, upon retirement, with Jimmy Buffett and showing him even more munchies. But HudsonWiNightlife will give you even cheaper and more nutritious advice sooon in yet another such round-up, so stay tuned).
But also a member of The Labor Party, on a different front, but still such handiwork to be seen, is the extensive sidewalk reconditioning (euphanism) being done in front of the little pink houses largely, as opposed to the big business buildings, on the west side of Second Street. To start, there is the five-foot-long small sand and not sidewalk demarcation in the form of sawhorses front and back, on the far north end of the work zone, that were actually setting partway in the midst where concrete should be. At two places further down, there was an actual pit the size of a trio of motorcycles where the sawhorses were in a level place but not fully to the curb, connected by police line tape, BUT NOTHING THAT COULD PREPARE YOU WELL FOR A FIRM DROP, such as drop-C guitar. To be fair there has been some piling of sand in them by workers since then. But maybe this is a hope for hoidy toidy Hudson, the two unabated parking spaces in front of Nor-Lake has signage that read only 15 minute parking, at least at some peak times. OK, that won’t be time enough for last call on the recent three-day weekend …
But to the south, at Art Doyle’s Spokes and Pedals, there was hope for the people who don’t make enough money to drive BMWs, they would be closed all through the three days, with a kudo for Saturdays off with pay for their workers. But that doesn’t help the whole newly burgeoning and moving in bicycle crowd they could be serving, but not until Tuesday. In another form of transportation that could be viewed as emergency, and at least for some in the crowd that laments the lack of public transportation in Hudson, as I guess we don’t have enough college students living and working here and attending at UW-RF, there were more astute climes in St. Paul. I saw them (over by Alary’s?) where their were pay-per-ride scooters, much taller than wide, but some of these were toppled over onto the sidewalk beneath. Is there a point to be made that maybe their sidewalk needs concrete attention? Or maybe as visual as musical, that you’ve had too many and are in need of focus, that could be offered by a performance by Concrete Blond. That’s Old School for all those New School trekkers between RF and Hudson.
But being Labor Day, back to the bastion of ways that it was thought your business might be non-essential, so defined back in March in a quick fell swoop, then later adjusted:
<<So taking it to the Capitol if not the streets>>
And what, in what now seems long ago, regarding those stores that were left in limbo by the reversal of the governor’s decree to cease and desist most possibly dangerous commerce, if not essential? It was soon redacted and not a death threat to these adapting businesses:
— What about places like the YMCA in Hudson, which did not say they were forced to cease operations, but were for the most part voluntarily electing to devote their resources to more pressing concerns than bench pressing. That was early on, around the time the complete stay at home edict was announced. But is a fitness club that, importantly, rides largely on religious and spiritual themes, truly an essential service, as there initially was allowance for such rejuvenation? The signs on the door announced this temporary new direction, but day care and preschool continued to be a go. There was in front of the front door, two long tables with care bags ready to be taken. Each consisted of about five staple food items that were by no means brand names, but hey, these days food is food.
— On the other hand, RJ’s Meats is always a veritable bounty of awards, but that does not stop the virus with messing with larger places not too unlike it in Minnesota. Food processing plants there had at one point become havens for the virus as it moved out-state. Not to suggest in any way that the Hudson shop has any lapse in its obviously outstanding food quality, bolstered by frequency of newer items way beyond venison such as swiss and mushroom brat, but there can be a question posed: When does a butcher shop, for purposes of what businesses were being very carefully weighed for essential services or not, become large enough with their success and thus volume whereby they can be likened to a small processing plant? And in fairness to RJ’s, are grocery stores that serve a vast variety of foods that included a meat shop and deli, (with seating?), be viewed as different from a shop like RJ’s that also has basic groceries in a small scale, but sells much more their staple quality meats? And how do convenience stores, even smaller in scope in all such ways, fit into the picture? With some in the public being very fickle about their food, RJ’s may have an answer, as shown on its big sign, that being a buildup of all sorts of their meats that may not be easy to come by. (And of course being a stanch Catholic at the local church, RJ’s is not open on Sundays, again as their sign makes known). On such a note, as I discussed way back at the start of virus closings, with a Wal-Mart manager as a comparison drawn with Target, when does a “grocery store” become simply a store that “sells groceries?”
— And when it comes to back rooms, some of the initially ordered-to-close “hookah shops,” as not an essential service, might have had an ace in the hole because the order was about sales of legal products to be consumed off-site. A place I know, as being a longtime store in western Wisconsin, was able to have lights on that first night for an hour or two, but said they soon made it sure that the few seats they had at the back of their one large room was not open for any lingering. That was perhaps bucking what could be a trend, of Minnesota businesses knuckling under, but Wisconsin stores looking for loopholes.
— Academies optimistically stated they are celebrating their young athletes promise and pluck by taking it to the virtual realm, continuing to forge forward to teach them using a very active form of online dancing. So they love teaching and supporting their dancers, as for now, home-grown via the magic of a computer. To wit: “Proud to be dancing at home together.” And as a sign seen around and about supports, anyone over age three is welcome at one academy or another …
— Lastly, in another hard to understand initial prohibition, disc golf was a no-no. I doubt that it sat well with a local couple who have won international tournaments on that subject, back in the days they were “playing.” Maybe have to have only wide open par fives? And in a similar up-in-the-air-higher-than-a-golf-ball initial bias as far as stay at home, were noses thumbed at traditional golf courses and as mentioned earlier that you could “nanny” and do day care, but not be an average ank-and-file babysitter. So saved is Mrs. Doubtfire. Campgrounds and fishing and hunting were treated better, in place for their main seasons. And as far as high school sports that force you to be more than six feet away, what about sprinting vs. distance running if someone can break away from the pack, and singles vs. doubles in tennis?
<<There are many kinds of labor. Of these, on Saturday, there will be a car show for charity at The Village Inn lot in North Hudson, their first excursion into this kind of event, which has occurred at long length in the grassy area directly across the street. Coincidentally, at the historic Octagon House a mere two miles to the south, there is running concurrently a vintage style yard sale. Are they, in this day of conserving money and raising money at all costs, even though this is a fashionable cause for donations, taking the route of a high-end pawn shop? Anyway, both events wrap up at 4 p.m., so it’s unlikely you could do the Halloween costume thing of going place to place in a way that’s staggered by the times of judging contests. Unless you’re willing to hit the road running and try to beat the masses, with high speed needed. And a far as Halloween and my upcoming coverage, you haven’t seen anything yet, as in comparison to past years of haunt.>>