March comes in -- and goes out -- like a lamb

In Minnesota, we've come to expect one or two huge snowstorms during March.  Lots of heavy, very wet snow is the typical result and usually comes right after  a few spring-like days.  And they usually coincide with our high school hockey or basketball tournaments so that the teams and fans that come in from the hinterlands get to battle snow and lousy road conditions before playing in the tourney.

This year?  Nothing.  March started out pretty mild, got some rain, had threats of bad flooding on the Minnesota, Mississippi and St Croix riversheds but no snow.  And the floods were much tamer than predicted.

One local meteorologist noted that both Dallas and Atlanta had more than an inch of snow in March -- we had 0.0000" in Minneapolis-St Paul and just a "trace" in Duluth.  We've had several days in the 60s ... today it's supposed to get into the 70s.

Hope April is the same.  Of course, we have gotten a small amount of snow in April at times and I remember ...  nah, not going to tempt Mother Nature.

Respite

A friend of ours (actually more of a friend of Alec's) was going home to Little Falls with her fiancé this weekend. She asked if Alec could come along and there was no more than a nano-second of delay before I enthusiastically said "YES!"

Alec is a great young man.  For the most part, he's able to entertain himself and makes very few demands upon us.  But there are times when Barb and I really enjoy just being two older adults and going on a date.

The respite also includes the weather:  we've had a streak of nice days with clear and sunny skies and temps in the low to mid-40s.  Kinda Colorado-like weather where a sweater and a down vest or lighter jacket can replace the heavy winter coat.

So, our empty-nest weekend started around 6:30.  For me.  Barb's trial team had caught felony arraignments this week and she has a "case distribution" system that assigns points to each case based upon seriousness of the charge, complexity of the case, and whether the moon is in alignment with Saturn or somesuch thing.  It takes time.

She made it home at 9PM and clearly was too tired to do much celebrating that night.  Plus there had been a miscommunication about dinner plans.

But the next morning we both slept in and had a lazy start to the day.  Drove over to Stillwater and walked up and down the main street, poking into this shop and that, etc.  Barb loves to check out the antique shops so I'd take a quick survey to see if there was anything of interest and then sit and relax.

We caught lunch at one of our favorite restaurants where the prices are moderate and the portions are huge.  (It's a Mexican restaurant name "Your Mama's Nachos")  After lunch we did some more "just looking" in shops, ran into some people we know who previously attended our church, chatted and then finally drove up to Marine-on-St-Croix to see how spring is progressing.

Last night we had a light supper of sausage, cheese and crackers plus a bottle of wine and watched some romantic-comedy whose name eludes me and whose plot I can just barely recall.  But it was nice to just spend the time together and talk about this and that.

Today we get back into the swing of things.  I have a listing appointment.  She has to meet a client who's in jail waiting trial.  Alec comes back in the early evening and he'll meet up with me at the Gopher basketball game.

Gosh, this was a nice weekend.  And, gosh, it will be nice to have Alec back.

Finally a request:  if you know a family who has a physically or developmentally disabled teen or young adult living at home, even a 4 or 6-hour block of "respite care" can be incredibly rewarding for the parents.  An overnight respite visit is like a slice of heaven.  And it helps the teen or young adult to get away from the folks from time to time as well.

PS:  about our friends who provided respite care.  While Alec was high-school age, we "hired" Angela for a couple of summers to look after Alec during the day.  The two of them bonded very well.  And, from time to time, parents of other friends of Alec would ask if they could add their son or daughter for a day or two.  Angie was a student at Bethel so she lived close-by and would also watch Alec on some nights when we'd go out.

For the past six or so years, Alec and Angie have retained their friendship.  When Angie began dating Luke, Alec expanded the friendship (somewhat reluctantly and with some jealousy).   Alec and a friend went up to visit Angie's family a few summers ago and they expanded their family to include him.  He's been to birthday parties for grandmas, family picnics, etc since and seems to get an invite 2-3 times a year.

It's been a great relationship for Alec and (I think) for Angie.  And "respite care through the kindness of friends" is mighty, mighty welcome!

What would you have done?

Here's the set-up:  Last night about 6:30, I was driving away from my local Target when I saw two teen-age girls in the parking lot, looking around with some confusion.  One of the two raised her arm, signalling me.  I didn't stop right away but noted in the side view mirror that the girl who had waved had lowered her arm somewhat dejectedly.

So, I backed up, rolled down the window and asked if they needed help.  One replied that they needed to find "Karth Lake Drive" or "Amble Drive"  I told them it was just a couple of miles north and they could find it easily by driving north.

Then they told me that they didn't have a car and had taken a local "circulator" bus from the local regional shopping center to the Target. It was getting cold and dark, so I asked them if they wanted a ride.

I have to admit that I immediately realized I might have erred.  I've gone through enough "sexual harassment" training  that's also included the admonition to avoid placing yourself in situations where "sexual harassment" or other "bad acts" can be claimed.  And although neither young woman looked particularly dangerous or threatening, I also realized that I was basing that assessment on my admittedly dated view of the world.  (Hey, I still get amazed when a young woman driving another car flips me off.)

By now they were in the car.  And, as I drove away, we talked a bit and I discovered they were two foreign exchange students (one from Milan and the other from Rio de Janeiro).  One went to our local high school; the other was attending a parochial school in Minneapolis.  We laughed a bit about how dismal our public transit is in the suburbs.

After I dropped them off and was driving home, I took some pleasure in doing a good deed. I'm a firm believer in "paying it forward" and this was one of those chances.

So I'm curious -- my decision turned out fine.  But was it a good idea to offer a ride?  Or was it a bad idea?

You can chime in here by taking this anonymous poll:  click here to take survey

What do you think?

Don't tell my kid brother

but Drake just beat Southern Illinois for the third time (a 3-game sweep) last night.

Oh, that's right:  he knows.  "Check's in the mail."

The next ten months will be lots of fun.

Alec meets Tubby Smith

Alec is a long-time Gopher fan and really, really likes Tubby Smith, the Gophers head coach.  Matt and Molly gave Alec a super Christmas gift:  attending a Gopher basketball practice.  Practice was to start at 8:00 and run until 10:00 at Williams Arena.  When we arrived, there was a sign telling us that Coach Smith was running late from a recruiting trip and that there were no players practicing in the morning.  Instead, we were welcomed to return in the afternoon.  (We did and saw a practice that ran just under two hours.)





So, Alec got a two-fer:  we had a Continental breakfast and then Alec went on the court to shoot and see what Williams arena looked like from the floor.  Here are some photos at the event

After about an hour, Coach Smith arrived and chatted with fans, posed for pictures and then there was a 30-minute Q&A.  Tubby was really interesting and much more candid and open than I would have expected.  (I wrote a brief report for the local fan board:  GopherHole.com.  Click on this link to read it:  article and you'll get a sense of what I mean.)

And here's Alec's prized possession: