William Posted December 19, 2022 Author Report Share Posted December 19, 2022 5 hours ago, Melissa said: Spring Grove is a beautiful town. I love visiting there. I used to go there a lot to the peony farm on the edge of town. I'm friends with the owner and I'm also a peony addict. Anyway, Happy Hanukkah and Merry Christmas! When I moved to Minnesota from Florida, that's where I lived from 93' until 01', that's when I bought my home in Mabel. Yes, love Spring Grove...I'm always dropping through there! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
William Posted December 20, 2022 Author Report Share Posted December 20, 2022 I'm thinking that this is going to be the first actual white Christmas in quite some time in my neck of the woods. I mean actually having good snow coverage on the ground. We still have at least 4 inches or more sitting on the ground from that last system not to many days ago. Now they just issued a Winter Storm Watch for my area that begins Wednesday and goes through Friday. They are calling it a significant event, currently forecasting 4-6 more inches of snow. Plus throw in some windy conditions of up to 55 mph, along with subzero temperatures moving in with it. Not only is Christmas going to be white, but cold as you know what. We have been spoiled in that aspect also in recent years with crazy warm temperatures in December. Not this time. Merry Christmas indeed 🥶 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akroorka Posted December 20, 2022 Report Share Posted December 20, 2022 I woke up at 10 degrees this morning; the dogs appreciated a blanket after I took them out. I have an enclosed kennel with a fully enclosed tarp attached to my garage, more for my wife than the dogs. It was 18 degrees inside of it with no ice or snow to fall, slip, or break a leg/hip on. It is just the small things that matter, like 8 degrees🥶. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
William Posted December 20, 2022 Author Report Share Posted December 20, 2022 I just read that it could be the coldest Christmas in 40 years for some midwest areas! My phone weather bug is saying this for highs Tuesday through Saturday...12,12,2,0,2....then -5 to -10 at night. Factor in the wind chill they are talking about later this week and it's frostbite in minutes. I know I'm going to be picking up everything we need between now and Thursday because it's not going to be nice out there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
William Posted December 20, 2022 Author Report Share Posted December 20, 2022 11 minutes ago, akroorka said: I woke up at 10 degrees this morning; the dogs appreciated a blanket after I took them out. I have an enclosed kennel with a fully enclosed tarp attached to my garage, more for my wife than the dogs. It was 18 degrees inside of it with no ice or snow to fall, slip, or break a leg/hip on. It is just the small things that matter, like 8 degrees🥶. My garage, same way. It's detached and not heated, but those few extra degrees do make a world of difference. Plus it's nice not having to clean the car off 😊 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa Posted December 20, 2022 Report Share Posted December 20, 2022 12 hours ago, William said: I'm thinking that this is going to be the first actual white Christmas in quite some time in my neck of the woods. I mean actually having good snow coverage on the ground. We still have at least 4 inches or more sitting on the ground from that last system not to many days ago. Now they just issued a Winter Storm Watch for my area that begins Wednesday and goes through Friday. They are calling it a significant event, currently forecasting 4-6 more inches of snow. Plus throw in some windy conditions of up to 55 mph, along with subzero temperatures moving in with it. Not only is Christmas going to be white, but cold as you know what. We have been spoiled in that aspect also in recent years with crazy warm temperatures in December. Not this time. Merry Christmas indeed 🥶 Yep. Big blizzard coming our way. Maybe we will get an early Christmas break. 😬 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
William Posted December 20, 2022 Author Report Share Posted December 20, 2022 1 hour ago, Melissa said: Yep. Big blizzard coming our way. Maybe we will get an early Christmas break. 😬 My last day of work for the week is Thursday, done at 330pm that day. I suspect it might be a hairy drive home. That 17 miles from Caledonia could feel like 100. I only remember work being canceled a handful of times in the last 16 years. We'll see! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa Posted December 20, 2022 Report Share Posted December 20, 2022 5 minutes ago, William said: My last day of work for the week is Thursday, done at 330pm that day. I suspect it might be a hairy drive home. That 17 miles from Caledonia could feel like 100. I only remember work being canceled a handful of times in the last 16 years. We'll see! Highway 44 this direction is always terrible until you get to Hokah and it turns into 16. Did you see that big truck that hit the house in Hokah last night? How awful. It looks like the entire house is cracked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
William Posted December 20, 2022 Author Report Share Posted December 20, 2022 Just now, Melissa said: Highway 44 this direction is always terrible until you get to Hokah and it turns into 16. Did you see that big truck that hit the house in Hokah last night? How awful. It looks like the entire house is cracked. No, I didn't hear! All I know about was that 3 car collision on 44 by the Caledonia airport. Blocked off for hours...gotta go😊 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa Posted December 20, 2022 Report Share Posted December 20, 2022 1 minute ago, William said: No, I didn't hear! All I know about was that 3 car collision on 44 by the Caledonia airport. Blocked off for hours...gotta go😊 Right at the corner by st. Pete’s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
William Posted December 20, 2022 Author Report Share Posted December 20, 2022 2 hours ago, Melissa said: Right at the corner by st. Pete’s. Oh yes...someone here at work showed me pictures a while ago...wow, they are lucky. I was told that a mother and child were IN that corner room watching TV when it hit. That's easily a 40,000 pound piece of equipment on that bed. Close ups of the other side of the house show the cracks all the way through the middle of the structure. If that place would have been constructed of wood, oh boy. Then there was that fire last year that took out that other house/building just to the west on the same side of the street. I think I would be selling my roadside property 😬 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa Posted December 20, 2022 Report Share Posted December 20, 2022 9 minutes ago, William said: Oh yes...someone here at work showed me pictures a while ago...wow, they are lucky. I was told that a mother and child were IN that corner room watching TV when it hit. That's easily a 40,000 pound piece of equipment on that bed. Close ups of the other side of the house show the cracks all the way through the middle of the structure. If that place would have been constructed of wood, oh boy. Then there was that fire last year that took out that other house/building just to the west on the same side of the street. I think I would be selling my roadside property 😬 I did not know that they mother and child were in the room watching TV. How scary! I hope they are okay! I drove past the house this morning on my way to work and it looks pretty bad and will likely need to be demolished or rebuilt. The entire structure is cracked in several places. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad G. Posted December 21, 2022 Report Share Posted December 21, 2022 A big Winter storm coming here for Wed. night through Sat. snow & ice rain, hoping everyone stays safe and warm & has a Merry Christmas Short & not so sweet !! Gonna be ice rain not "rain & snow" I really wish it was gonna be snow, but ?? This one's more accurate, goin to the store tomorrow "early" to buy me a load load candles, both for heat and light (just in case) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carowill Posted December 21, 2022 Report Share Posted December 21, 2022 48 minutes ago, Chad G. said: A big Winter storm coming here for Wed. night through Sat. snow & ice rain, hoping everyone stays safe and warm & has a Merry Christmas Merry Christmas, Chad🎄🎁!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad G. Posted December 21, 2022 Report Share Posted December 21, 2022 2 minutes ago, Carowill said: Merry Christmas, Chad🎄🎁!! Same to ya William Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
William Posted December 21, 2022 Author Report Share Posted December 21, 2022 Gonna be interesting here too. Somewhat of a clearer picture on how things are playing out. Heavy snow overnight Wednesday for us here in southeast Minnesota, followed by ever increasing winds after the snow ends. That's when the blizzard conditions step in along with the frigid cold. In some cases wind chills will hit-40 Thursday morning I'll be up early, before sunrise, digging out my driveway. Getting too work should be manageable, but coming home at 330pm might be a little crazy. I'll throw up a couple of videos over the next 48 hours or so 😊 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
William Posted December 23, 2022 Author Report Share Posted December 23, 2022 Sadly, another area town gets struck with bad luck. I went out to start my car shortly after 3pm in the parking lot when I heard sirens and saw the Caledonia (the town I work in) fire department heading out of town to the west. I've probably said before that I live 17 miles to the West of Caledonia, and the one town I pass through on Highway 44 on the way home is Spring Grove. I have posted pictures of this town before. Well, as I approached Spring Grove from the east, I saw smoke. At first I thought it was the furnace at the school belching out exhaust, which it does in large clouds. But as I entered town, I saw what it was. Main Street (or 44 as it goes straight through town) was blocked off from one end to the other. Multiple squad cars from the county and state were present, along with multiple fire departments from a few towns. One of the buildings in the Center of town was on fire. I could see the smoke seeping from cracks all around the roof and saw the flames reaching easily 20-30 feet above the roof. It was the building that houses the hardware store, a 2 story building right in the middle of town. And if anyone knows old towns, you'll know that all these old buildings are sandwiched together. Furthermore, upstairs there are 5 apartments. Not sure if they are still used for rentals but the big southwest apartment was the one that I rented for 6 years before buying my current home 21 years ago. Back then it was Bjerke's True Value Hardware. In recent years it switched ownership and became Mulqueens True Value Hardware. As of 8pm last night, it was still burning. I know it's extremely difficult to battle fires in this kind of weather. I can only hope and pray that the neighboring buildings escaped with minimal or no damage and that if the apartments upstairs were occupied, that the occupants made it out safely. What a string of events, all within a few miles of each other! C'mon everyone, let's see your Christmas posts! Holiday colors and lights are in order here 🎄 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
William Posted December 25, 2022 Author Report Share Posted December 25, 2022 A little Christmas variety...I tossed in an ornament for my Wisconsin friends. Merry Christmas 😊 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted December 25, 2022 Report Share Posted December 25, 2022 Not TOO much snow. I'm guessing around 10 inches spread out over a few days. But I've never seen this much snow when it was so very cold. And the wind. KRAZZZY! I am cozy at home though and happy. Stay warm everybody! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted December 25, 2022 Report Share Posted December 25, 2022 We don't have lights or other decorations because our one-year-old cat would eat them. But we have two frisky cats, which I'll gladly trade for decorations. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
William Posted December 28, 2022 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2022 Uno's Christmas present...it was a stuffed toy monkey with 6 squeaks inside of it. She loves tearing them apart too find them 😊 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
William Posted December 28, 2022 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2022 Just now, William said: Uno's Christmas present...it was a stuffed toy monkey with 6 squeaks inside of it. She loves tearing them apart too find them 😊 Opps, forgot the pic 🤪 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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