Riding the storm out. Waiting for the thaw out. On a full moon night in the village of North Hudson winter … I’ve been thinking lately what I’ve been missing in the city.
Maybe a few inches, as in two storms later, going under the bridge that joins the two municipalities, a highway-side walkway was shoveled for the length of a football field, then abruptly ended.
That was even after the first snow of 16 inches, where crews seemed to be waiting for the two-days-later mid-week meltdown of virtually all of it, before fully hitting roads moderately traveled to clear snowy debris that could be seen most on their back parts. Let Mother Nature do the work. Neighbors initially, around noon rising, were shoveling out and said they couldn’t recall a situation where plows came out this late.
But then after midnight over a week later, I could hear the beeping of backing plows off in the distance, lending credence to a flashing Happy Holidays sign in the window of a nearby building that has long been vacant, with drifts edged way up the walls.
So after the worst of it had melted, there were two plows within the distance of a pass by Kirk Cousins — note not Aaron Rodgers — who were plying their trade. And come Saturday, and another small snow, they were whipping around the cul de sac next to my place earlier than the football games start.
But between that first 16 inches, and at bookends a storm that put us in the overall-total books at almost two feet, there was the wind-driven weather that features gusts almost reaching the triple digit mark. And wouldn’t you know it, among the damage was to a single-story village maintenance garage, that because of it needed maintenance on itself.
Welcome to the wonderful world of today’s weather.
Just in time for Christmas caroling and such. As far as non-traditional holiday music, it might only be on the 23rd, not a typical day for such tunes, but Marcus Lere will be playing at Ziggy’s. He hasn’t been on most local stages for some time, but what better time than now.
So what follows is an Xmas grab-bag of goodies:
Here is a warm fuzzy for the holiday. A friend returned home from her bartending stint to find the remnants of the windstorm — a Christmas tree ornament had been blown all the way to her front steps. Like a pet, will you please give me a home? The orb was taken out of the cold and left a special place hanging in her garage.
Santa’s secret labor clause? The story of the centuries. The Santas are in short supply this year, and even the mall kind, but especially at the Noth Pole itself. That stems from the fact there are so few elves, because of the labor shortage that even has put a freeze on up-there assembly. That leaves the Clauses with the job of wrapping up putting the toys together, and they collectively are suffering from burnout and calling in sick much of December.
Hardly anyone sends out Christmas cards and family letters anymore, so we have no way of knowing how big the litter was that Muffy had back in March. Could be that most people — of a certain age — think they can get Covid by licking the envelope, especially if is has extra adhesive.
— Some people really give a lick —
A 10 a.m. group dancing class was cancelled for the Saturday following storm one after just about everyone called in. Early Monday was the next go-round.
Then there was the great big green bean donation, seen while stocking up for your stocking stuffer(s) at Lucky’s Liquors and luck would have it those on your list, because there was that great big volume discount, six bucks off your $40 purchase when using coupon! Santa recommended because look at all the elves he has to keep happy. But now I spill the beans. On many Saturays past and also going forward, the people from Surley’s beer products are there collecting groceries for those less fortunate and addressing their holiday cheer as well, but throwing into the mix items that go beyond what you put in your bloody Mary. In those cases and others, veggies and such by the boxload!
Army and Navy played for the 122nd time, covering just barely three different century-marks, going back just before 1900. And you thought the Packer rivalry with the Bears and others was storied, and as a pinnacle, I could have seen half of the games of one, based on my birthdate, but not the other. As old as real war itself? And the Monday night meeting between the Vikings and Bears was billed as the 121st.
That bright light we saw (still) for Christmas/Halloween door decor came from an old trampoline frame, used for that purpose because it couldn’t be out there with the kids, due to the snowstorm, harkening back to that.
— A grab bag for all seasons —
In a last ode to Halloween, big skulls can still be seen on the door of that near-mansion that had a killer costume party, as well as on another door, this time to a much smaller Little Pink House just up the way. So will it be like pulling teeth to find a centuries-old vampire? There? Now? You have to be as long in the tooth as Santa.
On Halloween to start, a “body” at rest stays at rest. A body in motion stays in motion, like a wideout. A body falling into the sea … That then would be not Holy Diver, but that of a different dissent, by the Vikings on earlier Thursday night football, when they as a matter of form almost blew a 29-point lead.
The orange theme was not just, recently, the squashed pumpkin on the road that I saw in those parts, but also describes the absurd brightness of the uniforms and the faces (again) of color commentator and such on our old TV. So what do I want for Christmas? So next Halloween will be brighter? Or not?
As long as I’m harping about that past holiday, with another coming, it was when trick-or-treating that I saw very compacted car/cart/ATV was for sale and perched not along nearby Perch Lake but River Road. Think it may take until the next full moon to sell. That was the case the last time I checked the price, a howling good deal, as to the south in the Village of North Hudson you for months now have been allowed to drive almost anything in that vein on non-state-streets. As long as, these days, you can plow through with your diminutive drive.
What? Enough snow? The heating went out at a local restaurant, so they called it a day of rest. And we’re not talking about Dairy Queen and their ice cream Sundays. But on consecutive Saturdays before Halloween, a different venue offered psychic readings. So they should have know this would happen. And on the second of those days, the reading could conceivably be altered to relect that sudden chill in the room.
— Now that its the season, for, football —
So with that hard-to-freeze pumpkin as dessert, we go again with the origins of orange, as they this time refer to the gridiron. Our old TV shows most people’s lips as brightly that color, not to mention their jersey numbers. Enter the Arkansas Razorbacks, a creature that was said in our living room to be extinct, but the potency of their offense might bear news that is otherwise. And for the big pig, the one who made that comment lived down there for a stead, but as you might guess, had a pot-bellied pig for a pet. Just not quite big enough to be a danger to people, even those who are opposing linemen.
And green might also, again, be a color to be reckoned with, in the form of the Baylor (Green if not Golden?) Bears, if I get their name right; that’s what he said as the primo watcher. Can get a bit moldy from lack of playoff time for a bear to turn that color? But I was told they are now ranked No. 1. Hey, in that vein, take into account the Gopher team from across the way, enough success to scrape the crust off the sides, as in an edge rusher — see I’m listening to your knowledge Mike — but like the Vikings have one or two great seasons, but after that turn smelly like the kind of old cheese only a Cheesehead could love, think back to the 1970s. As Minnesota is led by not Lambeau or Lombardi, or even Holmgren or McCarthy, all good football names, but a man by the name of Fleck. ‘Nuf said. So bring back Bud Grant?
Also, we heard that White Bear Lake is turning bright green, usually a perk of the Pack. It appears to be catching, literally, and not just as algae.
But we steer back to orange, like clockwork. I saw an orange car, with white windows and black stripes, at the station (OK parked across the street and glowing). I swear I also saw Ginger Baker, is that a name that has a similar color connotation?
There is a key line (not lime) to a Dream Theater song that goes: “Seas increase and then fall again.” To the uninitiated, we are not just talking about the tides of the ocean here. And maybe that is part of what Led Zeppelin was driving at with their song, The Ocean. And this fit in with football as we were all gathered around the tube, then the joke: “The Vikings increase and then falter again.” But the next play was a 40-yard gain to the one-yard line. But the runner couldn’t push it in with the ball extended, so more Viking football? (They scored on the next play, but then missed the extra point). So ye (that could be me) of little faith.
Oh no, it wasn’t at Lambeau. At Starr’s Bar, in a conversation back and forth between the bartender and patrons, it was mentioned they would soon be trekking to Green bay for the football game. Uhm, it’s being played in Minneapolis. Their version of the frozen tundra, being watered down. After all, the Norse are from the north, but there is that fjord factor. And will global warming eventually melt down Lambeau for good? (Like the Packer meltdown on a recent Sunday?)
This could be good or bad or similar, come New Year’s Eve:
Yeah, the detour is finally done (or you could say toast, as so many grill and bars were effected), but the boiling-in-the-minds question is if Starr’s Bar will go back to a 2:30 a.m. close on most weekends past (not that of a 2:00 O’Clock for a more recent few), now that the traffic is not longer routed past their place directly, as had been the case for a few days prior to roads really reopening in late fall, in a last twist and turns. But on the 31st, they and most others go to 4 a.m.
See you then!