Dude,

I happened to be in Caledonia on the weekend of August19th to attend my familyís annual canoe trip. We usually travel to Wisconsin and float the Kickapoo, but this year the plan was to ride the upper Iowa.

That Saturday morning we all met for coffee at my sister Susanís house. Although it was already raining, there was still discussion over whether or not we were going to stick with the plan. After all, we were prepared to get wet anyway. But before noon a unanimous decision was made to call off the boat ride. Instead, we moved down to my nephew Peterís very big garage and played beanbag toss, ping pong, foosball, poker, and held our (almost) annual cribbage tournament.

The first indication that things were getting dodgy was when we learned that a bunch of peoplesí basements were taking on water. It wasnít until Sunday morning that we got snippets of news covering the enormity of the devastation. There were two carloads of us that needed to get back to the Twin Cities area. We found out through the highway patrol and national weather service that every road but one had been closed. We took the Spring Grove route, on through Mabel, and Chatfield.

From the weeds hanging on the barbed wire fences, it was clear that the road we were on had flooded, but the water had, for the time being, receded. We reached the interstate, and made it back to our respective destinations safe and sound. I flew back to L.A. on Tuesday, to a sunny 80-degree day. That night, the national news covered the flooding throughout southeastern Minnesota and surrounding areas.

It was beyond surreal seeing CNN reporters covering mudslides in Brownsville, and Rushford under water. Even having grown up there, I could not wrap my mind around the idea of houses sliding down hillsides and bridges disappearing. I suppose unless a person is actually experiencing an event, itís hard to comprehend the magnitude of the chaos.

I was living in Southern California during the last big (Northridge) earthquake. I was in my New York apartment on the lower eastside of Manhattan on 9/11. My building shook from the impact of the first plane to hit the World Trade Center. What I found during and after these traumatic events is that human beings are not only incredibly resilient, but that almost everyone is "Minnesota nice" when the going gets tough.

Growing up, whether we were pulling each otherís cars out of snowdrifts or jumpstarting a dead battery for a stranger, we always looked out for each other, no questions asked. Itís really good to know thatís still the case.

My thoughts and prayers are with everyone affected by the recent storms. Keep on taking good care of each other. More later.

Peace and clear skies.

Steve

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Caledonia Argus
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