Katie’s Beer

AP News - Pilots in a dozen planes flew over parts of Colorado and Kansas on Monday to look for snowbound travelers following a blizzard that dumped nearly 3 feet of snow and piled some of it in drifts 15 feet high. As the aircraft soared above the frozen landscape, utility crews struggled to restore electrical service to tens of thousands of homes and businesses that lost power.

My husband and I spent our first year of marriage(1985-986) teaching in a very small town just 18 miles from this farm. We lived in Towner, Colorado and the nearest place for groceries was Tribune, Kansas. (See map) Local people warned us to be prepared in case of a blizzard (or dust storm), so we always kept extra milk and bread in the freezer. We never experienced any bad weather in the 9 months we lived there; in fact, I really don’t remember it snowing much. Now I have a visual of what those people were trying to prepare us for. Wow!

We did get to experience such a blizzard when we lived in Cloquet, Minnesota just six years later.  Thankfully, we lived in town and rather enjoyed the experience of getting snowed in for three days.  We were prepared.

Tags: winter by TK
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8am - awaken to rain (for the 3rd day straight) and relatives knocking at door. These are the ones who stayed at the Hampton Inn nearby. They’ve already eaten and want to get a head start on the blizzard coming our way;

9am - relatives are now gone, so we madly get ready for church. We have just enough time to make it to the 10am Communion Service. Listen to rumors of Glen Mason’s departure on the Sid Hartman show on the way to church.

10am - A huge crowd! Lots of people with visiting relatives. Can’t hear the sermon so well from the makeshift seating in the foyer outside the sanctuary, but get to receive forgiveness of sins and strengthening of faith (that’s my favorite part anyway). Exit church to giant snowflakes!

12pm - make pancakes and sausages for lunch. I take a nap on couch.

2pm - everyone piles into the van to drive to Circuit City and Best Buy for some post-holiday returns and purchases.

4pm - drive to Super Target at Knollwood to look through the post-Christmas bargains and get something for supper. I buy one Monopoly game (the new version), two coats at an unbeatable price, groceries and three $25 iTunes cards on sale for $15 each

5pm - It’s official. Glen Mason is gone. Gee, that’s a surprise. Blame the coach.

6pm - heat up two Red Baron frozen pizza and load up the counter with appetizers and drinks. Watch the Minnesota Wild beat the Anaheim Mighty Ducks

7pm - break out the new Monopoly game and spend an hour setting up the board and reading the directions. It’s been a LONG time since we’ve played this game.

9pm - Kris pulls out ahead early in the game.

9:30pm- Now I remember how this game brings out my husband’s true character!

10pm - the Packers beat the Bears

10:30pm - Cousin Dylan remarks, “How long does this game go, anyway???”

11:30pm - Theresa quits game and carefully doles out her stash to the remaining three players. Kris quits a few minutes later and does the same.

12:30am - Dylan soundly beats Uncle Rob. Uncle Rob pretends not to care, but Aunt Theresa can see the frustration steaming in his eyes. Ha!

Tags: winter by TK
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I betcha haven’t played a game this hard in a while!

Hat tip to Ballpoint Wren!

Tags: winter, games by TK
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Greetings Fellow Pond Fanatics,
Like you, all of us at Pond Hockey Central are tired of dousing mosquito bites with Calamine lotion, mowing a crispy lawn and cursing the blistering sun. Bring on the ice, snow and bone-chilling temperatures. Bring on pond hockey!
I am happy to report that the 2007 U.S. Pond Hockey Championships are beginning to take form. Please read on for some important updates.
Updates
Game on! The 2007 U.S. Pond Hockey Championships will take place January 19-21, 2007 on Lake Calhoun in Minneapolis.
Registration for the 2007 U.S. Pond Hockey Championships will be based on a lottery model as opposed to a first come, first served system.
Beginning October 1, lottery registrations will open at www.uspondhockey.com .. To register your team for the lottery, you must provide the names and e-mail addresses of at least four players. You will not have to pay to register a team for the lottery. Don’t even try to throw your dirty money at us.
We don’t know how many teams will be entered into the lottery because we are offering a first right of refusal to the top 16 teams from last year. I can rightly assume that these teams will not be fool enough to refuse this offer. Unless they are afraid.
Registration will close November 15, 2006 and the lottery will be held on November 17. At this time we will contact teams that make it into the tournament via e-mail. And, we’ll post team names to the Web site.
Guarantee Your Entry, Connect to the Passionate Pond Hockey Demographic
As you know, the 2006 U.S. Pond Hockey Championships were a huge success… a dream that more than 116 teams, 10,000 spectators, and a few, select brands made into a reality last winter. We generated several hundred news stories about the tournament and connected our sponsors with a very passionate fan base: you, the pond hockey player and spectator. Fans and participants came from all over the U.S. and abroad. The open division filled in 24 hours and last year’s waiting list exceeded 100 teams. Sports Illustrated described the event as “perfect in every detail.”
As players, if you want to guarantee your team a spot in the 2007 tournament, become a sponsor. Sponsorship begins at $5,000 and this secures first right of refusal for team entry.
Picture your company’s logo on custom dasherboards that serve as the backdrop for official U.S. Pond Hockey Championship tournament games. Now picture it artistically adorned by black rubber puck marks from passionate players that appreciate your support.
Please spread the pond word to anyone who would be interested in sponsoring this event by directing them to: http://www.uspondhockey.com/page/Sponsorship.jsp or contact us at 612/338-3900.
Bon Voyage
In other news, Commissioner Steele Arundel has moved on from his role with the U.S. Pond Hockey Championships and will be traveling the world, serving as our International Ambassador. He’s out scouting other places this great game can be played. Maybe you’ll see him on Lake Baikal in Siberia or on an untapped glacier high in the Chilean montanas. If he survives, he’ll send periodic updates about his experiences�
So, now you’re stuck with me, Fred Haberman, co-founder of the U.S. Pond Hockey Championships. You probably saw me at last year’s tournament, fanatically inspecting each sheet of ice. I bleed pond hockey. My passion for the game began when I started hearing the voices of Hobey Baker and other pond hockey greats at the age of 3. Since then, I’ve logged 5,235 hours in 20 below weather, frozen nose hair and all, to make people’s backyard rinks better than Lake Placid. So, that’s a little about me. I’ll send another update soon.
For now, keep praying for 40 below weather in September� and I’ll see you on the pond.

Fred Haberman, Commissioner
U.S. Pond Hockey Championships

Tags: winter, hockey by TK
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Last night at the start of the snow in Mankato from BLC’s live webcam

We were hit with a huge snowstorm overnight. You know, the kind that would have made national headlines on the East Coast. We Minnesotans chuckle when NYC gets a blizzard that shuts down the city; the same thing in Minneapolis barely makes the news. We just dig out and continue on our way. Not today, though. For the first time in many years, schools were closed along with most businesses. Some people lost power, but we were only annoyed with internet outage until 3pm. It took us (translated to husband) until 2pm to blow the drive way - I shoveled the back and front steps, thank you very much. My son grudgingly brushed off the cars and then entertained himself by allowing our red tabby cat to “escape”, run excitedly about five feet, have a “what the….” moment and then carefully work his way back to the porch. No, it wasn’t torture…just good entertainment for a few minutes. That cat lives better than some people.

Monday afternoon in Mankato from BLC’s live webcam

Anyway, today was a Snow Day for everyone in the family. I really don’t remember the last time that occurred. This storm is being compared to the Twin Cities version of the Halloween Blizzard of 1991, but it pales in comparision to the true Halloween Blizzard of 1991 - Duluth style! It snowed for three days and when it was over, we opened our front door to a four foot snow drift. Thankfully, we had food, water, heat and electricity…and everyone was safely home, so it was actually fun. Our daughter was only 2 1/4 years old and I was 8 months pregnant with our son. We did not own a snowblower back then, so I was out there shoveling with Rob. Do you think that ANY of our northern neighbors had any sympathy for an obviously pregnant women shoveling her driveway? Nope! I was careful and the pregnancy continued on well past its due date, so no harm done.

Ironically, Randy Thomas is posting photos of pretty yellow flowers blooming in his yard and was live blogging from the beach over the weekend. Ugghh! Well, good for him.

Pretty yellow flowers of Florida

I could try live blogging from my home office looking out at the giant pine tree loaded with snow, but the only exciting thing that happens is that snow sometimes falls off the tree , a squirrel runs by or a car rolls by very slowly .

Live blogging a snowy day from a really bad cell phone photo through a black screen - the view from my home office desk

Tags: winter, snow, BLC, cats, son by TK
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