January 20

Let’s play hockey!!

It’s been three weeks since last we visited here. The longest stretch between postings since I started this blog 10 years ago. Stuff happens. A pandemic. A winter like we haven’t had for a while. So Mom and I have just been staying home with the babies, trying the be good parents.

The top three worst things I’ve seen in hockey? The invention of the trap. The invention of the morning skate. And the invention of the extremely ugly uniform. ~ Brett Hull

GOOOOOAAAAALLLLLLLL!!!!!

[Now this is hockey weather . . . ]

[As is this . . . ]

[I arrived at the Runestone Community Center to find my competition for covering the event, Mark Ripley (officially hired by the school to do such), was about the only other masked guy in place, explaining why I haven’t been to many games lately . . . ]

[I did not know upon arrival that the game was Senior Night. That’s good in that we got the senior bios. But bad because teams never perform well on Senior Night (too much emotion) . . . ]

[The Cards were hosting our long time conference rival Fergus Falls. I arrive in time to see about half of the JV games, to see the up and comers. This was just after a goal by sophomore defense Maya Wagner (16). I thought she was very impressive – good size, good skater, good stick handler. I’m kind of surprised she’s not playing on the varsity yet . . . ]

The science fair has long been a favorite educational tool in the American school system, and for a good reason: Your teachers hate you. ~ Dave Barry.

[Well done, JV!]

[The after the game socializing . . . ]

[And then the varsity took the ice, and Mr. Ripley prepared for all the team photos . . . ]

….if you want to know what society’s going to be like in 20 years, ask a kindergarten teacher. ~ Clifford Stoll

[Then the individual senior photos with mom & dad . . . ]

[You will likely note that I’m shooting through the glass at an angle. And from this angle you can see every mark on the glass caused by collisions with players, sticks, and pucks . . . ]

OK, gather up – time for the all seniors photos . . .

Almost ready . . .

The “A” shot . . .

[And the hockey moms joined in. The player in civvies is a team captain, Kaci Trosvig, who is out with injury (shoulder, I believe) . . . ]

[A pretty good crowd on hand . . . ]

[The long white line . . . ]

I never did very well in math—I could never seem to persuade the teacher that I hadn’t meant my answers literally. ~  Calvin Trillin

Smartness runs in my family. When I went to school I was so smart my teacher was in my class for five years. ~  Gracie Allen

Teachers are the only professionals who have to respond to bells every forty-five minutes and come out fighting. ~ Frank McCourt

[Oh, and this was the line up for the anthem . . . ]

[The pre-game huddle to decide post-game snacking . . . ]

[The opening face-off. Fergus has a much better record than the Cards this year, but the Cards had beaten the Otters, 4 – 2, at their place two weeks ago during our 5-game winning streak . . . ]

[Coach Arola and her charges on the bench . . . ]

[Senior Lauren Rebrovich (15) scored the first goal of the game. It was also the first goal of her career. She is the daughter of the previous golf pro at the Alexandria Golf Club, and a member of the Cardinals state champion golf team . . . ]

[This is senior MaKenna Aure (17) who was once described by her coach as someone with insane speed . . . ]

[This game took a really bad turn in the first period when she was accidentally blind sided and had to be helped off the ice, not to return. With Kaci Trosvig already out, we were missing some serious fire power for the rest of the game . . . ]

[MaKenna was in Minnesota’s CCM High Performance program (Echo Press photo) . . . ]

[More coverage for Ms. Rebrovich who scored our only goal of the game . . . ]

[And on the move . . . ]

[The Otters won, 3 – 1, getting a very late power play goal. The Otters deserved the win . . . ]

[Senior goalies Jordan O’Kane (1) and Hailey Bailey (35) split time in the goal on this game. They apparently are best buddies and have been alternating most of the season . . . ]

[Though the Cardinal win streak was stopped at 5, they may have started another with a 5 – 1 home win over Breck this weekend . . . ]

[The senior photo stolen from the Cardinal Connection. I suspect if this team gets healthy, they will be a tough out at tournament time . . . ]

I never did say that you can’t be a nice guy and win. I said that if I was playing third base and my mother rounded third with the winning run, I’d trip her up. ~ Leo Durocher

I’m never tired of winning, and I’m never tired of skiing. ~ Lindsey Vonn

Up Next: Will they be wearing masks?

January 2

OK, this photo is from 2016. Back in the days when we, and others, were healthy and not concerned about entering public places without a mask. And besides, Karin and Dave have decided in their infinite wisdom that Palm Desert is a better place to spend the winter holidays. We’ll keep the home fires burning, providing child care for the babies, and get out and about on the days it appears likely all four tires and both feet have a reasonable chance of maintaining an upright position . . .

Snow falling soundlessly in the middle of the night will always fill my heart with sweet clarity. ~ Novala Takemoto

December 27

[This has been a real stretch of winter weather. Likely more than 20 inches of snow over the last 10 days of December; multiple double digit degrees below zero temperature days, something we haven’t had for several years (it seems) . . . ]

The snow was endless, a heavy blanket on the outdoors; it had a way about it. A beauty. But I knew that, like many things, beauty could be deceiving. ~ Cambria Heber

Life isn’t finding shelter in the storm. It’s about learning to dance in the rain. ~  Sherrilyn Kenyon

Blow, blow, thou winter wind, thou art not so unkind as man’s ingratitude. ~ William Shakespeare.

Snow brings a special quality with it—the power to stop life as you know it dead in its tracks. ~ Nancy Hatch Woodward

A lot of people like snow. I find it to be an unnecessary freezing of water. ~ Carl Reiner

[There will be a further explanation of this further on down the line . . . ]

It snowed last year too: I made a snowman and my brother knocked it down and I knocked my brother down and then we had tea. ~ Dylan Thomas

It’s the most wonderful time of the year. ~  Andy Williams

And the sky, is a hazy shade of winter. ~  Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel

[Guinie will normally bolt out the door before we can block her. On this day, something held her back . . . ]

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow. ~ Sammy Cahn

The light made the snowballs look yellow. Or at least I hoped that was the cause. ~  Gary D. Schmidt

Despite all I have seen and experienced, I still get the same simple thrill out of glimpsing a tiny patch of snow. ~ Edmund Hillary

Soon the snow would come. Then the log house would be almost buried in snowdrifts, and the lake and the stream would freeze. ~  Laura Ingalls Wilder 

Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds. ~ Albert Einstein

The snow began to fall again, drifting against the windows, politely begging entrance and then falling with disappointment to the ground. ~  Jamie McGuire

[WE’RE SAVED!!!]

I knew I was going to take the wrong train, so I left early. ~ Yogi Berra

People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily. ~ Zig Ziglar

I’m bored’ is a useless thing to say. I mean, you live in a great, big, vast world that you’ve seen none percent of. Even the inside of your own mind is endless; it goes on forever, inwardly, do you understand? The fact that you’re alive is amazing, so you don’t get to say ‘I’m bored.’ ~  Louis C.K.

There’s never enough time to do all the nothing you want. ~ Bill Watterson

[And that evening, a sun dog arrived . . . ]

You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club. ~ Jack London

I have a simple philosophy: Fill what’s empty. Empty what’s full. Scratch where it itches. ~ Alice Roosevelt Longworth

I didn’t fail the test. I just found 100 ways to do it wrong. ~ Benjamin Franklin

December 29

By working faithfully eight hours a day you may eventually get to be boss and work twelve hours a day. ~ Robert Frost

My therapist told me the way to achieve true inner peace is to finish what I start. So far I’ve finished two bags of M&Ms and a chocolate cake. I feel better already. ~  Dave Barry

If you don’t know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else. ~ Yogi Berra

[The one block of 9th Avenue between Nokomis and Maple Streets on the north side of Noonan’s Park . . . ]

[The pond with the duck house on the south side abutting 10th Avenue . . . ]

[Said duck house . . . ]

No matter where you go, there you are. ~ Little Mayo Johnson (or Buckaroo Banzai)

[From the circle at the south end of Maple Street . . . ]

[And Maple Street T’s at the house at the end on 6th Avenue . . . ]

Geez, would you think asking for a snowmobile suit on a day when it’s 14 degrees below zero would be asking for too much? ~ Big Ole

Friendship is like peeing on yourself: everyone can see it, but only you get the warm feeling that it brings. ~  Robert Bloch

Honest criticism is hard to take, particularly from a relative, a friend, an acquaintance, or a stranger. ~  Franklin P. Jones

[Home, Sweet, Home . . . ]

[I have often walked down this street before . . . ]

[Knowing I’m on the street where I live . . . ]

[Designer footwear from the Super, an interholiday present. She has never been fond of my propensity to walk around unshod in the house – something about uncouthness? But I always tell her it’s the best way to recognize when your floors need cleaning . . . ]

December 31

New Years’ Eve

[A bottle of bubbly, and goodies from Ruthie’s sister Rita . . . ]

It’s okay to look at the past and the future. Just don’t stare. ~ Lisa Lieberman-Wang

[Yet another two person party in the era of COVID . . . ]

January 1

New Year’s Day

The Super’s birthday! She finally accepted the week long gift I had been sending her – my cold! Fortunately, she had in-house staff to keep an eye on her. Yes, I’ve had a cold for a week. Just an unnecessary accouterment to my other long time malady – sciatica. (Oh, and you know when you bite the inside of your cheek? Don’t get me started!) So, I had been undergoing treatments for my sciatica when my chiropractor had to leave the game for . . . back surgery. It was three weeks before he made it back to work (early). In the interim my back pain kept getting worse to the point of turning snow shoveling over to the Super (and with a note from my chiropractor not to shovel snow (wink, wink, nod, nod, say no more)). Then the coughing from my cold gave me a rib cage muscle strain. I’m going in for a complete chassis overall in the spring.

[Locals will remember Jerry Van Kempen. Jerry’s dad was a chiropractor in Long Prairie. He said his dad always gave a snow shovel to his customers (er, patients) for Christmas – always assured future business . . . ]

Listen, smile, agree, and then do whatever you were gonna do anyway. ~  Robert Downey Jr.

The reason I talk to myself is because I’m the only one whose answers I accept. ~  George Carlin

I figured something out. The future is unpredictable. ~  John Green

Life doesn’t imitate art, it imitates bad television. ~ Woody Allen

[Broadway in downtown Alexandria – the holiday decorations will be coming down soon . . . ]

We are all here on earth to help others; what on earth the others are here for I don’t know. ~  W. H. Auden

The world is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper. ~ Bertrand Russell

There’s power in looking silly and not caring that you do. ~ Amy Poehler

Women who seek to be equal with men lack ambition. ~ Marilyn Monroe

The great thing about getting older is that you don’t lose all the other ages you’ve been. ~  Madeleine L’Engle

[Above and below, Kincaid Cemetery on the way home . . . ]

I know that there are people who do not love their fellow man, and I hate people like that! ~ Tom Lehrer

If there are no stupid questions, then what kind of questions do stupid people ask? Do they get smart just in time to ask questions? ~ Scott Adams

You’re only given a little spark of madness. You mustn’t lose it. ~ Robin Williams

The best things in life are actually really expensive. ~ Unknown

[So, two sick people decided to have a Jewish New Year’s celebration by getting Chinese carry out. I went to Great Hunan and picked up two large containers of hot & sour soup!]

The end! (We appear to be in recovery.)

You can’t experience simple joys when you’re living life with your hair on fire. ~  Emily Ley

Those are my principles, and if you don’t like them… well, I have others. ~  Groucho Marx

Up Next: Health dependent . . .