About Last Week-- Part 1: Storms and That Field of Dreams Game

Monday and Tuesday, we finally had rain, unfortunately several times in the form of storms.  Monday there were tornado warnings in the area and then a real bad one went through Tuesday, but with no tornadoes, but a lot of tree destruction.  Kevin and Kelly were without electricity from Tuesday night to Saturday.  On Wednesday, I did a Firebird Cruise on Pioneer Road and finally had to get off it because of all of the places where work crews were removing topple trees and big tree limbs from the road.  Plus, one stretch was nothing but little twigs and branches.

But, at least we got rain which was badly needed.

TUESDAY AUGUST 10

Donovan's in Twin Lakes, Wisconsin, for trivia.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 11

Firebird Cruise

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THURSDAY, AUGUST 12

Finally had to cut the grass because of all the rain.  

I had to make a choice tonight.  Whether to go see the band at Antioch, Illinois' It's Thursday as I originally planned, or go to Stucky's in Johnsburg and see Jim Sieg play music and host a jam.  But, today was also the Field of Dreams game in Dyersville, Iowa, with the Chicago White Sox and New York Yankees playing where the "Field of Dreams" movie was shot.

Well, either way, I'd get my music, but at Stucky's I could also watch the game.  So, Stucky's it was.

And, I am sure glad I did.  Besides all the corn (and them walking out of the corn like in the movie), WOW.  What a game.  The Sox went up 1-0 in the 1st, then fell behind 1-3 in the top of the 3rd before scoring 4 runs in the bottom of that inning to go up 5-3.  They added two more in the 4th to go up 7-3.

The Yankees scored once in the 6th and things were looking good until the 9th, when the Yankees scored 4 times to take a 7-8 lead over the Sox.  I tell you, we were downfallen.

Then Tim Anderson hit that walk-off homerun and a 9-8 win!!  Eight home runs were hit in the game.

Wow!  --RoadDog

LAWS OF THE UNIVERSE, LAW OF COMMERCIAL MARKETING STRATEGY:  As soon as you find a product that you really like, they will stop making it.  Boy do I agree with this one.  I look at it this way.  If I like it, they will take it away from me.

We Had a Very Windy and Hard-Hitting Storm on Monday, Even a Tornado

In just a few minutes I will be going outside to pick up some more twigs and branches from Monday's storm.  I have been doing this for the last few days as I sure had a lot of them.  There was even one medium sized branch that came down.

But our neighbors in the subdivision here in Spring Grove had more damage.  My neighbor to the west lost about half of his Bradford pear tree, but they have notoriously weak wood.  As a matter of fact, I used to have three of them, but just one remains now after wind storms.

Drive down any street in the subdivision and there are lots of bundles of branches sitting out by the street.

Monday's storm raced west to east across Illinois at about 70 miles per hour and packed winds of up to 100 miles.  We even had an EF-1 tornado touch down in the northeast corner of Spring Grove and run along the ground 3.5 miles before ending up in Wisconsin.  That would be a touchdown about four miles from us.

Wednesday, when we drove to Twin Lakes, Wisconsin, we saw lots of downed trees, even more so as we neared the Wisconsin border.

I was at Walgreens when it started raining and I just got home before it hit and got wet trying to put away stuff that would blow over or away.  The trees were really bending over for what we could see in the driving sheets of rain that we had.

--RoadDog

FOX HUNTING:  What is the name of Peter and Jason's sister in the comic strip "Fox Trot?"


"Paige"

Tornado-Proof Your House

From the December 27, 2016, Bizarro.

Two farmers are on the front porch of a farmhouse.  One looks out into the other's cornfield and sees a mobile home and says to the other:  "What's with the abandoned mobile home in the middle of your cornfield?"

The other one says:  "Keeps the tornadoes away from the house."

Good One.  --RoadDog

Wow! Back on the Internet for First Time Since Thursday Night's Storm

The tornadoes that caused a mass of destruction across northern Illinois on Thursday, knocked out our cable TV and internet which finally restored a few hours ago.  Our provider in MediaCom which is based out of Iowa and has our town as well as the counties out west of DeKalb, Illinois, that were hit.  We had tornado warnings and storms here in northeast McHenry County, but  because those areas to the west were hit, we lost service here as well.

Then, when I went back o n this old 'puter, I found I had been banished out to Siberia or some other foreign place as I had never seen the home page before.  Thankfully, Liz was able to get me squared away, so here I am.

Computers Dealing With a Fairly Backwards Guy here.  Best Just Leave Me Be.  --RoadDog


YOU MIGHT BE A YANKEE IF:  The fathest south you've ever been is the perfume counter at Neiman Marcus.

Trying to Reason with "Storm Season": Another Tornado Warning

To paraphrase an old Jimmy Buffett song about hurricanes.

I don't think we've had a 24-hour stretch where we haven't had a pretty bad storm in the last two weeks.

After a fine, sunny day yesterday, I was awakened by lots of thunder and lightning this morning about 2 AM and the, in the distance, I heard sirens.  We were under a tornado warning as a funnel had been spotted in Marengo, heading northeast toward Spring Grove.

We went downstairs to the basement.  We have always taken shelter during tornado warnings, but especially since we saw what happened to Joplin, Missouri four months after that monster tornado hit.  You don't have to tell us twice.

While downstairs, we tuned to Weather Channel and watched the repeating loop at the bottom of the show they had on.  By then, it became apparent that the funnel cloud/storm cell had shifted to heading straight east and wasn't coming our way.

The station was showing the United States' ten worst-ever tornadoes of all time.  Not the thing you really want to be watching during a tornado warning.  (The Joplin tornado was ranked #4.)

--RoadDog

Back in the Meat Cooler

This past Saturday afternoon, I drove to the local Walgreen's and Jewel to do some shopping.  While at Walgreen's I saw the sky to the north and west as dark as I've ever seen it.  I was hoping to make it home and would have, but Jewel was having a sale on their Breyer's Ice Cream and I had a taste for some, so went there.

Just as I checked out, the deluge came (we'd already had two rain showers earlier in the day).  I decided to wait it out inside at the front of the store.  I waited, then waited, then waited some more and it wasn't letting up.  I remembered there was a lady at the back of the store offering wine samples.  Well, I was there and wasn't going anywhere.  Why not sample a bit?

I tried three and bought a bottle of Sparkling Margarita Wine (never heard of that before).  Walking to the front of the store again, I heard the announcement that the tornado sirens had gone off in Spring Grove and all employees and customers were to report immediately to the back of the store.

Once there, we were herded into a huge meat cooler by the butcher area and there we waited several minutes before the store manager apologized for our inconvenience and said we could leave.

I'd never been in that big of a cooler before.

Fun and Games During "SAtorm Season."  --RoadDog

We Had Damage From Sunday's Storms

We saw all the warnings of possible dangerous weather, but went to Squaw Bar in Ingleside to watch the Bears game which had a two-hour delay because of the storms and went to overtime before the Bears won.

At one point, there came a huge gust of wind through the place and the trees out in the parking lot dropped quite a few limbs and twigs, causing me to move the car farther away.

When we came home, I looked outside, but in the dark, couldn't see anything. In the morning, I looked outside and my heart sank as I saw one of my favorite Bradford pear tree out in Frances' Back 40, broken off at the trunk and laying in the grass by the southeast corner of the yard.

I had planted the tree 19 years ago and it was just coming into its brilliant fall foliage of a crimson-red-gold, and now there it was. Liz then noticed that about a third of the Bradford pear tree by the back deck was also broken off. We figure they came down during that burst. Today, we noticed our neighbors across the street also had a tree partly down from Sunday's storm.

I'll sure be missing those trees.

So. We Had Damage, But At Least Just Strong Wind, Not Tornadoes. --RoadDog

Washington (Il) High School: Ectasy to Sad in 24-Hours

Yesterday while looking up the results of the IHSA State Playoffs for my Route 66 vs. Lincoln Highway and US-12 vs. US-14 Showdowns, I came across the name of Washington Community High School Panthers who won their third round game and this Saturday are playing their semi-final game. Before Sunday, I wouldn't have paid any attention to the name at all. But then, Sunday was quite a day here in Illinois.

We've been to Washington once as we were playing NTN at various places, but hadn't thought about it until Sunday, and that horrible tornado.

I was looking at results from the IHSA Playoff teams, and there it was, Washington High School. They had a great season and entered the playoffs ranked #2 in the Lower Division (based on school location).

They had beaten their first round opponent, Peoria 31-21. In the second round, they rolled to a 53-12 victory over Mt. Vernon and this past Saturday, won 41-7 over one of the Route 66 teams, Normal-- University. Sadly, less than 24 hours later, the town was leveled by a 4EV tornado (5 being the worst). 

Fortunately, with all that damage, there was only one fatality. But, sadly, going from the euphoria of that great victory to what happened the next day. Just hard to fathom. Many of the football players lost their homes.

They will be playing #1 Springfield-- Sacred Heart-Griffin this Saturday. I sure know who I'll be pulling for.

Go Panthers. --RoadDog

This Past Weekend: Part 3: One Real Hard Storm and Da Bears Win

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 17TH: Listened to Rock and Roll Roots on WDRV and recorded Breakfast With the Beatles in the morning, as usual.

We started getting storm warnings and a tornado watch by 9 AM. With it being as warm as it has been around here in November, that usually signals "Watch Out! Something bad is on its way!!" Getting quite windy. Liz said that she heard someone say the last time we had barometric readings and storms like were on their way was 1975 when the Edmund Fitzgerald sank.

Drove to Squaw Bar and met up with the Usual Suspects for Da Bears game. Weather continued to worsen and, about six minutes into the game with Da Bears down 10-0, the game went into rain delay and fans were ordered to go below the stands for the approaching storm. That ended up with a two-hour delay.

CBS, which was carrying the game, went to two hours of weather reports. And, the news was grim. The little town of Washington, Illinois, near Peoria, had been clobbered and we had reports that Coal City and Diamond near Chicago had been hit by tornadoes.

We had big winds and heavy rains off and on at the Squaw Bar and once, a really strong breeze blew through the place. I had to move the car to another spot as I was near some trees that had lost a lot of smaller limbs during the windburst as there was fear bigger ones would fall or perhaps the tree itself.

The game started again and the field quickly became a quagmire after all that rain, but Da Bears were able to tie it up and won in overtime in a game that started at noon but didn't end until about 5:30.

When we got home, I looked out back to see if there was any damage, but it was too dark to see. The next morning I found that the Bradbury pear tree on Frances' Back 40 had blown down.

Quite the Day! --RoadDog

JSIS: Gators-- Tornadoes-- Bears-- Wings

From the August 26, 2013, USA Today State-by-state.

1. GATORS: BONITO SPRINGS, FL-- No more baby alligator-hugging at the Flamingo Island Flea Market. The market and Gator Man Mike Sturgill refuse to pay the $3,500 fee for permission to have an ordinance exception.

2. TORNADOES: FAYETTEVILLE, ARK.-- Research from the University of Arkansas shows thqat tornadoes traveling uphill cause much more damage than ones going downhill after studying the horrific tornadoes of 2011 in Tuscaloosa, Ala., and Joplin, Mo..

3. BEARS: MINNESOTA-- The world's oldest-known wild black bear has died of old age at 39 1/2. Bear No. 56 was tagged and radio-collared in 1981.

4. WINGS: BUFFALO, NY-- That's a lot of wings. Forty tons of chicken wings have been delivered for this weekend's National Buffalo Chicken Wing Festival which will feature 100 styles of wings, music and wing-eating contests.

Love Dem Wings --RoadDog

Tornadoes Must Have Knocked Out a Refinery

On the way home, we noticed that gas in Fox lake, Illinois, had had a gas gouge.  Earlier in the day, it was $3.94.  Now, it is $4.10.

I'm guessing the tornadoes in Oklahoma must have knocked out some refinery.

Isn't it sad when some folk make big profits on a natural disaster.

You Know How the GRB BO's Are.  --RoadDog

We Got the "Better" News

Yesterday, I saw that the death toll from that Moore, Oklahoma, tornado had been dropped from 51 to 24.  That evening of the tornado, it was expected to rise a whole lot more, some even estimating several hundred fatalities.  Viewing the destruction, I would have to agree.  Still sorry for the 24 deaths.

An additional 240 are injured.

I watched that touching TV interview with the old woman standing in the midst of the rubble of what used to be her home, saying that she had lost her dog and he was surely somewhere in the ruins.  A minute later, they found that dog.  I want to tell you that that brought a tear to my eye.

Then, there was that remarkable video of the tornado taken from the car.  I know that if it had been me, I would have liked to have taken it, but doubt that I would have witnesing that tornado.

Better Than Expected. 

Sad News From Oklahoma

Sad to find out about yesterday's tornado in Moore, Oklahoma.  I was in the Burger King in McHenry, Illinois, when I first saw and heard about it on the TV.  It looked terrible even then and just got worse.

We went through Moore back in 2004, when we took a sidetrip off Route 66 to Norman, Oklahoma, to see Oklahoma University and play NTN.  We even played NTN at a Buffalo Wild Wings in Moore.

A couple years ago, we went through Joplin, Missouri several months after it was struck by that horrible tornado.  Even though a lot os cleanup had been done, it still resembled a war zone.  What struck us the most was that some areas would be obliterated while right next to it there was little or no damage.

The strangest thing were the leaves on the trees which appeared to grow right off the trunks what with the limbs being taken off by the horrendous winds.

Wishing for the Best of a Bad Situation. 

What's with This Weather?

TORNADOES ON ROUTE 66

Those videos shot out of tornadoes yesterday from the OKC area as well as the ones from Joplin are something else. I've never seen tornadoes as they happen.

Yesterday 13 more die along with the 122 so far in Joplin. It seems that these tornadoes now are following Route 66, with both cities on it. Today I saw an article with an El Reno, Oklahoma, tagline, also on 66.

We've had more tornadoes this spring than usual. Then, there were those ones that hit Alabama earlier this month.


STORMS AND REALLY COOL HERE

Sunday evening, we had a storm that scared me more than usual. The wind was really strong and the sky a weird color. Tornado warning sirens in Spring Grove went off and we took shelter in the basement. Nothing came of it, fortunately.

However, with all the lightning and rain that night, the grass really took off. I had to cut it yesterday, two days before I usually cut it. Sure glad I did as it rained a lot last night and is raining right now. Can't let the lawn get ahead of me during the spring.

High today predicted at 65 degrees and tomorrow at 52 degrees. Way too cool for this time of the year.

Plus, we have Memorial Day weekend coming up, almost always crummy weather here for the opening of the boating season on the Chain of Lakes. Almost as predictable as the weekends the Round Lake Carnival wrecks in April.

Is This Global Warming? --RoadDog


EVER WONDER...Why the sun lightens our hair, but darkens our skin?

Strange Weather Indeed

We have definitely had some strange weather these last few days. Who'd have figured that we'd have 60 degree temperatures in Chicagoland in early January. Not, only that, but we had thunderstorms, and then, there were the tornadoes. Who'd have figured we'd have tornadoes in the area in January.

I was out in the sun room writing in the journal and listening to a recording I'd made of Little Steven's Underground Garage, when Liz said that there were tornado warnings in Kenosha County, right over the border in Wisconsin about eight miles from here.

The Weather Channel has called "The sky is falling" so often that I don't much pay attention to their warnings any more. But, this time, they were right. Around 6 they started showing pictures on the Milwaukee stations of the damage.

They were hit by full-fledged tornadoes, none, fortunately were down by us.

From the location, it sounded like the subdivision where a good friend of ours, Gary, used to live before moving to Florida a few years ago. It was. I called Gary in Florida and told him to turn to the Weather Channel and it was his subdivision. They even showed his former house that was obliterated except for the garage. He said he didn't have insurance because it was in a flood plain and he wouldn't pay the extra money. So, he was one mighty fortunate lad not to be living there anymore.

Plus, he had a barn in Wheatland off Wilmot Road, Hwy W, where he kept his classic sports cars and business equipment. He also rented winter boat storage to us and many of his friends. He said that place also was not insured. We know the tornadoes were in the area, but not whether it was hit as well.

Fun and Games in Illinois and Wisconsin. --RoadDog