June Brides

Can you find the redneck bride? June is the month of brides. We have a wedding to attend next weekend but haven't seen any June Brides up close.

All the young ladies in white were entrants in a contest to make a gown from toilet paper. Good effort; the cost considerably less than the real thing.

Double Bubble

Thursday night, this was the view from our yard. We first heard them. They make a whoosing noise when they hit the gas to raise the balloon. There was another one that followed this one. When I got up at 6:00am today, I heard the familiar sound and another balloon was drifting overhead quite low. I hope we see more when friend Barb is here in July. Years ago, they launched these about a mile from our house and we saw many drifting over the house. Nice air traffic and certainly quieter than the 747 runway we lived near in Minneapolis.

Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?

Will the real Rod Stewart please stand up. Jannie, Jon's sister, noticed this Rod look-alike at the History Cruising in NSP. She wanted her picture taken with him, and he obliged. In person, he resembles him even more, but I think he knew that.

Could It Still Be Called "Rush" Hour?

Got the final email from son Andy in China. He heads home 6:30am their time, or 6:30 pm Friday, June 29. He has three flights to hip hop his way home. Hopefully, things will go smoother than the trip there.

He sent a link to a You tube video and said that it is accurate and exactly like the traffic he has seen. There are many accidents and deaths. All the auto traffic is new to this country that is full steam ahead into the 21st century. No one enforces what traffic laws are on the books. I got the picture off the intranet. Watch the video.

Link: http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/06/28/247746.aspx

Yeah!

January 15, when I had my annual physical there was some bad news. I had developed diabetes and my cholesterol was 235! Are you getting any exercise, the Dr. asked. He probably already knew the answer. January 15 was day one of a lifestyle change. Yesterday, when I went for a return appointment, he was impressed I had lost 50#.(I seem to be at a plateau.) They drew labs and he called me with the results this am. My cholesterol went from 235 to 98. Yeah. Good incentive to keep on. I was not so sure I could move that number significantly.

Stillwater, Minnesota -- Birthplace of Minnesota

Picture: Dr. Mayo's boat, the first boat to cruise under the "new" lift bridge in Stillwater, when it opened in 1931. The bridge is still in service although traffic has outgrown it. Since the 1960's some have been trying to get a bigger river crossing built. They have talked about it the entire 24 years we have lived in this town. It gets close to being a deal and then something slows it down. The St. Croix is a National Scenic Riverway and permission was needed to build another bridge. The Sierra Club members sued to stop another bridge and finally a local city council in Oak Park Heights refused their permission on the access. The fight continues. Last news I heard was it will be built in the next 5 to 10 years but I am not holding my breath. Many of us don't care if they can move traffic faster; we want the old bridge to remain intact. It probably will be left as a pedestrian bridge if a giant bluff to bluff bridge rises downstream.

When we moved here from Minneapolis 24 years ago, we were amazed at the small town services. When it snowed the trucks were out plowing residential streets during the storm. They returned after the snowfall to plow again. We had lived in Minneapolis 17 years and your street got plowed within 3 to 4 days after it stopped if it was an 8 inch snowfall. I guess it wasn't necessary to plow less than 8 inches. They never plowed the alleys. We had a guy with a blade on his truck that lived on our block and plowed the alley. You needed the alley open to park your car. Couldn't get many cars on those snow clogged streets and you couldn't leave it there if they actually plowed. I was impressed with Stillwater Public Works. Today I am more impressed. When we were biking on neighborhood streets yesterday am, Jon noticed a lot of small pieces of broken glass on the street. A pattern emerged of a spot of it in front of almost every house by the driveway. He remarked, it looked like the recycling truck had been spilling broken glass. They had been through the day before. When I walked a few different streets in the afternoon I saw the same thing. I called Public Works and left a message asking someone to check it and perhaps sweep the streets. This morning at breakfast we heard the street sweeper doing his job. Can't beat that for service. I love this town.

Tetris Anyone?

Link to new show on NBC lineup this fall. American version is adapted to the popular Japanese game show. I think the set builders have their work cut out for them and may need to enlarge all the props to configure to American bodies.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bK63uSTTNs