On my way to east Bismarck on Wednesday, I came over the hill by the Coke plant to see the whole area awash in a foggy haze. I thought it truly was fog until I saw this:
The DMVW railroad was warming up a couple of diesel-electric locomotives. There were actually two pairs but only this pair was smoking. I wonder who checked the oil? You could check it by sticking a finger in the air. It smelled like it was synthetic, too…that can’t be cheap. Or environmentally friendly!
I was on my way to the deep, DEEP part of the river bottoms for some wildlife photography Wednesday afternoon when I came upon this little obstruction:
Despite a nearly overwhelming temptation to throw it into four wheel drive and give ‘er the proverbial “onion,” I backed off and called it a day. There’s always the weekend…
* “Stymie” is an old Scottish colloquialism from the early days of the game of golf, meaning to obstruct a shot. For the definition of “colloquialism” please consult a dictionary or someone who’s homeschooled.
What’s weird about being near the bridge when it’s closed is that it’s eerily quiet in the absence of traffic. The only sound is the constant cooing of all those darn pigeons. That in itself is kinda spooky…what if they decide to revolt?
We’ve all had a taste of what life will be like while the bridge’s replacement is built…it’s not fun. Hopefully, once the construction on a new bridge gets underway, the process of building a new one will go quickly.
Some people think this bridge is just fine the way it is, and should simply be properly maintained. Others want it scrapped in favor of a new and better one. Then there’s the shock and awe brought about by its deterioration. And of course those who want it preserved as a historical item.
Personally, I think the historic appeal of this bridge died when they decided to put a concrete deck on the famous “singing bridge.” Now that it appears to be rusting and crumbling away, let’s replace it. But let’s do so responsibly. And I sure hope the next design lasts as long as this one has!
That’s where I met Jeff from Watertown, SD. He’s working for a company that is going through parts of the sewer system in Bismarck and preparing it for maintenance. The city will be putting polymer sock liners in some of the sanitary sewer lines around the city. But when someone builds a house and taps into the sewer line and weld their pipe to the main line, part of their pipe protrudes into the main line. That’s a problem for anyone trying to stuff a liner down the pipe. That’s where Jeff’s company comes in.
Thanks to Jeff for the explanation. He’s also got a couple of Canon digital SLRs like me and enjoys wildlife photography, so we had a really nice chat. It was quite gracious of him to explain everything he’s doing and take time during his busy evening to show me all the stuff that they do.
So just remember…the reason everything works the way it does is because the city’s got guys like Jeff and his crew that help maintain and upgrade the system. And they’ve got cool machinery to enable them to get that job done.
We printed out coupons from www.pizzaranch.com but didn’t need them…we got the buffet and piled on the salad and all kinds of pizza. This is a really nice pizza place! I am not the kind of guy to dig in to the Philly Cheese Steak pizza or other such varieties, but there were plenty of other, more traditional styles to pick from.
The room we sat in was decorated with memorabilia from the Mandan Fire Department, including lots of old photos which were fun to look at. I didn’t check around the rest of the place as it was pretty busy. I guess the word gets around!
One other cool thing is a tidbit I found on their website in their mission statement: “Our Vision…To glorify God by positively impacting the world we live in.” Nice.
Driving to Minot yesterday and at Coleharbor the Soo line train was loaded with big rocks. Driving around on the top of the boxcars and rocks was a backhoe that was scooping them out. He was actually able to drive from car to car scooping rocks. I did not see a ramp or anything to get up on top.
Anyway, I digress. This little stone hut houses a diagram of the Double Ditch Indian Village and gives a brief history thereof. It had a metal roof up until the Lewis and Clark craze started; then the whole area got a makeover with signage, walking trails…the works. The hut got a new roof and some maintenance.
It’s no longer the most convenient place because Double Ditch Loop is no longer a through street there. It used to lead right past “the Hut.” Whether it was really fears of the eroding cliffs giving way or just a good excuse not to have a road to maintain, the bottom half of Double Ditch Loop was destroyed and turned into a foot path. Now you have to hoof it a bit to get to this 70 year old landmark. There used to be turnstiles between the two stone columns shown in the picture there, and some wooden/stone steps. Those have since been removed.
I have fond memories of sitting up there with friends, eating Pizza Hut breadsticks and listening to music, while watching the stars and an occasional satellite whizzing by. It’s far enough away from the city lights to provide great viewing, yet close enough to reach within a few minutes. Watch for deer. Since it’s north of the city it provides a clear view of the northern horizon in case of Aurora Borealis. There’s also a stone picnic table on the lookout point at the end of Double Ditch Loop, where the walking trail to the Hut begins.
I don’t like hypocrisy. Perhaps that’s why I have such an aversion to the American left; they don’t have a single belief that’s based on defensible logic, therefore they have to take a fluid position on just about everything. That’s one reason why they claim there are no absolutes. Are they absolutely sure?
Take, for instance, the current theater in which many of us have friends or family serving from the 112th here in Bismarck. They’re flying helicopters in assistance with a NATO peacekeeping force, basically. Do they teach enough history in schools for our kids to know exactly why they’re there? It’s the mess that Bill Clinton started and didn’t clean up.
I’m going to generalize here…the area of Bosnia-Herzegovina is part of what used to be Yugoslavia and consists of Bosnians, Serbs, and Croats. Seemingly they just can’t get along. There was awful “ethnic cleansing” (is “genocide” not politically correct?) under Slobodan Milosevic and it had to be stopped. So, in we went. Did we do it to distract from one of Clinton’s many sex scandals? Who cares…we’re there. Let’s kick butt.
Now, as an outsider, it seems that going the multinational route (in this case NATO / UN / EU) is a sure way not to get anything accomplished. We’re still there. But is the mainstream press crying “quagmire?” Were there rallies this week saying “get out of Bosnia?” Do we get a regular casualty count on the news? No. Our guys are risking their lives over there for a worthy cause, but it’s not advantageous to those who seek to go after our current President to exploit it the way they have Iraq. Plus, it might point out that the last Democrat we elected President never could handle his role as Commander in Chief. Remember those that lamented that 9/11 didn’t happen during the Clinton Presidency, so he could have had a chance to shine?
Now…as far as “supporting the troops, not the war…” that’s nonsense. They’re inseperable. I support what my friends are doing in Bosnia. Regardless of whether the decision to go over there in the mid-90s was a Clintonian diversion, we needed to be there. Nobody else in this world has the sack to stand up to genocidal maniacs. And you won’t find conservatives running down the action in Bosnia because it wasn’t done by their President. By the way, we’re defending Muslims from extermination over there…that’s being conveniently swept under the rug as well.
There were thousands rallying to mourn the death of Milosevic, by the way. That’s the kind of hatred that’s over there. But who do you suppose gave him support in the USA? A Democrat, Ramsey Clark. He was AG in the Johnson administration, was on the Milosevic legal team, and is now defending Saddam Hussein. But his political allies like to compare President Bush to Hitler. On the one hand, Clark formed ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism)…seems well-meaning, right? But on the other hand, he was quoted last week as saying, “History will prove that Solobodan Milosevic was right.” Only a liberal can pretend to reconcile those two. And while Clark claims to want to stop war, he defends the Palestinians whose idea of a good time is to blow up a Jewish kindergarten.
I don’t like hypocrisy. That seems to be all that the liberals in this country have to work with, however. It’s up to those of us with common sense to point that hypocrisy out wherever we see it, and it does affect us here at home. Let’s keep those guys from the 112th in our prayers and await their safe return from their brave and worthwhile mission.
This site has feeders and nests for birds and bats…it also has a well stocked lake which is naturally fed by the waters that flow along the east side of Bismarck. There are bridges crossing the stream and the lake, including a floating bridge from which many people enjoy catch-and-release fishing. I’ve even seen a portable ice house out there over the winter.
Once the weather gets nicer it’ll be great to see the area come alive again. There are lots of trails around the water and through the grassland. Right now the pheasants seem to rule the roost but expect them to be sharing it really soon!