2007-02-25 Big snow

We finally got a blast of winter snow this weekend. It started to snow Saturday morning and has now been snowing for a full 24 hours. The heaviest snow was late Saturday night and Sunday morning.

The airport had closed down due to some freezing rain on Saturday afternoon, but fortunately it was after Ray arrived back from the Philippines. He went through patches of heavy snow, no snow, sleet and freezing rain as he descended through the clouds upon arrival.

Waking up Sunday, we found a good 10 inches of packed snow on the driveway, with some drifting areas up to about 2 feet. The residential roads have not been plowed as of 1:00, but some people are venturing out with various success. One neighbor got stuck in the snow outside the house and after a little bit of pushing, he decided to head back home rather than venture out. He had a hard time backing up through the snow, and Ray ended up clearing a path with the snowblower for him to drive back to his driveway. Mariah helped clear the driveway and got to run the snowblower besides helping to shovel.

When the plows cam around, one of them got stuck right in front of the house out by the mailbox. He was slipping and sliding towards the curb and mailbox and got sideways, so his backend was over teh curb and even touched the mailbox, so he stopped. The front-end loader then cam and pulled him out from the back, so he was then able to get going again. The snow plows left a big pile of heavy snow at the end of our driveway that we will have to go and clear out now.

Mariah took her first adventure driving through deep snow as her and Ray took the van around the neighborhood. It was not easy driving and we did not make it up the hill. She did go around the cul-de-sac and in and out of the driveway. She said she will never drive in snow, but we are sure that will change at some time.

Hailey and Mariah have spent some time playing in the snow and sliding on the plastic sleds on the hills in the backyard and and at the neighbors. Kara is not feeling well today, so she is staying inside.




LeAnn has been painting Kara's room this last week, and is almost done. She painted Mariah's room last month. The kids have gone for some nice, bright colors in their rooms.

It finally looks like winter in Minnesota after a very dry fall and early winter. This most recent snowfall will probably double the amount we have received this year.

2007-02-18 Snow Tubing

Today, Hailey and her friend Emily went snow tubing at the local city hill. We had not been tubing yet this year, mainly due to the lack of snow. We have only have about a foot of snow total so far this year, compared to about 3-4 feet normally by this time of year.

Because it has been so cold now for the last 3 weeks, the snow we did get has not had a chance to melt. It has been compacted and is very icy on the hill, however. The warming house attendant told me they had groomed the hill a couple of times to keep it usable.

The city has upgraded the tubes at the hill this year. Where previously, they had a wide variety of tubes in various sizes and conditions, this year they bought actual snow tubing tubes. They have a hard plastic bottom and a fabric top with at heavy duty tire tube inside. They even have handles on them to hold on to as you glide down the hill. To help offset the cost of the upgraded equipment, they are charging a nominal fee ($2.25) for the first time.

The kids are now big enough to haul their own tubes up the hill. It is about 150 feet to the top and has a vertical drop of about 75 feet. It was not too crowded today, and when we left around 5:00, there was no one else there. A lot of families use the hill because it only allows tubes, so it seems less dangerous than uncontrolled locations that have sleds, toboggans, tubes, and sometimes even snowboards all going down together.

We went into the warming house a couple of times to warm up. They have fireplace going to help keep everything toasty. It felt chilly outside today as it was windy and damp. We have had a lot of sunny, but cold, weather the last few weeks. The sun this time of year can really start to warm you up not matter how cold it is.

2007-1-14 Downhill skiing

We went on the first ever Bloom family ski day at Welch Village about 40 miles south of here. Even though there has been very little snow in the area (less than 6 inches for the year, the ski areas are making snow and have all their runs and lifts open. You can see that beyond the ski area, everything is brown and bare.



None of us have very much experience skiing, nor do we have equipment, so we rented it there. This was Hailey's first time ever, and Ray and LeAnn haven't skied for about 20 years. Mariah and Kara both skied for the first time with their school's ski club.

After learning how to go up the chair lift and few trips down the short hill, we were feeling good about tackling something bigger.

Ray went up the big lift first to scout out some possible routes down to match abilities. Ray, Kara and Mariah were the first to attack the larger hill, although still at a beginner level. Soon Hailey and LeAnn were to follow. We started to spread out and try some different runs with varying difficulties. Everyone had a great time and no injuries were sustained, just some sore, aching muscles. The hardest part of the whole experience was walking around with our ski boots on in a permanent forward leaning position.

Towards the end of the afternoon as it was starting to get dark, it started to snow. The small flakes would sting the cheeks and make it hard to see as they got in your eyes on the way down the hill. this was supposed to be the start of a 5"-8" snowfall overnight. Unfortunately from the kids viewpoint, there will be no snow day as it is already a holiday on Monday for Martin Luther King Day.


Kara is looking forward to her next ski club outing this Thursday as she will tackle larger hills than she did her first time out last week. Hailey will be going skiing with her 5th grade class next month and is looking forward to going again now that she has some experience.

2007-01-06 Horseback Riding

It has been a warm and relatively snow-less winter this year, so the normal winter activities of sledding, building snowmen and ice skating have been few and far between. The local tubing hill has not been open, and the outdoor rinks have also stayed closed. It has been nice not having to do a lot of shoveling of snow, but changes what you think of for winter outdoor activities.

Hailey decided to try taking horseback riding lessons with a friend of hers. Hailey has been riding before on trail rides, but the size of the horses has always made here a little uncomfortable. By taking some lessons, she can become more comfortable with the horses and enjoy trail rides.

She had her first lesson on Saturday. Before the actual riding, she learned about the care and grooming of a horse. She brushed and cleaned the horse she would be riding, then put the saddle and bridle on.

She was able to learn how to mount the horse, and was able to do so without using any booster or stool. That is long way up for a small girl.

Most of the riding was tethered to start out with, but eventually was able to start trotting with the horse. The hardest part was learning not use the saddle horn for hanging on, but to balance and use her feet and the stirrups.

After the riding, she took the gear off the horse and cleaned it up again. This time, she even had to lift its feet up and clean out its hoofs.

All in all, she had a good time and is looking forward to her next lesson.

On the Road

Mariah passed her driving permit test this week and is now eager to drive mom and dad around the area in order to get some behind the wheel experience. She is doing a good job. She has even had her first expereince at night driving. She still has to take formal behind the wheel training before she can take her driving test next spring. She will also have the opportunity to gain experience in the snow before she takes her license test.

Locks of Love

Today, Kara had her long hair cut short and donated the cut off portion to Locks of Love, an organization that takes donated hair and creates wigs for children with permanent hair loss. Back in August, Hailey had donated her hair, and in July, Mariah had hers cut off. The girls all looked so different after the haircuts, especially after seeing them with long hair for so long.

The kids had first heard about Locks of Love through a friend of Mariah's who had donated her hair when she first had her hair cut short. They have since seen information about it on TV shows and various publications. The kids had all decided they wanted to grow their hair long enough to be able to donate their pony tails to help others. This committment to long hair became a little less comfortable when we moved to the Philippines and had to endure a lot of hot weather all year long. To help stay cool they generally wore their hair in pony tails or braids during this time.

We are very proud that they made a choice of helping others, and followed through with their plan. Way to go girls!

Typhoon Damage in the Philippines October 2006

Ray was back in the Philippines for a business trip and had an opportunity to see first hand some of the damage and the power of the typhoon that went through the Philippines in late September.

The coconut trees at the Philippine Plaza along Manila Bay were upright now, but it appeared that many had been knocked over during the typhoon. Many were also topped off and now just stand like telephone poles out in the garden. The pool was being repaired, and I don't know how much of that was due to storm damage as the hotel is going through a general renovation.

Heading south out of Manila, he could see the downed and stripped trees all along the expressway. Many piles of debris had been piled up alongside the road. The South Expressway had been totally blocked by fallen trees and debris during and after the storm. Clearing the road has been the first priority, with pickup of the debris coming later.

The Sta. Elena golf course was hard hit by the typhoon. Although very playable at this point since the greens, tees and fairways suffered little actual damage, the vegetation around the perimeter of the holes was severely damaged. Every hole is surrounded by trees and plants, and they took the brunt of the storm.

Some large trees were snapped off anywhere from 10-20 feet above the ground, others were toppled roots and all. For as large as the trees were, their root systems were very shallow. Even the trees that remain standing were relatively bare as their leaves were stripped off.

A lot of the trees that were down have been uprighted, although many are still laying down. Even some of the snapped off trees have been uprighted and will begin to leaf out again and grow from the point they were broken.

A deep (50-75 feet) ravine with a usually small creek runs through the course. The creek walls have been covered in grasses and other vegetation in the past. They are now bare, down to the soil, rock, or concrete applied to prevent erosion. It has really changed the look of the creek and some of the holes. The amount of water that was flowing through that creek bed was tremendous, based on the damage and new look of the creek. It appears that the level of the water was over halfway up the banks.

One of the most affected holes in my opinion was number 8. This was double dog-leg that followed around the creek. You could cut the first corner over the trees, but could not see the fairway where you wanted to land. Due to the lost trees and loss of leaves on the trees that did remain, you can now see the landing areas from the tee. The creek now has no vegetation coverage from tee to green. The look of the hole has totally changed.

There has been a lot of work done on the course, but there is a lot of work to be done. Only time will allow the trees to come back and give the course the look and feel it once had.

At Club Intramuros Golf Course in Manila itself, most of the trees survived, but some of the light fixtures were toppled, making some dark areas for the night golfing. The protection offerred by the buildings surrounding Club Intramuros was evident comparing the damage in the inner city vs that in the rural area

On the southern edge of Manila in Alabang, there was signifcant damage to trees and vegetation, but not as much as further south towards Calamba. Some trees were uprooted and toppled, but not as many appeared to be topped off. The village had been collecting brush and piling it in various empty lots, and some of the brush piles grew quite large. Many of the large toppled trees have already been cut down to the stump, so they don't stick out as much as the toppled trees that remain whole in other areas.

There will be a lot of time required for this area to fully heal and recover, but a lot of progress has already been made. One of the local houses that always puts up a large Holloween decoration carried through with the tradition again this year

We Have a New Neighbor

Our neighbor had mentioned to me last Friday that she had met a couple on the trails in the woods behind out house who had seen a small bear out in clearing. Tonight my mom called and said she had seen something on TV about a bear in the park. Here is the story from the KARE11.com website:

Black bear sighted in Eagan park
Eagan Police are asking residents and visitors to be aware that a black bear has been sighted near the area of Patrick Eagan Park. Earlier this month as darkness fell, a couple returning from a walk, saw a small black bear cross the path in front of them. The bear was spotted about 50 yards from the trail head near the Eagan Art House off of Lexington Avenue. No one else has seen the bear, but on Monday Park staff found tracks along the south shore of McCarthy Lake, in the nearly 100-acre natural park. Photographs were sent to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Officials there confirmed they were bear tracks. Black bears are not known to be aggressive and it is likely the bear will move, in time, to a more rural area, according to Byran Lueth, a Minnesota Department of Natural Resources urban wildlife specialist.

We will be keeping our eyes open and cameras ready, just in case we can get a photo. (Maybe a better one than the track print shown here.) Besides the usual deer and raccoons, we have seen a wolf back there in the past and coyotes have also been spotted back there.

Annual Labor Day Celebration in Graettinger Iowa—Sept 2006

We attended the 110th Annual Labor Day Celebration over the weekend in LeAnn’s home town of Graettinger Iowa. Graettinger is located in northwest Iowa about a 3 hour drive from the twin cities. As we drove down, we saw some of the downed trees from the recent tornados just south of St. Peter. The trees along the river bank on the east side of the road were heavily damaged for about 1/3 of a mile, while the trees on the west side and up the hill were all in fine shape.


We arrived about 9:30 Friday night and then LeAnn’s sister Sue and her nieces Heather and Heidi arrived shortly after. They then headed off for downtown to go to the Legion club and listen to a local band, then headed to the new tavern in town.

Saturday was cloudy with rain off and on, but the activities went on as normal. Ray went over to the antique tractor pull. The tractors are divided into different weight classes and then pull a sled with a sliding a block that makes it harder to pull the farther down the track it goes. The track is groomed between each pull so everyone has equivalent conditions. The gals went to some of the local garage sales, but found very few bargains.

In the afternoon we headed to the demolition derby. There were lots of participants in cars that ranged from small compacts (like an old Chevette similar to one LeAnn had many years ago) to larger full-sized cars. Generally, the larger cars fare better. Most contact is initiated with the rear of the car to protect the engines and radiators. The area is kept moist and slippery and up to 11 cars went at a time.
Once a car is stuck or disabled, they break off a stick on their roof to indicate they are out and wait for the end of the race. Winners of heats come back for the finals. Losers have another opportunity if they can get their car working again before the consolation round. It is amazing how quickly they can get a car back in running condition after being knocked out. Some cars were running without tires after they were stripped from their rims, and many were smoking while running. A few had some small fires that the fire department put out before they became a problem.

On Sunday we went down on main street to attend the carnival. But before we even got to the carnival, we stopped for ice cream at the local drive-up. We had some cones, malts and twisters before we went out on the midway. We played some ski-ball and also tried a game that you attempt to stand up a beer bottle using only a ring on the end of a string. When we were at the state fair, the guy running the booth could do it every time and showed you how to do it in order to entice you to play. Ray tried it here and did not have any luck.

Hailey and Kara took a ride on Spin the Apple, and Kara did the Tilt-a-Whirl. There was a nice crowd on main street despite the threatening skies. We also stopped for popcorn at the tiny popcorn booth that has been making popcorn for many, many years. The popcorn machine itself has been in use for over 75 years and is still working. LeAnn and her sisters came here often when they were growing up.

LeAnn and her mom went to the talent show in the evening. Along with the local talent, the Labor Day Queen was crowned. All the royalty for the parade on Sunday was also there.

On Labor Day Monday, LeAnn started up and drove her mom’s 1950 Chevy around town and out to the country. Ray, Kara and Hailey went along for the ride. We saw a few other old cars coming into town for the parade as we were driving around.

The car only gets out a few times a year, but it is fun driving something that old. LeAnn’s dad had it restored back in the 80’s, and would occasionally drive it in the parade. They even had an antique and classic car show in town for a few years.


We went to the parade in the afternoon with LeAnn's aunt Ruth, cousins Barb and Darwin and their families. The parade was made up of lots of floats, tractors, fire trucks, beauty queens, and of course politicians. Elvis even made an appearance in one of the cars and the Shriners brought their six wheel swamp buggies for some narrow street precision driving. Most of the units threw candy for the kids, but some even had mini Frisbees, pencils, and slap on bracelets. The kids filled up their bags with goodies and the adults enjoyed seeing so many people they knew. we bought some raffle tickets both for the cash prizes and for the quilt being raffled to support the local ambulance. Hopefully we will be a winner!