BRIDGE OUT

THE WEATHER IS STILL UNSETTLED

AT LEAST THE GARDENS DON'T NEED TO BE WATERED

Thursday, 7:30 AM.  66 degrees F at the ferry dock, 62 on the back porch.  Wind NW, light with much stronger gusts.  The sky is partly overcast and cloudy, the humidity 88% after a trace of rain yesterday evening.  The barometer is at 29.61" and rising.  It looks like more unsettled weather in the week ahead, with thunderstorms on the weekend.  We don't really need any more rain.
   The big news in the Northland is still the weather, with Hwy. 2 still closed at Odanah, east of Ashland, and more about the impact of the storm being known.  Areas south and west of Ashland receivred 8 to 12 inches of rain during the big storm, and two storm related deaths were reported.
   Eight inches of rain in a short period of time was what fell during the flood of 1942 that wiped out downtown Bayfield, so that kind of rainfall is not completely uncommon in the region.  In any case, it will take considerable time for local governments to repair the damage to roads and bridges, and yesterday truck and auto traffic on Hwy 2 between Ashland and Hurley had to be diverted far south via Hwy. 13 to get around the bridge out at Odanah.  58 boats were washed out to sea from the Saxon Harbor marina near Hurley, and many were sunk.  The Coast Guard has been busy finding and retrieving those still lost.
   All of which reminds me of a joke I have told before but which I will repeat because it seems appropriate (my apologies to my Scandinavian readers and to those negatively affected by the storm):

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   Sven and Oly were ministers of rival Lutheran churches, across the street from each other; one Swedish the other Norwegian, and they were usually at odds about everything, but one Saturday morning saw them admiring a sign they had just put up together, which said, "Sinner, turn yourself around now, before it is too late!  You are on the road to destruction!"
   As they were admiring their work, a car raced by, the window down and the driver yelling, "You Scandinavian religious nuts know what you can do with your sign!"
   A few moments later there was a terrific crash, and then silence.
   Sven turned to Oly and said, "Dat's da tird von diss morning, already yet."
   To which Oly replied, "Ya, you betcha!  Maybe da sign should yust say, "Bridge out."