Another Reason I Love Living in Jordan!

Back in December of 2010, I wrote a blog post about one of our Minnesota Blizzards.   In that post, I added a photo, and wrote…   

 

“One of the things I like about living in a small / rural town is seeing things that others may find quite odd.  Things like snowmobiles driving along side of you, and folks gassing up those snowmobiles – not on trailers mind you, no, they drive up to the gas pumps ON their snowmobiles and gas ‘em up right there at the pumps!” 

 

 

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Well, it’s now July 2013 – and today I had a very similar experience. 

But, since it’s July, there is not enough snow for snowmobiles – so today I had to share the road with something else most people don’t see very often!!

Legacy

Relatively speaking, I reside in “small town” Minnesota. 

Yes, I am still part of the “seven county metro area”, and our town is what I consider to be within the furthest reaches of the “rings of suburbia”, but nevertheless we are a fairly isolated little city with a population slightly over 5000, and surrounded by rural farmland. 

Ever since I was a young boy I have been intrigued by the history of the cities I have lived in.  I own a copy of “Bloomington on the Minnesota” (where I grew up) and I own both volumes of “Jordan, Minnesota:  A Newspaper Looks at a Town” (where we live now). 

On a “historical” note - I attended one of #4 of 5’s basketball games a few days ago.  While seated and waiting for the game to start, a couple of our town’s “ol’ timers” came up behind me and asked if the seats ahead of me were taken.  I turned around and noticed the grandfathers of two of my daughter’s team-mates (and a couple of her closest friends). 

As these men settled into their seats, I was suddenly aware of something I guess I always known, but never put together before.  These two gentleman (sitting here side by side) have some very deep roots in, and have had an amazing influence upon our town.  They are what I would consider pillars of our community, and each are the patriarchs of families that have become synonymous with our little town.   

I could not help but contemplate (and marvel at the thought of) just how much of our town’s history was sitting right in front of me.

It is out of respect for them and for their families that I won’t be posting their names here, but I am confident that if you spend any amount of time here in Jordan you will have some sort of (positive) interaction with something or someone that can be associated with these honorable men. 

I can only hope that one day the legacy of the Father of Five family name will be viewed as favorably as these two and their extended families. 

A Day at the Beach

The weatherman forecasted an unusually hot day today.  Hot and humid, with a high dew point – and a strong likelihood of some severe storms because of the mix of heat and moisture in the air.

With #2 of 5 away at C.I.T. and #4 of 5 with a friend’s family for a day on one of our many local area lakes (Boating, fishing, picnicking, etc) – the Mother of Five and I decided that we would take the two we had left at home (#3 of 5 and #5 of 5) to the Mill Pond in Lagoon Park (our local swimming hole) for some fun before the “heat stroke weather” arrived.

Since the Mother of Five worked today – we stopped at McDonalds and grabbed a little “picnic” of sorts, and headed off to the park.  After eating our lunch lakeside together, we lathered up with SPF30, the Mother of Five said her “goodbyes” and “I love yous”, then #3 and #5 of 5 and I all headed down to the lake.

I waded in the lake while the kids swam, then sat under the shade of a grove of trees while they played in the sand, then waded in the water again while they swam, then got my chair and sat with my feet in the water while the kids swam, then after being successfully French fried, I moved my chair back into the shade and started nodding off behind my sunglasses as the kids finished swimming.

About the time I was going to suggest getting out and heading home, the two kids came to me and asked if they could head home. 

 

View from our picnic area.

 

 

 

 

Close up of The Mill Pond’s aerator fountain… 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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After lunch, and a few minutes of getting wet, #3 of 5 and #5 of 5 decided the beach needed a “hot tub”, so it was off to work – cooperatively working (unusually cooperative by the way) together to dig a pretty deep hole – then fill it with water…

       

 

 

 

Without a city engineer present to aid us in complying with all Minnesota Safety Regulations, the walls of the hot tub began collapsing in on themselves.  

Before becoming a total loss, #3 of 5 jumped in one last time. 

#5 of 5 and I took this gesture as our opportunity to immobilize him for the time being.  We buried him in the sand up to his chest. 

 

 

 

Eventually he was able to free himself.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Covered in sand, and both feeling a little hot, it was time to head back to the lake….  Piggy back style!

 

A little more last minute swimming before calling it a day…. 

 

All in all, we were at the park from 11:30 until 2:30.  It was a GREAT day!

Baseball Day!

Today was our home town's "Baseball Day".

Baseball day is a day our town celebrates... Baseball... Baseball in Jordan!

During Baseball Day (actually two days - Saturday and Sunday) all the Jordan Teams get to play, and enjoy the jewel of Baseball in Jordan...  First to play (tonight) was the 7th-8th grade teams - which #2 of 5 is a member of.

Since Jordan has one of the more famous "Town Ball" fields in Minnesota... During Baseball Day, ALL the Jordan teams get to play in the Jordan "Town Ball" field - Affectionately known as the "Mini-Met".  It was named the "Mini-Met" - after the "Metropolitan Stadium" or "Met" - which was the "full sized" home to the Minnesota Twins for many years.  

For those of you intrested in finding out more about the Mini-Met, click through the following links..  LINK #1 is a 18 photo slide show that has a lot of specific details, and some GREAT photos of the Mini-Met.  LINK #2 is to the city's Park and Recreation page for the Mini-Met.

For these kids, playing a game at the Mini-Met is the equivalent to playing in the Major League!

We have two 7th-8th grade teams, and they played against each-other.  Jordan One vs. Jordan Two.  Tonight's score...  5 to 3 in favor of Jordan Two!  (That's #2 of 5's team!)  WAY TO GO GUYS!!! It was a great game! 

Instead of telling you all about it, let me share some photos!  (Made smaller for "real-estate" purposes... Click them for larger versions!)

 

The view of the field from the bleachers!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yup, that's our Church's steeple off in the background

(closer view of the steeple)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a view of the empty bleachers

(before folks started arriving)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Warming up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

#2 of 5 - Leading off.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

#2 of 5 - Right fielding...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Catching Up #1

I have no real "new" posts... I have been "catching up" at home getting a few things done, and so in the spirit of "catching up" I have a couple of things to "catch up" with here on the blog. Item #1 - In "The Third Option" post, I talked a bit about the Jordan Skate Park. Since there was not much on the website about it, I thought I would get a few pics of what it looked like. Better yet, I got some pics with (two of the three) boys at the park.

I can only fit about two-thirds of the park in the picture at any one time (unless I a so far away you cannot see any of the details of the park). There is a third ramp and landing on the far right side of park (not in the picture). The Jordan Skate park (although not huge in "skate park" standards) is pretty darn nice for our small town!

Yes, that is a Jordan Police Officer on "Routine Patrol" at the park. (1st of the 3 pics) Very nice to see! Today (if the rain holds out) #1 of 5 and #2 of 5 want to go back again.