About Last Weekend: Wind, the Chevy Malibu, Army-Navy Game, Chili Cookoff, Bears-Packers Game

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 11

We sure had a very windy day today, but nothing compared to Kentucky and southern Illinois.  Those poor folks really got hit.  We actually had snow on the ground for a little bit this morning.

We discovered fluid on the garage floor by the Malibu, but weren't sure about it until we drove to Walgreens and saw a new puddle  where we parked and knew we had a problem,  Came back home and got the truck and I followed Liz to Ray Chevrolet in Fox Lake and dropped off the car.  The leak reminded me of when we hit the limb blowing across the road in Johnsburg last November and spring a very expensive $3500 leak.

This would probably be from hitting the raccoon last night.

Drove to the McHenry American Legion for the Army-Navy game and a chili cookoff, two of my favorite things.  And, watching the game in a veterans place is great as you have lots of cheering.  And, of course, few things I like better than a chili cookoff.

And, even better, Navy won!!

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 12

Worked on Christmas lights and went to Sunnyside where we watched the Tampa Bay game.  That Tom Brady sure is something else.  Sure wish the Bears had drafted him.

Came home an watched the Bears-Packers game which was a surprise in the first half with Da Bears even up by six points.  But, then, hey, it our Bears and those Packers.  They did not hold on.

RoadDog

THINGS YOU'D LIKE TO SAY:  "I don't work here, I'm a consultant.

The Case of the Flying Deck Umbrella

Well, we sure had the wind last week.

Tuesday, when I got up, I was looking out the windows to see if there was anything amiss because of all that wind.

Looking out the front window at the driveway I saw what appeared to be a pile of trash.  Today is garbage pickup day and most people in the neighborhood put their receptacles out at night which means they were out in all that wind and at times that wind was intense to say the least.

When I took our garbage out to the street I got a closer look at the "garbage."  Turns out it was our umbrella from the deck in the back of the house.  The umbrella had not been open either.

That must have been one strong gust of wind to pick it up and take it over the house like that.

Wind Under My Umbrella.  --RoadDog

QUESTIONABLE HEADLINES:  Prostitutes Appeal to the Pope.

The $3800 Six Mile Auto Trip Last Tuesday-- Part 1: One Helluva Storm

We had had an almost unbelievable streak of warm weather for almost seven days in early November, so we had been taking advantage of it.  

However, Tuesday, November 10, it was supposed to end and in a big fashion with storms rolling through and really big winds.  Of course, that was the sky-is-falling weather forecasters so it was something you had to see.

We were down in Johnsburg sitting outside enjoying a late lunch (wow, sitting outside comfortably with just a sweatshirt and short pants in November here in the Midwest.  Wow!!) and then it began looking like the weather folks might be right.  Some really bad-looking black clouds were rolling in from the west and the wind was picking up.  (We were sitting outside because of the virus and no dining inside.)

Around 4:15, a big blast of wind and a smattering of raindrops hit, sending customers chasing after chairs, tables and umbrellas and then we and others decided it was time to hightail home.  We got to the car just ahead of a downpour.

Driving north on Johnsburg Road, we could see the rain coming down horizontally.  Trees were bending over alarmingly.  The pavement was becoming slippery.  We stopped at Ringwood Road for the sign, proceeded through the intersection and about a quarter mile north, I saw a large tree branch blown down and start across the road.  This was maybe a hundred feet in front of us.

Slammed on the brakes, but had to let up when I started skidding.  The branch was sliding across the road, but enough in it so that we were going to hit it.  We did.

The car continued going with no problems and we drove the last couple miles to home.  Parked in the garage and we could see no damage.

Hopefully, we wouldn't have any damage, but would have to wait until the next day to take a look in the daylight.

That Was Too Close.  The Heart Was Racing.  --RoadSmash

THINGS TO PONDER:  If the #2 pencil is the most popular, why is it still #2.

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"

About Last Weekend-- Part 2: Big Wind Blows Down the Tree, Musical "A Christmas Story"

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 19:  That wind continued to howl all night.  I looked out the window from time to time during the night to see how the Bradford pear tree was doing.  It still stood, but looked smaller than before.  At daylight, I looked out and a good 50-70% of the tree was down, sadly the most colorful part.  Something I sure didn't want to happen.  Some of the bushes around it were somewhat crushed in spots.  Looks like I'll have some cutting to do, but, hey, firewood!  What do they say about when life gives you lemons?

We went to the matinee play at the Woodstock Opera House for the musical "A Christmas Story" put on by the Town Square Players, a local theater group.  "A Christmas Story" is my favorite Christmas movie and I wanted to see how it could be turned into a musical.  They did a great job and, with the exception of two songs, we really enjoyed the play.  How those young kids can remember all those lines is beyond me.  Well Done.

Ate at Wendy's and went to Sunnyside Tap on the way home.

--RoadTongueOnthePole

THE SHOCKING TRUTH ABOUT OKRA:  Some say okra is a vegetable; others say it's a fruit.