A tornado was seen south of The Cities, and its pix posted on social media and thus picked up as a still image by ABC National News, though nothing like that here in Hudson, but strong wind remained right before heading out After Midnight, or just prior, last Tuesday. Crossing into Wednesday.
You know, the last such day(s) that hit the calendar, circa 2024, before The Triumphant Three-Day Weekend.
With that and its potential lag on customer traffic potential, so many up and down and aside the Hudson Main Streets were lamenting about road work, four or more lanes down to one, on various sides of the St. Croix. Side streets included in the disclaimer of, the drawbacks of, laying more concrete.
They might have been doing so also at the upper-tier river crossing as an alternate to Interstate 94, at Stillwater. Commuters can be clever, so there was backup there too, with lines of cars at a reported five or six, even on Hwy. 35, started further back at Lake Elmo — like seen in their berg on its southern end, a few miles east of Hudson, not north. And back to My ABC, Lake Elmo’s own Machine Shed restaurant, with its two kinds of meat with award-winning add-ons of either two or four, now has an ad up and running. This takes good advantage of the north-south cross-traffic.
So if you have an added gallon of gas come the weekend, you might consider crossing the river southward at Hastings, maybe being able to utilize more haste, in a good way. No word yet on if there is such consumate construction on that bridge also. Seemingly, plans of road work and thus travel to taverns can change, literally overnight, depending again, on things like wacky weather.
And across from Hastings is Prescott, in Wisconsin, and they have just wrapped up their own to-do, a tour of historic sites in their town.
Over at Hudco To Go, the chef and owner said that despite the convergence of lanes, business had been good, and if they can even make good when dealing with this ..
Three or four doors down at Micklesen Drug Store, a clerk commented that on her way to work while on the south end, on the freeway, all she had to do, in a good way, was follow the right turn lane — the only one offered — and take it around the curve to her place of employment. Those two rights, or maybe only one, made a right in this case.
At Spirit Seller, the other end of the downtown, the clerk said that yeah, despite all the construction, they will do OK on Memorial Day as there will be plenty of people shopping in their area.
But back to Tuesday, very late night, after road work had killed all other tavern patronage in downtown Hudson. So I went to that last bastion of last call, Dick’s Bar and Grill. (More the former than the latter, as for that you’d have to hit Agave and their very late kitchen close.) And negotiate what people who’d skimped and thus skipped off the clock when not busy for a few minutes, not many as they’re quick up by the main drag, were killer concrete potholes when going through the parking lot.)
There sat at the end of the front bar, four guys, mostly Hispanic, in at Dick’s, but for now little other bar traffic. So gotta say, not much conversing.
But a followup with my bartender friend were my jokes about the current jukebox music by AC/DC, the tongue-in-cheek with every possible metaphor and take on it, Big Balls. (Taken to the wall at the dance.) And I saw they can be actually just marbles, or pellets. Not basketballs, or even baseballs.
But me? There were the aforementioned smaller rounds, two of them further diminishing. Could be even like those on a squirrel? As its physical body size goes down, does in tandem also that down there? What are their size issues? Or stemming from that, side issues? And if you’re an elephant, thus in quantum? A matter of perspective, my wise friend said.
Then when played that funky music by white boys, the first song I ever did live, I noticed the whenever-can-be-squeezed-in drum fills for first time.
Followed in true Dick’s fashion, (or was it the intro?), as their music range is unparalleled if unpronounceable, was Amon Armoth, Thousand Years of Oppression.
Then the regular now-done bartender crowd, from down street, shuffled in.
One of them, Sara says will see on Thursday, two nights later, tapping into the Tap.
The bartender apouring, countered that come four nights later on a Monday, he will again hate Memorial Day, and/or the earlier weekend.