Well, Den, That's a Job Done

Some people talk about a guy needing a "man cave."  Yeah, well, I'm not so sure about that.  It sounds very faux-psychological to me.  But still, I have many hobbies, which are very important to the way I live my life, and so when we built the house, we did designate one of the rooms as "my den."  This room has served as the center of our financial work (definitely NOT a hobby) for many years, but it has also become the storage place for the objects related to my hobbies.

A few years back, I redecorated my den, and shared the photos on a Favorite Foto Friday.

Over the ensuing three years, however, my den became, well, ummm, you see, ummm.  Oh, I'll just say it.

It was a MESS.

I spent a great deal of time in the house alone over those three years, but very little of that time was spent in the den.  I would go into it to retrieve something, or to hastily put something in it, telling myself I would store that "something" in its proper place -- later.  But it didn't happen.  Stuff and things were stacked around the room on surfaces high and low.

Now, it's not as if the room should have been on an episode of "Hoarding" -- I don't have that much stuff.  But the room was not really usable, and it was certainly not presentable.  I had lost track of where some of my Great Courses were, I could not find some of the maps I had created for our Dungeons and Dragons sessions, and there were games which I had not opened since purchasing them, as they sat as the base of a pile of -- well -- stuff and things.

So, this past Saturday, I finally devoted the time to cleaning, organizing, and tossing what needed to be tossed.  The results are highly satisfying to me.  I'll share a couple of photos.

Desk, and the Star Wall.  Some newer Star Wars items have been added.




The dice are too pretty to put in a closet.  And they are used at least once a month, so this makes them easy to find.




The shelves continue to hold "a few of my favorite things."




I was able to organize my Great Courses more efficiently.  A single shelf holds the few courses I have not yet completed (on the left) and the course books for those I have completed (on the right.)




Need a closer look?





Then, of course, there is the closet, which looks innocuous when closed.




Buuuut when it is open, you can see the extent of my Magic: the Gathering passion.  (White boxes contain Magic cards, either in decks (which are more easily seen in an old post) or in boxes, sleeved and ready for putting into a deck.




So, that's a job done. Now, sharing the house again, and truly appreciating the ability to find my possessions -- especially my gaming possessions, I believe I am motivated to keep the room clean enough to be useful. At least, I hope so.

And if not -- well -- at least this is proof that it's possible.

Pole Position

This happened this past weekend. Yes, that's a utility pole. We've called it "The Telephone Pole" for years, as it stood in a clump of trees alongside our driveway. With the May Snow, it finally came down. Right across the driveway. The guys carried it away for us.

Thanks, guys!

May Snow

The record-breaking snow of May 2, 2013, as seen from our house.






Happy May, everyone.

Favorite Foto Friday - Fall Trees 2012

This might be my last fall photo of this year.  But I just had to share it.

Favorite Foto Friday - Fall Leaves 2012

In many ways, Fall is the shortest season here in Minnesota.  The last summer-like day we had was at the end of September this year, and though we might get another one or two in a so-called "Indian Summer" they will be brief, and they will keep us from having autumn days while they last.

And then, far sooner than most people would prefer, a winter day will show up - probably by mid-November.  Yes, as the weather goes, we're likely to get about 6 weeks-worth of Fall.

Yet, it seems even shorter than that.  I have posted two Fall photos so far this season, and while I may post another or two, all of them will have been taken during the two-week period when the "fall colors" are on display.  Already, most of the leaves are off of the trees.  I am happy that my neighbor's maple takes longer to shed its coat than most of the trees in my yard, because that gave me a chance to get this shot, and a few more.

I think the combination of green, red and gold in these leaves is enchanting. 

Favorite Foto Friday - Path in the Fall 2012

As you will know if you follow my Favorite Foto Friday photos, I enjoy this view, in all seasons.  It's autumn again, so we've been treated to the view of the changing colors.  There have been changes this year, with the loss of one of our oaks, but I remain a fan of this small but familiar part of the world.






The last time I posted this view on a Friday was two years ago.

Paintball

On Sunday, I had the opportunity to play paintball for the first time in my life.  Adam (my son) is very excited about paintball, so he had asked that his birthday party this year be a paintball game.  He arranged to have nine of his friends, plus me, spend an afternoon playing games at Run-N-Gun Paintball near Oronoco and Mazeppa this past Sunday.

It was such a blast!  We played three games of  "Capture the Flag," three games of "Capture the Fort" and three games of  "Speedball."  (Maybe it was four?)

For those of you who have never played before -- as I had not -- here's how it works. 

The players divide up into two teams.  For "Capture the Flag" and "Speedball" the teams are as even as possible.  For "Capture the Fort" we had three people inside a three-sided fort structure defending it, and the other eight of us attacked. In all games up until the last one, a player is out of the game as soon as he has been marked with a paintball --- the mark must be the size of a quarter coin, but honestly, if you get hit and the paintball breaks, the mark will almost certainly be that big. The team who has the last players in the game wins, essentially.  Sure, in "Capture the Flag" technically you can win by getting the flag to the right place, but the way our players defended the flag, it's hard to imagine a scenario where a player from the losing side would have still been in the game.

The final game was a "Resurrection" game where, as soon as you were hit enough to be "out" you were allowed to return to the starting base and re-enter the game.  In this game, a player wasn't finally out until he had run out of paintballs.

These are two shots of me after the final "Resurrection" game.  I had been hit multiple times in the facemask -- I had to wipe layers of paint off of my visor just to be able to see (poorly) to move.
















A couple of things I learned from playing:

1. I would never survive in a real gun fight.  I don't see the enemy well enough, and shots can seemingly come from nowhere.  I barely fired a round before I was shot out in the first game.
2. Since the best way to avoid being shot is to stay low, crouching is the order of the day, and that means the next day (or two or three for someone my age) my quadriceps were terribly sore.
3. Being able to play a game like this in the woods, with my boys, made me feel so young -- which I'm not, but the feeling was there.  I am so fortunate to be able to live so close to these guys, and I am grateful that they still enjoy playing games with their dad (and father-in-law, and pseudo-dad.)
4. Those paintballs STING!  (I have a couple of welts which will last a while.)

Favorite Foto Friday - Sunroom in Summer

Our sunroom, in summer. A quiet place for reading, conversation, listening to music or simply taking a nap.

Favorite Foto Friday - Spring Path

I have been working on getting a "Spring" photo of our backyard to join the "Winter" and "Fall" shots I enjoy so much.  This is the best one I have taken so far, but it might well get supplanted when the bluebells bloom.

Still, for now, it's a very nice Spring view!




Happy Friday, everyone.

You know what this means, don't you?

No need to run the lawnmower for a very, very long time!




Oh, yeah. And Christmas is coming!

[P.S. "They" tell me that our snow may melt this week.  Well, I can tell you that, if "they" are right,

1. I still won't be mowing the lawn, and 

2. Christmas is still coming, but

3. I may have a chance to get the Christmas lights on the house, since I failed to do it before this snow.]

Favorite Foto Friday - Snowy Path

Some saw this already, but it's definitely worth a Favorite Foto Friday.  We had our first real snow last weekend.  It was not accompanied by wind, and it was wet enough to stick, but not so wet that it melted.

The path in our backyard was left looking so beautiful and peaceful, I was drawn outside to gaze on it.  This photo helps record the event.




And here is a bonus shot.

Great Service - Haley

I am delighted to tell people that Haley Comfort Systems in Rochester gave me excellent service today. 

A while back, I noticed that my fireplace was not lighting.  Today, I called Haley Comfort Systems, from whom we bought the fireplace.  A friendly woman named Kim suggested that, rather than scheduling a service call, which would cost me money, she could probably help me, especially if the problem was just the pilot light, as we suspected.  Kim talked me through the process of getting it lit.  Over the phone!  For no charge!

That is excellent service!


I have recently been dealing with a different local business which has been giving me frustratingly bad service.  That business will likely never get another big purchase from me.

On the other hand, I will be looking to Haley Comfort Systems any time I need something they provide.

Taking time to appreciate nature

In the spirit of trying to enjoy the little things in life, to appreciate the beauty of nature, to live in the moment, I decided to stay outside for a while after I finished snowblowing and shoveling yesterday. I had on my noise-canceling headphones, as I usually do when using the snowblower. I was listening to a mix, and it wasn't done yet, so I figured I'd just put myself down in a snowbank (there are plenty to choose from) and look up at the trees and the sky for a couple more songs.

Plop, into the snowbank, forming a nice, comfortable indentation. I leaned back, looked up, and was warm and comfortable (because in Minnesota, we have plenty of cold-weather gear. If we want to be warm, we can be warm) despite the fact that the temperature was 13 F and the wind was blowing at about 20 MPH.

I was rewarded with a tranquil view and some great music.

"Mr. Blue Sky" by ELO. Wonderful.
"New York, New York" by Sinatra. Ahhh.
"Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen. Glorious.

That's enough, I figured. It was time to go inside and get dinner ready, so I got up.

And discovered my noise-canceling headphones had broken. The left earpiece was only hanging by the wire.

Sigh.

I tried to enjoy this weather. I really did.

I just did it wrong.

The Record Falls

We have now had the snowiest December on record in Rochester.

Here is what it looked like around dinner time tonight.

It has stopped now, but we certainly got enough to put us over the top.

Now, we can stop. But we won't. More due Thursday.

The worst part of this particular snow is that it kept Sherry from leaving the Cities after her Final.

But the snow has stopped now. Maybe she can still get home tonight? Well, I want her safe, so when she gets here, we'll celebrate the end of semester #1.

I'm Just a Grill Who Cain't See Snow

The Blizzard of 2010 was impressive. There was snow on Friday, but the full force hit on Saturday. Sherry was home for the weekend, and needed to spend time studying, so I told her I would take care of meals. Friday night, I grilled steaks. Yes, grilled. We grill all year 'round.

Then, Saturday, I grilled again -- chicken this time. And each time, before I grilled, I had to clear a couple of paths through the snow to the grill.

The first picture here was taken Sunday morning, after the snow had finished falling, but before I cleared the paths again.


The second shows you what it looked like once I had cleared it again.


Why bother clearing a path? Because I am pretty likely to use that grill again this week. After all, the best food I make is grilled. We can't let little things like 15-20 inches of snow and below-zero temperatures stop good food, can we?

Still, imagine how high the snow would be on that grill if I hadn't used it this weekend...



[And if you don't know where the title of this blog comes from, don't worry. It's punny. From "Oklahoma!" the musical.]

An Advent Weekend

What a weekend! It was very "Advent."

Friday night we attended a party and got to eat lots of yummy goodies and have nice conversation. [Thanks, Dave & Jolene.] OK, then Sherry had to go back home to study, but that's also part of Advent, this year.

Then we drove through the first big snow of the year to get home. Safely tucked away in our house, we just watched the inches pile up. In the morning, I had the chance to get out my snowblower and clear the driveway of just under a foot of beautiful, white fluffy snow. The first big snow of the year is always special. I hope the weather stays cold and we just keep this around through Christmas!

Later Saturday Mom & Dad came up, bearing half-baked Mabe's pizzas. This is quite a treat! The boys and Marisa came over for dinner, and we had fun talking about plans for California, and fantasy football, and Sherry's experiences at school, and D&D [OK, Sherry, Mom & Dad didn't talk much about D&D.]


Then, we all went to "Irving Berlin's White Christmas" at the Rochester Civic Theater. Sherry and I attend most Civic Theater shows, but we had a larger group because Lee was a member of the chorus.

We had never seen a stage production of White Christmas. It was really good! [Go see it, if you live in/near Rochester and can get a ticket.] The chorus is on stage quite a bit, which was really fun. The leads were quite good. We had a great time.

Then, after enjoying a Vikings game [38-14 win -- it was fun to see] I came home and set up the Christmas tree while listening to some Christmas music. I will wait a day or two to decorate it -- to make sure I have the lights where I want them -- and then see how much more Christmas decorating I can get done without Sherry around.

All-in-all, an excellent weekend, with quite a bit of family, some fun theater, and lots of music, Christmas and otherwise.

I love Advent.

Hey Baby, It's Cold Outside

It's cold in Minnesota again. Hey, it's that time of year. We know what we're getting into when we live in this place.

Today I dredge up a photo from winter '85. It may be cold here, but we know how to keep our kids from freezing! I think Adam rebelled against this sort of padding for years, once he could choose what he wore.

Favorite Foto Friday - Fall Maples

Our neighborhood is such a beautiful place to go for a walk or a run, almost any time of year. But certainly there are two weeks in the fall when it is particularly spectacular.

Favorite Foto Friday - Golden Fall

This Friday, I anticipate what my drive home will look like in just a few days.

If You Need a Doctor

A sarcastic t-shirt you can buy in stores here proclaims that our town is

The Best Place in the World to be Sick

It's funny. I wouldn't wear one, but it's funny.

And, really, it's pretty true.

Leah's not sick, but she was injured. Because we live here, she got to see a specialist at the Mayo clinic. This surgeon found that she had a particular kind of tear in a ligament. In the past, surgery on such an injury had a 40% chance of helping. But he, the surgeon in question, had figured out what was really going on in that kind of rip, and had invented a procedure to deal with it. Success rate: 95% (which is as close to 100% as you're likely to get from a physician, given that medicine is large portions of science mixed in with a bit of art.)

Leah was fit into his surgical schedule the very next day, and is now on her way to recovery.

There are many things to recommend Rochester, Minnesota as a place to live. The Mayo Clinic is definitely high on the list.



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