A Tale of Twisters and Monsters

What a strange two days! I took Friday afternoon off to head up to Hodag Country to meet my sister Nell. Not a local? Rhinelander is the home of the Hodag pictured above.

This mythical, mischievous creature was first “discovered” in Rhinelander in the late 19th century but may have been roaming the Northwoods for eons before that. I can't confirm or deny! Today, the Hodag has become the official symbol of Rhinelander – it’s even the mascot for the local high school and can be seen pretty much anywhere visitors go in Rhinelander.

That is not the reason we were going to Rhinelander. We swear. But it you can believe it, for me, meeting up with one on my sisters up there is twice as close (less than 2 hours) to driving 4 hours to see them in our Up North back home towns.

So when she said she was going to a conference Friday and Saturday and could use the company, I said sure!

In our routes up and over yesterday we were both more like the Storm Chased versus the Storm Chasers. We knew tornadoes and crazy stuff were predicted. In fact, on my route up I-39 they had already dismissed schools early for safety. We both had sunny skies and stayed ahead of it thankfully!

Me arriving to town: "Hey, sis, I found the Hodag!"

40 minutes later... clouds and high winds before we find a place to eat!

As we scarfed down our delicious Friday night burgers at a place called Bucketheads Sports Bar & Grill, we heard no less than three tornado warnings on the multiple TVs! We're like, should we take shelter? And... wait is that what county we're in? 

Who knew being a tourist in Hodag Country could be so dangerous?

We did make it back to the hotel fine and she beat me in two games of Five Crowns before we realized the twisters did destructively touch down between Rhinelander and Wisconsin Rapids. Uff da.

And this morning we woke up to 30 degrees and a "real feel" of 21 degrees. So Wisconsin had sunny and golfing Thursday, twister Friday, and winter Saturday.

*Checks calendar*

Oh right, it's spring.

Got home about 6 p.m. tonight and am grateful for at least a little sister time. And super grateful for our safe travels.

Prayers to all dealing with tornado/wind damage and flooding right now. Consider any way we all can support them!

Oh and keep an eye out for those sneaky little monsters among us!

A Reluctant Hello to August

I say this every year, but this time I really mean it. How is it already August? And where did my summer go? So insane. 

I has definitely felt like summer all week. So hot. And usually I like hot. But it's been crazy humid and has created some crazy weather.

Caught this picture on the way to work yesterday. Was raining but I could see the sunrise around the bend. Maybe we can get out of our own rain storms and find some peace around the bend. Neat concept. 

Then yesterday afternoon and evening, it stormed so much, they actually canceled our Ladies Golf League. We got an inch of rain here. But as you can see from my dry and crispy flower basket in the background, that wasn't nearly enough.

Today was about 90 degrees and we had already purchased tickets to a Wisconsin Rapids Rafters baseball game. A group of folks from the church in Rudolph where Jim sings was going and we sat up in the elevated "Rat Trap." Thankfully the game was after 6 p.m. and we got some shade from the stadium. Whew. It still was so hot and humid. But we got free food and drink the whole time, so I think we all coped.

Their mascot Roscoe the Rat was trying help Jim text. Kids these days and their phones!

He was gracious enough to take a "nice" photo with me too. Well almost nice.

He must have been roasting in that costume! Uff da!

And to keep the streak alive, I managed to spot a pretty sunset on the backside of Witter Field. These gorgeous colors this week are probably caused by wildfire smoke from somewhere. But my camera still loves them.

Wishing you all a safe and cool weekend. Stay hydrated and let's try to embrace this August thing!

What the Hic?

I'm not sure what happened. I had a normal day of work followed by a family photo shoot. Nothing was out of the ordinary until hubby arrives home and I can't stop hiccuping. 

Thankfully it didn't happen during an important lunch meeting today or even the photo session. Who knows what they would think? But since it came on when Jim was home, I asked him for any possible cure.

He said: "Don't talk for 2 weeks."

Oh ha. Funny guy. 

So I am trying not to speak (which everyone will appreciate) but also concentrate on some photos, listening to an audio book, and reciting what state capitals I know. I know. That's a bit extreme. 

But guess what? Not only does that distraction technique work, but confirms there's a lot I have forgotten since the 4th-grade geography bee at Oak Hill Elementary. Gosh darn Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Most others, I'm happy to say I new and would make Mr. Larson proud.

Other distractions tonight included worrying about volatile weather situations on both coasts – the heat where Casey is in Portland and the flash flood warnings in Raleigh where Carter is. Thank you, Lord, for keeping us all safe tonight.

And thanks for the hiccups that distracted me from worrying.