Ironica

Imagine if you will, a month with a graduation party, a block party, a high school post-reunion party, and a visit to the family cabin.

Hinsdale South vs. Hinsdale Central:
Drove by Hinsdale Central and Hinsdale South during the most recent visit home. People are losing their houses and their jobs, gas is up to three dollars per gallon, and a greedy union has disrupted the football schedules for two conferences by going on strike. Many Chicagoland construction projects have been impacted by the stike, but to mess with schools and football seems so wrong. Recent articles in the Trib and Suburban Life have the football field at Hinsdale Central almost replaced, but Hinsdale South is still dirt unil October. The union should be ashamed. There are a lot more important contruction projects underway than football fields, but the actions of an arrogant union have inconvenienced a lot of people.

www.mysuburbanlife.com/hinsdale/news/education/x524159454/Game-on-at-Central-South-still-up-in-air-after-strike-resolved

Block party:
The block party in my old neighborhood offered a chance to meet the new neighbors. Because there are only three remaining residents from when I grew up back in the day, only a few faces were recognized. A little awkward a first. One of the houses on the block was build by a family from Willow Springs. They introduced us to Maple Lake, Argonne, Sag St. James Cemetery, and Little Red Schoolhouse shortly after we moved in. The widow sold the house a few years ago, and the new family recently lost the house due to foreclosure. The widow died in a nursing home this past week. A teardown lot across the street may finally have a new owner. Another teardown on the corner that had been on the market for quite a while now has a family.

Most people in Chicagoland assume I live in the Cities, just because of the Minnesota license plates. One of the neighbors spun around when I mentioned Rochester. Turns out they were moving out of Rochester when I was moving in. Filled them in on the new Trader Joe’s, the rebranded Redwood Room, and the Highway 52 expansion project. We jokingly agreed that Rochester is half townie and half transplant. Half of those transplants only stay a few years.

One neighbor that I did know at the block party lamented that her son’s band was not able to practice in their garage, due to complaints from a neighbor on another street. No idea what kind of band, but they apparently don’t play Freebird. Had to ask that. After cleaning up and heading out to attend my nephew’s graduation party, Freedbird was playing on the radio under the buffet table.

Freebird:
After the coincidence of hearing Freebird after mentioning it in passing, several other songs popped up on XM throughout graduation party and block party the weekend. Van Halen’s Jump (dolphin show at Brookfield Zoo), Motels (college girlfriend), and Survivor (Jim Peterik used to live on Stone Ave). After retuning home and getting Bella out for another walk, the block party was still going strong. From a few blocks away, we heard Don’t Stop Believing (summer of 1981) and Meat Loaf. Wow, that brought up some memories.



Paranorma activity:
One of my cousins introduced me to a neighbor couple at the graduation party. The wife was intrigued with my genealogy work after mentioning an afternoon was spent at the Berwyn Library looking up obituaries in the Berwyn Life. Her husband joined the conversation, and confided that there have been some strange goings on at their home. Apparently someone who had died in their house has never left the house. Not a lot of details, but they offered enough information for me to start a search on the resident. Genealogy and ghost hunting use many of the same tools.

Unknown Huskie:
Bella and I were out for one of our daily walks in the old neighborhood. A neighbor stopped on the sidewalk to greet her, then got into his car and drove off. Too late to realize he was wearing a Northern shirt and his car has NIU plates. The guys is obviously an involved alum, so we will have to introduce ourselves the next time we see him.

LT79:
No strange coincidences at the post-party. Jane has a lovely home, and put out quite the spread.

Rich Port YMCA:
Even after the early ‘80s addition, SRO housing made the place creepy. Demolition is underway, and LaGrange will soon have more shopping and dining choices. Sad to see the Y go away, but there are now more practical fitness choices in the area. Didn’t the Y not open on Sundays until around noon?

Cabin neighbors:
My cousins and I took a ride around the lake in the pontoon on a gorgeous afternoon. Stopped to introduce ourselves to a couple who were out on their pier. First names were exchanged, and the husband mentioned they had lived in elsewhere Wisconsin but now live year-round at the lake. Same first name, same town, was this the guy I sold postcards of the lake on eBay to a few years ago? They didn’t take us up on our invitation to stop by later that evening, so there is another question for another day.

Meanwhile, back in Rochester:
Maybe the Northern T-shirt I always wear at the gym gave me away, but a guy asked me if I am from Illinois. Turns out the guy is from Rockford, but went to ISU. My niece goes to Illinois State. One of my friends from Northern is from Rockford. He is apparently in med shool at the Clinic (Mayo Clinic), and seemed a little bewildered with the culture shock in Rochester after living downtown Chicago. I will need to get him the details on living in Rochester.

Enough random coincidences for one month. Please stay tuned for the next update.

Kilts, skirts, and big blocks

Summertime means automotive events in the upper midwest. Every July, it’s the Iola Old Car Show in central Wisconsin for a weekend to wander the swap meet (parts for sale) and car corral (cars for sale). As with most every outdoor automotive event, there is the usual selection of tattoos, muffin tops, and inappropriate shirtlessness.

The fashion police did not make it to the parking field. Two young ladies directing traffic were decked out as schoolgirls. White blouses, plaid skirts, and the little white socks. Their parents must be proud.

One guy was wearling a kilt. No luck convincing a woman selling intake manifolds that the dude was not in a skirt. It’s a kilt. Utilikilts. Look it up. They are not cheap. I am not looking.

This year was the first time spent in the actual show, to devote time to this new hobby of automotive art. Photographs were to be clicked, but two days of bright mid-day sunshine made photography rather difficult. Most guys take snapshots of cars with no regard to lighting, shadows, or reflections. The weekend collection quickly dwindled to just a few acceptable shots, and they are over on facebook.

Parade of Progress

The restored GM Futurliner paid a visit to the Minnesota State Fairgrounds this past weekend, and I was able to climb into the cabin for a visit. Like the GM Motorama, Parade of Progress offered a postwar glimpse into the wonders of the future. Technology we take for granted was
merely a dream sixty years ago.

www.futurliner.org

Also on hand at the Fairgrounds were all sorts of pre-1964 rides. Take your pick of street rods, showroom fresh models, bizarre customs, and creepy rat rods. As much fun was had deciphering the vanity license plates as checking out the cool cars and trucks.

My favorite? A 1957 Oldsmobile Fiesta hardtop station wagon.
www.plan59.com/wagons/wagons038.htm
Classy and sporty, in a red station wagon.

The most unusual? A 1958 Chevrolet Delray sedan delivery.
www.58classicchevy.com/body-styles-delray.html
Sedan delivery, but with windows all around. No back seat,
so a true sedan delivery. The side windows resembled those
on a two-door wagon.

05/18/2010

More ticks than fish

There would have been a newer picture and a photo quiz from this past weekend, but my cheap camera did not have an SD card and my DSLR did not have its battery. Bella remains on the blog for another day.

The Minnesota Fishing Opener is the stuff of legends up here. Twenty years ago, I would not have been able to recite the dates when the trout (04/17) or walleye
(05/15) seasons start. Now I plan a long weekend and agonize over a menu for the Opener weekend. Usually scheduled on Mother’s Day weekend, this year the Opener was the week following Mother’s Day. Some years it rains, some years it snows. This Opener was dry and pleasant.

Nine guys ranging in age from early 20s to very late 40s made the trip this year. Six hours of driving time to cover just under 300 miles, then we gorged ourselves on steak late Friday night.
After a few adult beverages, we trodded into a clearing by the lake to watch stars around midnight. That might be the Big Dipper, or the Little Dipper.

Paddling across a small chain of lakes on Saturday, we saw eagles, loons, and beaver dams. After even more food on Saturday and Sunday, a few of us decided to hike along an old logging road that circles the lake. The difference in geography and geology between nothern and southeastern Minnesota is quite surprising. But like the constellations on Friday night, I could not identify the rocks we saw along the trail on Sunday afternoon. Marc and J2 kept checking for ticks, and I was surprised that no ticks had found me. Steve’s son Jon and I had a problem whenever someone yelled one of our names, so I (older) became J1 and Jon (younger) became J2.

You guys know I am friends to all critters. Russ, the caretaker of the YMCA camp, has a Golden Retriever. GR from Hell would approach our camp fire, then growlbark. Even after tossing him Ritz crackers with squeeze cheese, we would not gain his trust. Growlbark.

After packing up and hitting the road, we stopped near Brainard for dinner. That Brainard, from the Coen Brothers film Fargo. My calf started stinging after we were seated, and a tick crawled across my thumb. Holding out my hand as I raced to the restroom, another tick appeared on the same hand. After disrobing in the handicapped stall, another tick was found inside my jeans and the fourth tick was on a sock. Try the Diablo Burger at Grizzly’s. Maybe they will take over the former Timber Lodge in Rochester. The fifth tick surfaced while passing through Cannon Falls after nightfall.

The fishing? Caught one small Norton on Saturday, and another small one on Sunday morning. We call Northern Pike ‘Norton’. More ticks than fish.

04/26/2010

Last week was Motor Week. Monday started with 04/26. There is an ongoing routine with the local Ford guru when 04/28 and 04/29 roll around. Don’t worry if you don’t get it. Four consecutive days of displacement: 426, 427, 428, and 429.

Bella and I witnessed a rabid raccoon wandering the neighborhood on Monday morning. Bella is my three year old Labsomething. She is finally at the age where they settle down into canine adulthood. Jimmy the cat can be eating or playing, and Bella will not even investigate. Usually. More on them later. The raccoon mysteriously vanished before the city crew arrived.

Excellent visit with my cousins last Friday evening. One of my eclectic hobbies is genealogy, and my cousin handed me an album of family photographs. She made the comment that puts it all in perspective, “If Babi and Dede did not hook up, we wouldn’t be enjoying Summit Extra Pale Ale in the Western Suburbs right now“. All of the decisions made years ago still impact our lives today.

Hawks won Game 5 of the series with Nashville in OT. Watched the game with some friends at our favorite college watering hole in DeKalb. Prior to moving to Minnesota, I though I would become a huge hockey fan. Didn’t happen. The year after arriving here, Norm Green moved the North Stars to Texas. However, I am still loyal to the Chicago teams I grew up with: Bears, Cubs, Blackhawks, and my Huskies.

Bumped into a old high school friend at the Jewel after returning from Spring Homecoming at Northern. For those not from Chicagoland, Jewel and Dominick’s are the two large grocery chains. He recognized me first, and I actually thought he was someone else. We talked, and I realized that the last time time I saw him was at least 15 years ago. Rochester desperately needs an upscale grocery store.