Citizens

1) Just think, in exactly 40 more years from today, I'll be twice as old as I am. Today.2) It was a night, much like this one, exactly 40 years ago...3) Yes... I understand... I'm sure I can have another 40th birthday... sometime... in the future.4) Man! If I had a doughnut for every birthday I've had in my life, I would have 40 doughnuts right... about............. now.5) Do you see that

If one only knows about the ELCA from news media, the impression is probably that dissent over CWA09 bubbles up here, there, and everywhere.  While that is true in some congregations, the thriving ministries in most do not receive press attention.  But, a positive news article from my old stomping grounds of St Cloud, Minnesota, [...]

There’s a semi-secret open house today, 6 pm at City Hall (see mtg PDF) on the big 4th Street East reconstruction project (see the Division to Nevada corridor map PDF).

I was surprised that the recommendation is to remove the eleven trees currently growing on both sides of 4th St. between Division and Washington and instead of planting new trees, replace them with hanging baskets and planters (PDF).

The 4-page concept PDF shows ‘existing photos’ of the trees on page 3 but they show the trees in winter time, not exactly a fair visual representation of what would be lost. So I dug up some 4th St. photos from my archives.

It seems to me that eleven trees make for a lot of greenery that can’t be made up by hanging baskets and pots.

See the Sat. Nfld News: Council to vote on Fourth Street plans.

Brian Hilgardner, an engineer with Bolton & Menk Engineers & Surveyors working on the project, said arborists evaluated the street and recommended removing several. He said some trees were in poor health and said the lack of space both below the surface and against the buildings didn’t allow for proper growth. Because of the buildings, the trees weren’t getting adequate light.

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MPR’s Paul Huttner blogged that we hit a record high of 64 degrees today. It sure brought people outside in downtown Northfield.

Don’t put away the long underwear just yet, though. We’ve had more than a few late March snowstorms, include some blizzards that have names.

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I was going to roast a pork shoulder for dinner tonight but my wife and daughters went to see Mamma Mia, making a roast impractical, so I decided to break through the fat protecting my recently made rabbit confit and taste the early results.  After a day outside in the early spring sunshine, not turning on the oven was fine with me. 
Every batch of confit is different, and the changes I made while using rabbit for the first time worked well.  Encasing the legs in a sheath of pig skin, and keeping the oven under 200F for the long, slow cooking really preserved the flavor and lightness of the meat.
Unlike duck or goose legs, rabbits don't have any protective skin that wants crisping, so after I extracted the first two legs that broke free from fat, a brief sizzle in the pan was all that was needed.  Good mashed potatoes, and firm brussels sprouts rounded out the plate. 
I had a glass of a Kante 2005 Malvasia from Italy's Carso DOC, a beautiful dry, minerally white wine. The rabbit legs were given a rub of thyme and juniper berry before they were confited, and the lack of fruitiness in the wine let those seasonings continue, in their now-muted role, to linger. 

The girls are into a hilarious (and occasionally annoying) phase of choosing, re-choosing, and re-re-choosing their pajamas every night. Tonight after bath, for instance, Julia put on a crazy pair of purple jammies that attract her with a complicated Ariel-the-mermaid motif but repel her with scratchy synthetic fabric and tight elastic cuffs. For her part, Genevieve donned a heavy, warm sleeper right after bath. Not five minutes later, she switched to her favorite bright-green t-shirt/pants set, having (correctly) concluded that the sleeper would be too warm on the night after a 60-degree day. She wore the green PJs until bed, at which moment she took off the shirt, put on a long-sleeve pajama top, and then pulled the t-shirt shirt back on. I asked her, as she climbed into bed, if maybe she thought she would be too hot in all those clothes under all her covers. “No, I not,” she assured me.

No more than three minutes after lights-out, Vivi called me back in, complaining of being too hot. As I helped her out of her long-sleeved top, Julia hopped out of bed, trumping up the usual charges against her Ariel getup and switching into some far more comfortable light-cotton jammies. At least now they’re settled in, if not yet asleep.

Such are evenings at my house nowawdays. For those scoring at home:

Time: 60 minutes
Number of jammies, Julia: 2
Number of jammies, Genevieve: 2.5
Average lifespan of jammies: 13 1/3 minutes
Equivalent number of jammies over 12-hour day: 54

This is a map of the footprint of the 78MW Stella Solar and Atlantic Green Power project proposed for Upper Pittsgrove, New Jersey.  I’ve ehard there are others planned nearby, but that this is the biggest.

Project description from Atlantic Green Power Holding Company 3Q 10-Q filing:

Pittsgrove Solar Farm

There are two meetings coming up about this project:

Informational Meeting

Elmer Grange Hall

Tuesday, March 16, 2010 from 6 to 8:30 p.m.

and the Land Use meeting where the town will approve or deny the application:

Upper Pittsgrove Town Hall

Thursday, March 18, 2010 at 7:30 p.m.

Now you all know how I love solar, from the solar hot water my father designed for the Minnesota Zoo to those simple little heaters you can make or buy:

Build a Simple Solar Heater

Northern Tool sells simple solar air heaters

Every house needs these simple solar heaters.

Solar PV should also be on the roof of every big box there is, and on every home.  But to be clear, I don’t think it belongs covering prime ag fields a long way from load.  That isn’t “highest and best use,” and  just doesn’t make sense when you consider the capacity factor of solar and the line loss over transmission.  So, this project seems odd…

Why do it?  Well, look who is involved and the incentives — means, motive and opportunity — and given that, I hope the town will take a close look before jumping, at the very least, require these conditions (off the top of my head):

1. No ag land be removed from production; and
2. No ag land be removed from ag preservation designation; and
3. Commercial solar be limited to commercial and industrial areas; and
4. Commercial solar be limited to roofs in rural areas.

WHO IS GOING TO BUY THIS POWER?

LET’S SEE THE POWER PURCHASE AGREEMENT!

The article way below, from Today’s Sunbeam, says it is to be built on land that “is currently owned by Ed Stella and will be leased to Atlantic Green Power…” but the Atlantic Green Power site says that Edward Stella, Jr., is the “Vice President of Project Development.”  From what I can see, this is their FIRST project.  Edward Stella as VP?  Really, it’s right here, so we’re not exactly talking about an arms length transaction:

Edward Stella, Jr.

Vice President of Project Development, Director

Edward Stella, Jr. was appointed as the Vice President of Project Development and as a Director of Atlantic Green Power Holding Company on February 3, 2010. He also was a founder of Atlantic Green Power Corporation, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Atlantic Green Power Holding Company, and has served as a Director thereof since its inception on September 17, 2009. He has over 30 years of experience in land development, land clearing and mulching operations. He is the President of Stella Contracting, Inc., one of the largest land-clearing companies operating on the East Coast, and the President of South Jersey Agricultural Products (SJAP), a company engaged in the sale of top soil and mulch to such customers as Scott’s, Coastal Supply, Home Depot and Lowes. Mr. Stella has had the honor of being nominated by Ernst & Young LLP for Entrepreneur of the Year in 2000 in the greater Philadelphia area.

If he’s connected to “such customers as Scott’s, Coastal Supply, Home Depot and Lowes” why aren’t they putting solar on the roofs of those big boxes, where it can be used, and not on prime ag land far away from big boxes?

Atlantic Green Power Holding Company has been in existence since September 17, 2009, and Edward Stella, Jr., has been “Vice President of Project Development” and a “Director” for all of a month.

A press released based blurb provides two sources for more information:

Robert Demos, Jr., President & CEO of Atlantic Green Power Holding Company

and

Howard Greene, Greene Inc., and CLICK HERE FOR GREENEINCPR.COM — HA!!

So now, let’s look at Lodestar Mining… from their site, their ONLY press release listed posts these links for Atlantic Green Power and Lodestar.  CLICK ON THESE LINKS THAT THEY PROVIDED:

AGPH per yahoo

So keep digging - here are their SEC filings

LGST - their own link says “There are no All Market results”

Hmmmmmmmmmmm…

CLICK HERE for Lodestar’s 10-Q for the year ending June 30, 2008, with this statement:

Lodestar’s financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis, which contemplates the realization of assets and settlement of liabilities and commitments in the normal course of business for the foreseeable future. Since inception, the Company has accumulated losses aggregating to $31,301 and has insufficient working capital to meet operating needs for the next twelve months as of June 30, 2008, all of which raise substantial doubt about Lodestar’s ability to continue as a going concern.

CLICK HERE FOR LATE FILED 2008 10-K.

From their 10-K regarding their one option contract:

As of March 13, 2009, the second option payment of $75,000 had not been made. Accordingly, Lodestar executed an extension agreement dated March 12, 2009 with Claim Lake Nickel wherein Claim Lake agreed to extend the term for the second payment to March 13, 2010.
Claim Lake intends to continue to develop its property through additional surface exploration comprising geological mapping, lithogeochemistry and soil geochemistry and diamond drilling. This activity is dependent on being able to raise additional funding.
If we are unable to complete any phase of exploration because we don’t have enough money, we will cease operations until we raise more money.  If we can’t or don’t raise more money, we will cease operations.  We do not intend to hire additional employees at this time.  All of the work on the property will be conducted by unaffiliated independent contractors that we will hire.  The independent contractors will be responsible for surveying, geology, engineering, exploration, and excavation.  The geologists will evaluate the information derived from the exploration and excavation and the engineers will advise us on the economic feasibility of removing the mineralized material.

And this snippet:

Liquidity and Capital Resources To meet our need for cash we closed an equity offering and raised $50,500 in Canadian dollars.  We cannot guarantee that these funds will be sufficient to stay in business.  If we find mineralized material and it is economically feasible to remove the mineralized material, we will attempt to raise additional money through a subsequent private placement, public offering or through loans.  If the funds we raised are insufficient to complete our exploration of the property, we will have to find alternative sources, like a second public offering, a private placement of securities, or loans from our officers or others. At December 31, 2008, we had a working capital deficit of ($137,602), which is currently insufficient for us to implement our business plan. At the present time, we have not made any arrangements to raise additional cash other than through the offering that was registered with the SEC in March, 2008 and closed in 2008.  If we need additional cash and can’t raise it we will either have to suspend operations until we do raise the cash, or cease operations entirely.  The funds raised in the March, 2008 registration offering will allow the company to operate until March, 2010.  Other than as described in this paragraph, we have no other financing plans.
As of March 13, 2009, the second option payment of $75,000 had not been made. Accordingly, Lodestar executed an extension agreement dated March 12, 2009 with Claim Lake Nickel wherein Claim Lake agreed to extend the term for the second payment to March 13, 2010.
As of December 31, 2008, we have yet to generate any revenues. We issued 3,000,000 shares of common stock pursuant to the exemption from registration set forth in section 4(2) of the Securities Act of 1933. On November 15, 2006, the corporation issued 3,000,000 shares of restricted common stock to Ian McKinnon, Chief Executive Officer of Lodestar Mining, Incorporated, that Rule 144 of the Securities Act of 1933 defines as restricted securities.  The shares were issued in consideration for payment of $30,000 US from Ian McKinnon.  These shares will be restricted by the resale limitations of Rule 144 under the Securities Act of 1933. We registered 2,000,000 shares of common stock to be offered at $0.05 per share.  In 2008, we issued 1,010,000 shares at $0.05 per share for a total of $50,500 (Canadian dollars).
As of December 31, 2008, our total assets were $9,806 US and our total liabilities were $147,408 US.

And again, a statement of its tenuous existence as a going concern:

NOTE 2 Going Concern These financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis, which implies the Company will continue to realize its assets and discharge its liabilities in the normal course of business.  The Company has never generated revenues since inception and has never paid any dividends and is unlikely to pay dividends or generate earnings in the immediate or foreseeable future.  The continuation of the Company as a going concern is dependent upon the continued financial support from its shareholders, the ability of the Company to obtain necessary equity financing to continue operations and to determine the existence, discovery and successful exploration of economically recoverable reserves in its resource properties, confirmation of the Company’s interests in the underlying properties, and the attainment of profitable operations.  The Company has had very little operating history to date.  These financial statements do not include any adjustments to the recoverability and classification of recorded asset amounts and classification of liabilities that might be necessary should the Company be unable to continue as a going concern.  These factors raise substantial doubt regarding the ability of the Company to continue as a going concern.

CLICK HERE for latest SEC filings as Atlantic Green Power Holding Company — SUDDENLY IT’S ATLANTIC GREEN POWER HOLDING COMPANY, NEW PEOPLE, NEW PUROSE

And again, the solar project particulars:

Pittsgrove Solar Farm

Something that caught my eye on their site — which is repeated in the SEC 3Q 10-Q filing — a press release that talks about the ARRA incentive, a 30% cash payment in lieu of federal investment tax credit, and federally guaranteed loans and a 30% investment tax credit.  Seems ALL of those would apply here, so let’s say Mr. Stella is  “motivated.”

In the U.S., the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act stimulus bill of 2009 (ARRA) contains several provisions designed to alleviate renewable energy project financing constraints resulting from the economic downturn.

The ARRA establishes a temporary grant program that will allow commercial solar customers to receive a cash payment to cover 30% of the cost of installing solar equipment in lieu of the federal investment tax credit. The ARRA also appropriated $6 billion for a new loan guarantee program which the government estimates could support up to $60 billion of loans specifically for renewable energy and transmission projects. In addition, ARRA includes up to $2.3 billion for a new 30% investment tax credit for U.S. based renewable energy product production facilities.

Here’s the article from Today’s Sunbeam:

512-acre solar farm proposed in Upper Pittsgrove Township By Today’s Sunbeam March 13, 2010, 6:42PM
UPPER PITTSGROVE TWP. — Cropland here may see a new use in the near future after plans were submitted to the Upper Pittsgrove Township Planning Board to construct a 512-acre solar farm here.

The plans call for the solar farm to be spilt into two separate sections— an east site and west site. The land is currently owned by Ed Stella and will be leased to Atlantic Green Power based of Egg Harbor Township, officials say.

“We are talking about a total 72 Megawatts that will be generated,” said Richard M. Hluchan, Stella’s lawyer. “That is enough electricity to service 7,000 homes.”

The east site in total is comprised of 177 acres of farmland located near the intersection of Route 40 and Burlington Road. Ninety acres of that property will be used for solar panels, said Hluchan.

The west site will be located along Route 77 and its intersections with Newkirk Station Road, Colson Road, Bridgeton Road and Jefferson Road. Of that 681-acre property, 422 acres will be used for solar panels, said Hluchan.

“The panels will not be set up in one large mass section,” said Hluchan. “The east site will be split into three sections and the west will be split into 10.”

Extensive landscaping will surround the facility minimizing the eyesore of the panels with trees. Fencing will also be put up for security.

“I understand this is a sensitive concern of the community,” said Hluchan. “Its new and different something they are not used to seeing so we are doing all we can through landscaping and so forth to minimize the view.”

The 512-acre solar project still needs approval from the Upper Pittsgrove Township Planning Board. Due to the scope of the project, residents here will be given their due diligence to discuss what they see as the positives and negatives of the proposal at a public hearing on Thursday, 7:30 p.m., at the township hall.

Mayor Jack Cimprich could not comment directly on this project because he is a member of the planning board, but he did say that the township has received a influx of applications for these types of renewable energy solar projects.

“Its going to be a tough road for these applications to take farm ground out of farming and show how that fits our master plan,” said Cimprich. “Its got to be good for the agricultural nature of this township.”

Hluchan said there are very drawbacks to installing solar panels.
“They basically sit there and absorb the rays of the sun and that turns in electricity.”

Cimprich said there are two types of solar farms — ones for personal use and ones for commercial use. Private solar farms are used to provide energy back to the facility itself while commercial farms are selling the energy.

Upper Pittsgrove already has a number of private solar projects including one at the Upper Pittsgrove School and another on the township building which will be completed by the end of this month.

“I’m very much in favor of renewable energy and the good that it provides to society. It’s a good move because it helps to reduce air pollution and the reliance we have on other fossil fuels,” said Cimprich.

“It’s time we start providing our own energy and that is all part of the equation, but at the same time we have to do what’s best for the residents of Upper Pittsgrove.

Atlantic Green Power will be holding an informational meeting presenting an in-depth look into the design and benefits behind the proposed solar farm at Stella Farms on Tuesday from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at the Elmer Grange Hall.

… means, motive and opportunity…

We were in Iowa for a few days, attending the wake and funeral of my husband's grandma, Mary Lawler.  It's the first funeral my kids have attended that they have been old enough to really remember (they didn't go to my uncle Bill's funeral last year because they were all sick).

After the funeral Saturday at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Eldora, we trekked out to the cemetery, where Mary was to be placed next to her husband Lewis, who died in 2001.  It was an overcast day, and the ground was muddy and slushy – not the ideal place for my fancy heels – but we were able to make our way over to the grave for the brief ceremony.

When we returned to the car, Sebastian said, "Mom, now I know why you pursue your family history so urgently.  When I went into the cemetery and saw all the Lawlers, I thought, 'my history is here.'"

Sebastian, at age 11, is learning what many people don't discover until they're in their 40s or 50s, or even older.  Understanding where you came from helps you understand who you are.  And right now, genealogy is hot.

Or so it appears, based on recent TV programming and the explosion of ancestry-related internet databases.

During the Olympics, NBC heavily promoted its new show, Who Do You Think You Are, which has been airing on Friday nights and follows celebrities including Lisa Kudrow and Sarah Jessica Parker  as they journey into their genealogical pasts.  I haven't yet seen an episode of the show, but I've been getting emails about it from the show's partner, the family history website ancestry.com.  

PBS recently had its own family history show, Faces of America, that concluded March 3 (and I referenced in a previous post).  In that show, Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. traced the genealogy of 12 well-known Americans, including Yo-Yo Ma and Meryl Streep.

There have been more news stories lately about family history, too – think of President Barack Obama, and the discovery that he's distantly related to former Vice President Dick Cheney.

Interest in family history isn't a new phenomenon, but there does seem to be a huge increase in the numbers of people researching their backgrounds.   The internet has certainly had an impact on this, as it has made genealogical research more accessible.  From the comfort of my home in Northfield, Minn., I can type on my laptop and look up my great-great-grandfather's family on the 1860 Illinois census.  I can search eBay and find a photo of my great-grandfather in a Montana cowboy band.  I can meet people on ancestry.com who share a branch of my family tree, and exchange information, all without having to travel to another state or search through dusty court records.

Is this increased interest in family history a result of baby boomers reaching an age where they've become more introspective?  Are other societal factors – years of being at war, or uncertainty about the economic future – fueling a desire to connect to the past, and learn from our ancestors' experiences?

One of my favorite Minnesota journalists, Minnesota Public Radio's Kerri Miller, hosted a show the other day about the genealogy craze.  Miller and her Midmorning guests discussed how the internet and DNA testing are helping both amateur and professional genealogists find information that was previously unknown or inaccessible.
 
I have dabbled in genealogy the past few years, as I've researched the life of my great-grandfather, G. Oliver Riggs.  It's easy to get sucked into the challenge of tracing family lines, compiling dates and names and striving to solve mysteries.  But the most rewarding part for me is finding and documenting the personal stories that make these people come alive.

I've also been reminded of how important it is to gather the stories of people who are still alive, while you still have the time.

Baby Sebastian with great-grandparents Mary and Lewis Lawler, November 1998
Nineteen years ago, my husband, Steve, had the foresight to sit down with Grandpa and Grandma Lawler, turn on the cassette recorder and ask them questions about what it was like to grow up in rural Iowa.  He has about two and a half hours of conversation, which he transferred to CD form.  Now that both of his grandparents are gone, it's comforting to know that their stories will be preserved for future generations who will never experience the pleasures of meeting them, or eating a delectable piece of Grandma's pie.

It’s been a while since I have written about Hogan Brothers in downtown Northfield.  It’s about time now.  We strolled in on Saturday around 3PM.   My regular readers know that I get snack attacks at off hours which makes it good for avoiding the rush, and getting in on more thoughtfully served food, temperature wise,coordination of timing of different courses, and sometimes even visual presentation.    But at Hogan’s the biggest deal for me is avoiding the wait in line.  I love to walk, but never have liked standing in one place.   For some, there is a delight in socializing while in the que,  and I like that, too, but not so much while standing for more than a very few minutes.

Anyway, I ordered a full tuna and Swiss cheese hoagie, warmed up, and dh ordered the ham and Swiss and iced tea.  I ordered a small fancy coffee with whipped cream, forget which one now, and a chocolate chip oatmeal cookie, the big kind.  Later I went back for a double scoop of French Silk ice cream to take home.  To be brief, cuz I gotto go, the food was delicious, the three meals,two drinks, and two delicious snacks we got, plus change thrown into the tip jar all came down to less than $17.00 and came out to the table as fast as any fast food place around.

Thanks, Hogan’s, for doing such a good job!  AND FOR THE MUSIC AND ART, TOO!

Today I attended the Outdoor Living Extravaganza in Minneapolis, one of six events sponsored by Proven Winners, a plant propagation and marketing firm. (It’s the company with the nice white pots at garden centers.) This is the first time Proven Winners has held its spring seminar in Minneapolis, and the day was filled with new information and enticing plants. (I’ll do another post on those tomorrow.)

One of the most intriguing items mentioned, however, wasn’t a plant, but an additive gardeners can use to essentially put their plants in stasis while the gardener goes on vacation. I know this sounds like an episode from Star Trek, but it is a great idea. The product, called Vacation, was developed by a Krieger Greenhouses in Boone, Iowa, a large wholesaler of plants.

Shipping plants is tricky — if it’s too cold they die; hold them too long, they flop over or get too big to sell. Because they needed to sometimes hold plants before they could ship them, the Krieger people developed an additive you mix with water and put on your plants that stops the plant from transpiring — giving off vapor. It closes up the cells so they cannot lose water.  The soil will dry out, but the plant will be just fine. The effect lasts for 10 days to two weeks — or until the plant is watered again.

There are a couple of caveats about using Vacation, however. First, while the plant won’t die, essentially holding your breath for two weeks is stressful, so gardeners should not use Vacation on a regular basis, such as each weekend while you go to a cabin. Also the effect stops once the plants are watered — so put your containers under a roof while you are gone.

Sometimes spring skiing is great: warm temperatures, sunshine, interesting and fun snow. Today was not that day here in Northfield, but goddamn if I didn’t have One Last Ski™ - a solid and sweaty hour in conditions that included foot-deep slush, inch-thick ice, and various obstacles. I prefer to think of these obstacles as increasing the technical difficulty of the course. And thank god for “rock skis”!

Bare Ground
Ten feet further, I had to ski over a foot-wide isthmus of ice between two open expanses of ski-eating gravel.

Deer Crap
Perhaps the fiftieth collection of deer crap on the trail.

Standing Water
You can’t really see it, but there are numerous inch-deep puddles of water here on this “snow.”

Here's a huge sheet of ice coming down the river and breaking up as it went over the Ames Mill dam about 15 minutes ago. [Video wasn't fully live when I first posted this, but now it is.]

At 0 degrees Brendon, I exist.At 43 degrees Brendon, I can melt cheese in my hair.At 17 degrees Brendon, purple looks good on me.At 151 degrees Brendon, regret becomes desire.At -19 degrees Brendon, I obsess about cans of all types.At 2 degrees Brendon, I become completely Brendon - otherwise referred to as "Absolute Brendon."At 303 degrees Brendon, I will tell only lies.At 96 degrees Brendon,

I drove past Northfield’s Municipal Liquor Store this morning and notice that their window display has snowmen, Xmas trees, presents under the trees, and snowflake wallpaper.

I’m guessing that in these days of budget cuts, the Happy Holidays ‘green’ is being repurposed for St. Patrick’s Day ‘green’ as a cost-saving measure.

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Peter Seebach and my wife both alerted me to a massive ice jam on the Cannon River today. It apparently extended from the 5th St. bridge back to the Hwy 3 bridge by Babcock Park.  But by the time I got there at 5 pm to take a photo, it had broken up and mostly cleared. 

Fortunately, Carlson Capital Management’s Tim Jackson (who also has his own web design company, Computer Titan) captured the breakup with a photo and some video.

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I guess winter is well and truly over. Yeah, we might get one last storm, but even a colossal one won’t save the skiing, which is now finished until December – November if I’m really lucky.

This isn’t all bad. The snow looks horrible right now – brown, filthy, icy junk – so it definitely needs to go. We could use a few solid rainfalls to wash the grit off the pavement, cleaning it up for rollerskiing. I think my skiing improved quite a bit this winter, which encourages me to try to use RS’ing and other “ski specific” workouts to maintain some of my form and strength. I don’t want to start from scratch next winter.

Though this week has been gray and damp, I hope we get a string of warm, sunny days to dry off the Arb trails and the gravel roads. I haven’t run since November, but I can’t wait to get back into the Arb for some nice muddy runs. And a few long bike rides on the endless gravel roads would be an even better way to welcome spring.

Here are three video segments showing large pieces of ice and branches floating downstream this afternoon above the dam. Part 1 watches a big collection of break-up coming downstream from the south, under the Fifth Street bridge.



Here's part 2, showing the debris heading toward the dam. You can (somewhat) see big chunks of ice and branches tipping up as they get to the edge.



This is part 3 - debris going over the dam. You can hear the roar of the water, and can imagine how quickly a person would drown with this ferocious amount of water pounding down.

Do you love animals, but simply cannot bring any more home?  Try fostering a litter with the Prairie’s Edge Humane Society.

I had the wonderful opportunity to foster Valerie and her 5 kittens for 6 weeks.  It was so much fun!  We got to see their eyes open and ears pop up.   It was so sweet to watch them sleep all curled up in a little kitten pile and to watch them discover their toys.  What an awesome opportunity to provide a temporary home for these animals and get lots of unconditional love.

I was able to get some great photographs of the kittens and Valerie. Here’s one of them.

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Gran Plaza Mexican Grill (and Bar)
520 Central Ave
Faribault, MN 55021

507-333-1344

If you feel the need to head south for an out of town lunch or dinner, The Gran Plaza, a brand new Mexican restaurant may be just the ticket.

Dh and I were over at Penney’s returning some curtains yesterday when suddenly I got hungry for a snack.  We had passed the Gran Plaza last week after chowing down at Monte’s and noticed that it looked pretty good, so we vowed to try it next time we were in town.  We did and we are not sorry.

The place is SOOOOO clean, top to bottom.  The servers were So nice, although their English has  little way to go, they did just fine with finding me a plug in and putting a light amount of cheese on my burrito.

The free chips and salsa were good.  The chips warm and the salsa tasty but not too hot or salty, although not homemade in a way I am familiar with.  The tea was good, and the prices are just right.  We both had burritos and rice and beans.  Pretty standard.  But because they are new, the place is so new, the people so nice, and the food just right, I’ll go back next time I am in Farbo, hungry for a snack.

Handicap accessible, and I recommend it.

This morning we saw a spot of bright color out of the living room window -- not a cardinal, but a little red squirrel. I don't see these too often, and usually it is at high speed and at a distance. I've never seen one come to the feeder area before. The big gray squirrels have been proving themselves adept at raiding the "squirrel-proof" feeders under high snow-cover conditions, and the thick accumulation of shells and some spilled seeds shows it. When things dry out, we'll have to clear away all the leavings. This little cutie decided to eat while the eating was good. Learn more about red squirrels in Minnesota here (Minnesota DNR) and here (Jim Gilbert writing in yesterday's Star Tribune).