1. Floods, tornadoes, and the fathers and sons of the midwestern US.

Being an Eagle Scout, I intently watched the coverage this week of the tornado disaster at Little Sioux Scout Ranch in Iowa. My fatherly instincts swelled within when I watched the scout leaders and parents look upon their boys - truly young men - describing how they trained for a tornado warning just hours before the storm struck camp. They looked so in awe of their kids. Then as the kids recounted horrific scenes of mayhem post-twister, and how they sprung into action, "just like we learned" administrating first aid and stabilizing the situation, the parent's faces showed pure love, pride, and joy. Some were grinning slightly, several had tears welled up in their weary eyes.

Meanwhile, I watched parents across the midwest flood plains deal with a nearly-insurmountable situation...saving their families from the tragedy of flooding. They talked of their children, who are scared and confused. They don't want to go out and play, in fear of a levee break or a tornado. Fathers being interviewed about how their sons are not tending fields or going to summer semester at college because they are on a work crew to fill sandbags. Again, the emotions - pride, joy, anguish, fear...hope. This Father's Day, I am thinking about the challenges we face to prepare our kids for natural disasters and civil emergencies, and the reward we receive when our children respond in a way that saves not only their own lives, but the lives of others.

2. Fathers with sons in the military, deployed to war

My cousin is a Marine. He showed extreme skill as a marksman during training - and he is trained to kill, and has the expertise the military needs to fight our wars in Iraq and Afganistan. Due to his talent, he is on the "tip of the spear"...he sits up front on his vehicle as they patrol, gun at the ready...and the first to possibly take the hit from an insurgent attack. He serves bravely for our country. His father, and his extended family, would very much like him back home, away from places where he needs to kill-or-be-killed. Today I opened up my Sunday newspaper to find the "Happy Fathers Day" greeting on the front page -- next to the headline, "4 Marines Killed In Afganistan". This Father's Day, I am praying for my uncle, his son, and all other fathers with sons in the military...especially those who have died for our country. They died, and their fathers, while deeply anguished, are proud.

3. Honoring our own fathers, and remembering how they taught us to be dads

Tim Russert passed away this week, and a nation is mourning - not because he was an exceptional journalist (he was), but because he was an exceptional person in the public eye. To those of us who saw him through the glass of our TV's, he was a normal guy. He loved the Bills, loved his family, spoke with the common sensibility of a neighbor over the fence, and he loved his father. He loved his father so much, he wrote a book about him. Today, Tim Russert's father, "Big Russ", is mourning the passing of his son. It is commonly said that children should not die before their parents. But reality is that they do...whether in war, due to tragedy, accident, or health. And God has His reasons and plans -- we may not understand, but He does have a reason for this to happen. My father is currently writing his memoirs as he tries to enjoy early retirement. I got him Barack Obama's first book - a memoir of sorts that relates back to his father. Not having read it myself, I thought it might have a "Father's Day" tilt to it. I also wanted to get him something to get his memoir project some inspiration....I guess we shall see. Perhaps I should have purchased "Big Russ and Me" - Tim Russert's book about his father. Basically his father's memoirs with his son's journalistic pen. Either way, I think both books have a common thread -- that is, how we honor our fathers, and remember how they taught us to be dads. I know my own father's memoirs will meditate on this, and I for certain know mine will too someday.

4. How great it is to be a "new dad"...or an "old dad"

My daughter, Evelyn, is now 8 months old. This is my first Father's Day, and I can't believe how much I am in love with my daughter. She is so precious to me! One of my closest friends called up today - he has a daughter who is 2, and invited me to a Father's Day BBQ. This morning, to celebrate Father's Day, we will enjoy a brunch of lake trout from Meggisi with my father who could not make the annual pilgramage this year. Later we will go to the BBQ. New dads, and old dads, we all have a very certain and common bond. Celebrating fathers brings together families and friends alike. Dads learn from one another, and pass on the awesome knowledge and responsibility to be "Dad". It's a blast!

We arrived at Meggisi this year AT ice out. Not before, not after. We were there right when it happened! Truth be told, we actually had to break some ice with the boats to get to our favorite fishing grounds. By the second night, the ice was completely off Meggisi.

Between all of us, over 4 days of fishing, we caught 112 lakers and 4 northerns (all catch and release, of course...for those who don't know). All the trout averaged between 3-5 lbs, largest was around 7 lbs.

For more great pictures of the trip, please go here. I should have some video posted soon as well, so check back!

I am not too sure about that. Chemists agree that ice does not sink "on its own", but what if there was something with higher density on top of the ice? The density of ice is less than the density liquid water (remember that ol' chestnut from high school Chem?) so what if there was water on top of ice? Another mystery is the phenomena of water's highest density - it occurs at 4°C, just before the freezing point. It gets less dense in the final cooling degrees before it freezes to its solid form (ice). This causes convection currents in lakes, which help agitate either the freezing or thawing process. Technically, lake ice melts from the bottom-up. As the sun's rays penetrate the snow and ice from above, the energy stimulates the convection currents from the bottom of the lake where water warms to somewhere above 4°C. That water rises up to the ice layer, transfers its heat energy to the ice as it cools back down to 4°C and then sinks back down to the bottom where it can be warmed again. The cycle continues (in circular, convection currents) until the ice is melted to a point where other forces from above the ice can take over. This may include snowmelt and surface currents. Remember, snow is simply ice crystals in a very loose, air-filed structure. Snowflakes are less dense than ice, but snowflakes enmasse (snow pack) may have enough combined density to cause a less-dense ice structure to be overcome by gravity.

I am not certain the snow that fell up at Meggisi and across other parts of northern MN and southern ON accumulated enough to "weight down" the ice. More probable to me is the possibility that the snow melts on top of the lake ice, and the liquid snowmelt (which is more dense than the ice) has some effect on "weighting down" the ice. Some other surface effects may come into play here as well: snowmelt may come off of land (where it is sure to melt somewhat faster) and rush into lakes, causing more warm water to move in and amplify the lake ice melting process. If warmer runoff currents flow under the icepack, the convective process described above could get a nice boost!

So, in the long run, I think the rest of MN and southern ON's lakes will melt in due time for opener (and Meggisi 2008)...given the following:

- Sunny days, with highs pushing or better than 10°C every day
- No more accumulating snow
- Low temps only hitting 0°C at their lowest points of the overnights, so there is not a prolonged time at or below the freezing point in the atmosphere.

The following statement was made by DFL Party Chair Brian Melendez regarding the veto override that occurred Monday for the bi-partisan transportation funding bill in the MN Legislature:

“With today’s override of Governor Pawlenty’s veto, Minnesotans can finally regain some confidence that our state is back on the road to rebuilding our crumbling roads and bridges, reducing gridlock, and improving public transit."

It is nice to see our legislature finally standing up to Pawlenty - particularly senior DFLers who have been a little timid on exercising the rights and power of the majority party. Like we have experienced with republican leadership nationwide over the last seven years, from the President on down, tax cuts don't help our economy, it hurts it. Why? Without government funding for programs and infrastructure, the American people become hobbled.

It is time to turn things around in Washington and locally. That is why I have volunteered to be a precinct delegate at this weekend's DFL District 36 convention. If we are really going to change this country, it has to start at the grass roots level. So, I am getting involved. I will try and keep you posted on what I learn and what happens!

Yeah, I haven't had the energy to pick a certain topic to blog about...but I thought that a Super Bowl pick would work well, and I am sick of the Dec. 23 post dominating my website.

Patriots by 21

Why such a spread? Well, I expect Eli Manning to wet his pants and throw 3 int's, and I expect the Pats defense - led by Junior - to steamroll the Giants. I don't think I need to say much about the Pats defense...Brady will hook up Welker and Moss like rail cars going over the hump in a classification yard - its gonna be automatic and repetitive...and LOUD!

Have fun watching the ads.

Visit Ben and Matt's website at www.fortaxreasons.com

Well, I don't have much to go on and on about here...only for a lack of time. Trust me, I really do have a ton to rant and rave about, but I haven't found a chance to really collect those thoughts into a worthwhile blog post. It might be because the post would be so damn long. For fun, let me list some topics on my mind...

- Carol Molnau (is she a he, and is she a total toolbox?)

- The Lakeville Referendums and why they failed (except question 1, which begs the pause to ponder why questions 2 and 3 failed?)

- Snow and my shoveling adventures while my snowblower was in "da shop" (aka my garage, in pieces...but fixed now)

- Advent stuff

- The Vikings

- Garbage Blizzard '07 (a day when winds gusting over 30mph blew everyone's trash cans over in my neighborhood, and everyone was too g.d. lazy to pick up the trash that got blown everywhere)

...and the list may go on, but I am already writing too much for the time alloted. I have posted a picture of our pretty Christmas tree however. 'Tis the season...Happy Holidays e'rybody!

This election day, citizens across the USA will exercise their constitutional rights to vote. Across the Gopher State, several local school districts have tax levy referenda on the ballot. One of those districts is in our hometown of Lakeville, ISD# 194. Three ballot questions will determine whether or not Lakeville Schools will continue budget cuts or end the nightmare and properly fund our schools.

If only the renewal (question one) passes the district would still need to cut about $1 million for the 2008-2009 school year and over $5 million the following year. Any cuts are in addition to the $7 million+ cuts made to the budget this school year.

If questions one and two fail we would be in a situation even worse than this year. Cuts of approximately $7 million would be necessary. Approximately 115 full time employees would be cut.

Some Proposed Cuts Include:

* Larger class sizes. Up to 35 students are possible at the elementary level.
* No early bird at high school.
* Dismantling of team concept at middle schools.
* Loss of electives and double literacy at middle schools.
* No bussing in a 2 mile radius for all grades.
* 50% cut in staff providing direct support to students and teachers: deans, learning specialists, media specialists, gifted specialists and guidance counselors.
* Nearly $600,000 in cuts and fee increases to co-curricular activities.
* Staffing reductions in special education.
* No 5th grade band.
* Elimination of over 25 support staff and custodian positions.
* Increased parking fees.

If question three fails the district would be forced to use funds from the operating budget to update technology to meet the state mandates for testing. This means available money used to keep class sizes down and fund transportation would decrease to fund technology.

I attended a levy Q&A meeting hosted by the district a couple weeks ago. It ended up to be the launchpad for the opposition's campaign. People in attendance who were clearly against "Giving the school district a pay raise" (it has nothing to do with pay raises) were launching several vollies of misinformed and accusatory questions to Superintendent Dr. Gary Amoroso. Some of the most laughable questions came from a middle-aged woman who was rudely vocal to Amoroso. She said her kids were all out of the school system, so none of the budget cuts would directly impact her family (easy stance). She then laid out some high points in her laundry list of line item budget critiques. These included the protest that "so much money" is spent on ESL programs, and a similar protest of money spent on early childhood education. "Those are the programs that should be cut."

Over the last few weeks, reading letters in local papers and watching the oppositions campaign finally come out in the form of condescension and misinformation ("Be WISE - VOTE NO!), I became familiar with a name - Diana Bratlie. She and her husband Mike have headed up the opposition's campaign (or, I can only assume they have, as their address is listed as the HQ for the Vote No folks). But Bratlie is no stranger to the local political scene. Her past includes volunteering for the John Kline campaign (she was the source of much mudslinging against Coleen Rowley), being a vocal part of the "SWIG" group (Stop Waste and Inefficiency in Government) for Dakota County, and being a regular writer of letters to local papers. She has been on her soap box so much in Lakeville This Week Life and Times in fact, that she boldly told the editor this August, "I will be happy to regularly provide a logical and well-reasoned counterpoint to editorials and letter writers. I am available on a continuing basis so that your paper will at least have a semblance of fairness."

Maybe she just wants to be editor herself? Ms. Bratlie - does a semblance of fairness include cutting school programs that you know nothing about or even care about, simply because it increases your property taxes? Is it fair to ask that the schools become better and "more accountable" when due to budget cuts borne of your campaign to stop the levies, Lakeville students fall more and more behind in testing, skills, and resources in education? Is it fair to mudsling and condescend with fact-less claims in your "Be Wise" campaign?

Simple answer to these questions - no. A simple response to Ms. Bratlie and her brand of citizenry is to VOTE YES THREE TIMES TOMORROW IN LAKEVILLE!!

Edited 11:45pm

By the way, Diana, I heard you on Jason Lewis tonight after I made my post above. I am 99% it was you. Does it make you feel good to get on that show and aid that pompous, self-righteous neocon in promoting the garbage he spews out each night? I had to keep turning down the volume because all he was doing was yelling. Nice "talk show". I bet you also appreciate the fact that he takes the liberty of calling other people names (such as 'idiot savant' and the like), but will not stand for being called names himself.

What really made me understand your colors was your comment, "It makes me think that the entire MEA has sponsored this whole thing." Good move. Get on with a talk show host known for union busting and union hating and light the fuse. Then you launched that nauseating game of gotcha semantics with the "may" and "will" so on and so forth with regard to the class size question.

I think even your sanity alarm went off a bit when you had to tell him that Lakeville residents are "well meaning, well intentioned parents". You are correct. Where you are wrong is that we are being misinformed by the district.

(If you want to listen to the Jason Lewis show's 5pm hour from yesterday, take an antacid, or pour a stiff drink - or both - and follow this link.

Yeah, Larry Craig. He is still a senator, but I don't really feel like giving him the respect of including the title. Above I posted the audio tape from the interrogation, because if you haven't listened to it you really, really should. Right before Craig is read his rights, he says something extremely incriminating: "You solicited me." Mr. Craig, if you supposedly know nothing about this bathroom sex solicitation stuff, how would you know that? The audio tape is riddled with fumbles including his account of the foot touching/bumping. Early in the interrogation he admits bumping/touching the officer, and then later says he didn't. Huh?

I watched his Matt Lauer interview tonight, and all I can say is, "What the hell were you thinking?" It was clear from the start that Craig's own miniature spin machine was behind the "exclusive". It was very staged and highly edited...so much that the frequent and quick-cut camera angle changes (even audio cuts) were enough to make me blink a couple times. In addition, they omitted a ton of the interrogation tape.

All the spin-doctoring and editing genius in the world could not help Craig cover his guilt, however. Let me go over some very basic observations that more than enough prove that this guy is (1) a liar, (2), a creep, and (3) very, very interested in using his position in the senate to try and wriggle out of a guilty plea.

First, the lies. Lauer asked Craig very basically if he would tell his side of the story. It began with Craig's bathroom behavior. All of it was very, very odd. Nothing here was coincidental as Craig alleges. Let's examine the facts:

- Instead of standing back and waiting for the typcial "territorial" cough, or from a distance looking for feet in a stall (typical behavior for men and women alike looking for a vacant stall), Craig admits looking into stalls from eye level through the cracks between the stall walls and doors.

- Upon entering the stall, Craig, claiming having a "wide stance" when taking down his pants, makes foot contact with the undercover police officer. In order to do so, his foot had to cross under the divider between the stalls. How wide of a stance do you have Larry? (Note: It really is unclear from the interview whether or not Craig even took his pants down.)

- Regarding the hand gesture/signal, Craig claims he was picking up a piece of toilet paper off the floor that might have ended up stuck on his shoe. What is more embarrassing -- walking out of a restroom with TP stuck to your shoe, or being caught soliciting sex in an airport restroom? Regardless, you can't mistaken fingers grasping a piece of TP for the palm-open and up-facing gesture that signals you want the gay sex. (Note: Who the hell removes a rouge piece of TP with their hands anyway...YUCK!)

- Overall behavior: Most notably during the interview with Lauer (and on the interrogation tape with police), Craig is often heard saying the phase most indicative of a liar - "I don't recall." How many politicians have you heard say that when they are under questioning. It is a real sneaky thing to say, quite frankly. It isn't "Maybe", and it isn't, "Yes" or "No"...it is in a totally different realm. You can't recall, therefore, you couldn't possibly decide yes, no, or maybe. What a crock! PANTS ON FIRE!!!!

Ok, now let's look at the creep factor. First, what about this guy's wife for crying out loud? He gets arrested, detained for questioning at the airport, and then still makes the flight to D.C. Subsequently, he doesn't breath a word of the incident to anyone...not even his poor wife...for TWO MONTHS. WTF? Then, he hook-line-and-sinkers her into buying into the sham story. And why not...he has been playing this game for the better part of two decades, ever since the senate page sex scandal of the 80's, in which he was definitely a playa'.

What really creeps me out is the fact that he did exactly what any other sex solicitor would do at the MSP terminal...he had the protocol. It was blatant to the police officer(s). The correct restroom. The shoe/foot movement. The hand gesture. The touching of the foot. Not coincidence...it was practiced. It was learned. The most creepy part of this whole thing is how real sounding all the protocol is. Why? Because unless you are into that stuff, you would have never thought it up. I work at MSP. I never, evah, would have guessed that that creepy stuff happens at the airport...at that restroom...in that manner. Final creepy (and most indicting) action of Craig's...when the cop flashes the card under the stall that says "POLICE" and orders him to get out, Craig says in a growly, almost mean voice, "NO!" (Watch the video of the interview, you hear it in his voice...creepy!)

Finally, the worst and most disgusting thing about the whole mess for me is the blatant abuse of the office of US Senator. When asked for identification by the police, Craig whipped out his senate ID card and said flippantly, "Whaddya think of that?!" I can tell you exactly what Sgt. Karsnia probably thought was, "Nice. This creep is going to try and pull rank, like he is somehow above the law?" Outstanding move, Mr. Craig.

Baby and mommy are healthly and doing great! (So is daddy!) If you are interested, check out the pictures here.

Now that the Twins have certainly buried any hopes of a MLB playoff berth this season, my sports focus can turn to the Purple-and-Gold. The 2007 Minnesota Vikings still seems to be an enigma to many however. Columnists Jim Souhan and Patrick Reusse of the Star Tribune had only slightly differing views on the team this morning in the paper, but both of them had reservations about this being a winning season for the Vikes.

Then there is the blackout issue...fans can't sell out the dome. If they don't sell off 1700 tickets today for the home opener against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, they will black-out local television coverage of the game. The Vikings' front office blamed the ticket sale slump on road construction on I-35W, and the lack of a decent north entry with the said freeway's river crossing missing. I guess I am not surprised they would take such a line, trying to spin public apathy over a team that, as KFAN-AM's Dan Cole put succinctly yesterday, "Nobody is excited about."

All of this being said, I think the Vikes could pull off a winning record this year...but with some very certain conditions being met. It will be a challenge given the rookie nature of the team thus assembled:

Condition 1: Tevaris Jackson has to follow orders, and deliver those orders properly to prevent miscues. It seemed to be the highlight of Coach Chilrdress' frustration this pre-season when Jackson would burn timeouts to either question -- or completely misunderstand -- the coaching staff. When he didn't burn timeouts to clarify and/or question the play ordered, the offense was bound to (and did) misfire.

Condition 2: Although Adrian Peterson is the Vikings new #1 prospect for greatness, the team must utilize their passers as much -- if not more than -- their rushers. This condition defies Childress' offensive paradigm for the season. He has more than once, in more than one way, stated that the plan is to rely heavily on the running game. It was also his plan last year, but when frustrated by his ailing running back corps, he trusted Brad Johnson and a weak receiving squad to pick up the slack. That turned into more misery as Johnson's turnover rate increased, and completion factor tanked. This year, with the duo of Peterson and Chester Taylor, everyone expects Childress to run the ball on 3rd and long. Enter Bobby Wade and Sidney Rice -- possibly the dymamic duo of the season with enough talent to actually catch the long ball, as proven in several plays this pre-season.

Condition 3: Play your asses off in September! Pundits point to the October-November mid-season schedule as the formidable challenge for the Purple. Starting after the bye week, the Vikes face Chicago, Dallas, Philly, San Diego, and Green Bay. However, the beginning of the season cannot be ignored. Opening against the Vick-less Falcons, then moving on to a still-looking-for-some-organizational-skills Detroit squad, facing an equal-odds matchup with KC, and then the first swing at our cheesehead rivals at the end of the month sounds for a lack of a better term -- easy. However, it is this kind of slacker attitude that has killed the Vikes' early season in years past.

Should the Vikings fail to meet these three simple conditions this year, my prediction is for a yet again losing season record: 7-9

Should the Vikings meet my conditions, I predict 12-4. Quite the swing, eh? Here are the key schedule factors I forsee:

A. Vikings must end September 4-0, with that first game against Green Bay being paramount to fan support and confidence through the season.

B. Vikings must win the following games:

Green Bay in Week 4
Dallas in Week 7
Philly in Week 8
Green Bay again in Week 10
Oakland in Week 11 (see below)

C. The most pivotal game in the schedule will be against Oakland at home in Week 11. Hometown-born (and fellow alum of your's truly) coaching phenom Lane Kiffin will look to show-up the team he grew-up. There will be a lot of hype for Lane's homecoming, and the timing of the game will be perfect with post-season prospects getting more and more hype. Additionally, (and we will know for sure Sunday) Kiffin might name former Vike Daunte Culpepper as his starter. If Daunte works successfully for 10 weeks, the hype will increase even more if he starts Week 11 against Minnesota under Kiffin's call.

Go Vikings!

MnDOT's top bridge engineer Dan Dorgan (right) and fellow employee review a children's book on how highway bridges are built. Maybe Dorgan should have read more carefully? (Photo by Craig Wilkins, MnDOT)

The StarTribune published a story today that blows open the lies given early on in the I-35W tragedy when officials such as Gov. Tim Pawlenty said, "If anybody would have told me this bridge needed to be closed, it would have been closed." Actually, Governor, people may have not told you directly, but they did tell many that the I-35W bridge should have been closed.

The StarTribune reports that MnDOT officials discussed the option in a meeting last winter, headed up by Dan Dorgan, the lead MnDOT bridge engineer who we saw in the media briefings early on saying that the bridge was indeed "structurally deficient", but that the term did not mean "imminent danger". Now we know he was lying.

In the meeting minutes and MnDOT records, the department states, "if a crack is found it will take 4 months to order steel and reinforce the bridge, and the bridge will be closed to traffic for this duration. But there is a further risk that the damage is beyond fixing, and the bridge will have to be condemned. This means 35W will be closed for a minimum 5 years until the new bridge is finished."

That's right: CONDEMNED!! The bridge should have been condemned, closed, etc. But, as always, it came down to money. Dorgan admitted that they took they less expensive route in choosing inspections over repairs, despite the fact that it would have only cost MnDOT $1.5 million out of a $2 billion annual MnDOT budget.

So, fingers are still being pointed. Lt. Governor Carol Molnau - who heads up MnDOT - blustered at reporters after the bridge collapse saying, "These people work day and night to make sure we have a safe system. And we strive for that. Our inspectors are known nationally because they're good. We have a great group of experts here working on a system," said Molnau. "We've had a terrible thing happen. But believe me -- there was no intent, no neglect and no malice on their parts. Nor do I think it should be implied." (from Minnesota Public Radio and the AP on 8/3/07)

Agreed that it wasn't intent or malice that led to the bridge collapse, but it certainly was neglect. May I remind folks that the agencies involved in recovery and investigation are still treating this as a criminal case? Let's not fool ourselves into thinking that the folks at MnDOT were just doing what they thought was "best". Is it "best" to save money rather than fix the state's largest, most studied and heavily-traveled bridge?

Quoting from the StarTribune:

According to records and MnDOT's timeline, here's how the agency turned, as Dorgan said, "180 degrees" to embrace inspections over reinforcements:

According to the MnDOT timeline, engineers were scheduled to meet Aug. 20 to determine if inspections should continue or if they should go back to the plating concept. The bridge collapsed Aug. 1, leaving 11 people dead and two missing.

Have a read at the StarTribune website, and make sure to view the graphics they have posted there as well. Dorgan and his team were well informed, and very forewarned on the consequences -- they chose to ignore the warnings however, and people are dead.

By now you are very much aware of the tragedy that has occurred in the City of Lakes. In fact, you very well may have arrived here in the quest for new or varied information regarding the I-35W Bridge Collapse.

I will first off disclaim this blog entry and website as a source of "official" information. I will say that I have seen and read similar postings, including the Wikipedia entry, and much information on the internet is being published by people who clearly are not local and familiar with the area. Second, I do want to let my friends and family checking in out there that everyone in the Meggisi family is safe and sound.

The pictures above are courtesy of MnDot - they come from the traffic management website they produce. At left is a traffic camera shot from some time well before the incident yesterday (it is a "reference" picture that is posted to show the general vicinity and direction the camera has a view of). The vantage point is from the Washington Ave exit looking northbound across the river. The after picture was taken live at 8:59am this morning. Last night, this camera along with several others surrounding the bridge were turned off from public view.

If you haven't already heard the basic details, here is what everyone can summarize as the recovery effort continues this morning:

A delegation of officials, including Senators and Congressmen who represent Minnesota, the head of the National Transportation Safety Board, and the Secretary of Transportation has arrived on-scene this morning, and will be holding a press conference this morning. If more pertinent information -- including any news or info that is not covered -- I will post it here as I am able. Please keep the residents of the Twin Cities, especially those affected directly by this tragedy, in your thoughts and prayers.

The above picture is of Lake Shumway in Savanna Portage State Park, about 17 miles northeast of McGregor, MN. I took this while enjoying my morning coffee around sunrise on Saturday morning (July 7th). Mrs. Pierre and I took a mini-vacation over the 4th of July, first visiting my in-laws at their summer place near Hinckley, MN over the 4th and 5th, and then heading up to Savanna Portage for the weekend. We also took the boat along to fish Big Sandy Lake, near the camp.

The campground and park is beautiful, like so many MN State Parks, and had relatively new shower and restroom facilities to augment the well kept, sheltered, and shady campsites. The campground is adjacent to Shumway, one of four lakes within the park which are fish-able, but only from shore, or a boat with electric motor. Our campsite was a "shoreline" site, with a 150 foot path to the lake. The only drawback on our stay was the infestation of deer flies. We tried to keep perspective when visiting the ranger station and interpretive center, which displayed journal entries of early pioneers, voyagers, and explorers all describing the horrid conditions in which they portaged from the Lake Superior and the St. Louis River to the upper Mississippi River via the "Savanna Portage". They all complained of "blood sucking insects" as well. One can only imagine the infestation in the late 18th century.

KD0ASB was out storm spotting for Metro SKYWARN this afternoon and evening. Being that I am still not hooked up with a decent mobile rig, I am relying still on my father-in-law's HT. It hits the repeater at 5W if and when the position and conditions are right...meaning I can't stray too far from the Twin Cities Repeater Club receiver sites in Burnsville and Credit River. I am having a good day if I can hit it from my home, from indoors (which I have several times).

Anyway, the first cell was developing in central and southern Scott and Dakota counties when the SKYWARN net went on informal activation. I headed south to Airlake airport and had some really good views of the back side of the storm. There were several lowerings and I was eying a non-rotating wall cloud for about 5 minutes, and it went back into the main storm as it pushed off into Farmington. I retreated back up Cedar Ave to home base and checked up on radar, etc. By this time it was around 5:30-5:40, and the net had already gone to "formal" activation per National Weather Service request.

The next round (or cell) that was bound for Lakeville was located in southern Hennepin, moving into northern Scott (just crossing the river from Bloomington into Savage). One of the spotters in Savage broke in with a rotating wall cloud report. I immediately hit the road to higher ground to take a look...it would be headed right for us.

Walking outside, it was extremely ominous...quiet, still and dark. Clouds overhead were moving in different directions. I knew it was close by. I went to North Park, which is higher up and in more of the clear from the surrounding neighborhood canopies of Oak, Ash, and Maple trees. As the edge of the rain shaft nicked the park with light rain and a gust of wind, I observed the wall cloud, just to the southeast...and it was beginning to rotate! I called the the report. Within a minute later, another spotter in Apple Valley confirmed hail from the same cell. Here is a closeup of the radar at the time of my report of the wall cloud. The pink arrow points to my approximate location (I would be right at the tip).

Notice the notch-like echo? Not exactly a hook echo, but notches denote some sort of circulation is trying to get started. I looked in the truck for my camera...I HADN'T GRABBED IT!! Argh! So, the lousy camera-phone shot at the top of this post is all I got. Lesson learned for next time! Regardless, it was exciting...this would be my second official report to SKYWARN as a ham (the first being a hail report back in late May).