Monthly Archives: January 2007

Hold onto your tummy: Thrill Hill

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If you grew up in Mandan, you’re likely no stranger to what the kids have affectionately termed “Thrill Hill.” I have no idea how long it’s been named such, but it already sported that moniker over twenty years ago when I first got my license. Whoa. I just realized I’ve been driving for over two decades! That must mean I’m…………….old.

Okay, I’m back. This innocent looking street holds a real “whee” at the end, so it’s no surprise that people discovered it and treat it like an amusement ride. It’ll put your heart in your throat right quick! This street is a long upward slope, but it drops off pretty good on the other side.

Photographs simply cannot do the backside of this hill justice. Believe me, I tried several angles. The crest of the hill is really nothing remarkable…if you’re not sure you’re on the real Thrill Hill, you’ll think you missed it! Just as that thought crosses your mind, the road drops out from under you. Whee.

The bottom of this photo has snow on the roadway, otherwise you’d see hundreds of scrapes as cars hit the dip at the end of the block. Whether it’s for drainage or speed control I don’t know; but apparently people are still hitting it with some gusto. Just as the road falling away will bring your heart into your stomach, piling into this dip will drop it back into place!

This post is kinda for the “insiders” who know where Thrill Hill is. You see, I’m not going to tell you…that would be encouraging you to try it, and quite frankly it’s dangerous. While it’s fun even at legal speeds, for some reason no mere mortal can resist going much faster. I like my readers, I’m certainly not going to send them to their doom! I need you folks.

Before I got my license, I was a passenger in a car that flew (quite literally) over this hill at speeds that would probably have cost the driver his license. Later on in life, my friend Tony and I explored it on our motorcycles and scared ourselves silly – there’s not much keeping motorcycles from going airborne, we discovered – and I haven’t done anything reckless on it in many, many years. I guess now I think like an adult, a dad, and a homeowner.

So if you want to find it, you’re on your own. If you’ve got your own Thrill Hill stories, I’d love to hear about them.

Blowin’ off some steam

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The sun caught the exhaust from the Heskett Station power plant just right as I was driving by the other day. They were offline for quite a while last year for updates and maintenance, but they appear to be chugging away as usual nowadays!

With plants like the power station and the refinery downstream pushing warm water into the Missouri River, it’s no surprise that parts of the river don’t even freeze over. In fact, there are flocks of geese that simply don’t migrate; they just stay near the refinery and enjoy the open water year-round. I’m sure that’s why the big Tesoro sign at the entry to the refinery has a goose on it.

Power plants are really cool. I’ve seen the inside of a few, but not Heskett. Time to make some inquiries…

Unexpected landscape

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Do you ever try to picture our city through the eyes of a first time visitor? I do, because it really helps pick out features that we see every day but somehow fail to notice.

It should be obvious from the nature of my photography that I’m big on landscapes and other such features. That’s why I was actually startled at the view from State Street and Divide Avenue yesterday. While sitting at a stoplight wondering why the punk in the Civic next to me thought I was interested in a race, I glanced out over the south horizon. We’ve got hills dotted with snow, the sky was red with the waning sunset…it almost had a southwestern feel to it! Yet there I was, right in the middle of my home town, facing a view of it that I’d never given much consideration.

This area of North Dakota is hardly the smooth expanse of endless prairie that it’s thought to be; we have hills, rocks, valleys, and other features that somehow seem to escape mention. I’ve found a few such places recently and have had a ton of fun poking around therein. It just goes to show that there’s plenty about our home that we don’t know, it’s only a matter of changing your perspective.

Saturday sundog

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After a breakfast meeting with some of the guys from church, I saw the sun starting to poke up over the horizon. What the heck, I might as well head east a bit and see what it does! This morning it had to blaze through a layer of clouds and lots of blowing snow, but that made it possible to spot a really bright sundog to the north. The cloud cover made it impossible to spot a corresponding parhelion to the south.

HB1040 passes! Plus some musing as I’m prone to do

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This was a bittersweet day for the families of fallen soldiers in North Dakota. Some of those giving testimony in favor of House Bill 1040, which prohibits protesting near funerals or related activities, have had to endure some pretty nasty circumstances. That’s what sadly made this bill, now law, necessary.

As I’m sure everybody knows, a group from Westboro Baptist Church (which is not a Baptist church, they just claim it) was up here to protest funerals in North Dakota. I don’t recall them having the guts to set foot on sovereign tribal land, however…hopefully they didn’t. These people claim a weird mixture of twisted and perverted Old and New Testament theologies with rancid hate and come up with the tactic of protesting funerals across the country. What they don’t tell you is that they’re also licensed attornies just waiting for some outraged patriot to lay a hand on them. Thankfully we haven’t had any such cases here, although it does require a lot of personal restraint.

That’s where the Patriot Guard riders come in. While this picture from last June doesn’t convey how many people actually stand in attendance for the Patriot Guard, at least it shows that the families of fallen soldiers do not stand alone. It just goes to show that patriots can band together and honor our nation’s soldiers and their loved ones with actions, not just words.

So now, with this bill becoming law, protests like the ones I’ve decribed and stood to block are illegal. Will that make them stop? I sure hope so. Regardless, I’m sure the Patriot Guard riders will still stand in attendance to honor and pay respect to fallen soldiers and their loved ones whenever they’re called to do so.

The photo above is part of the ND state gallery. I’m holed up at home with a sore throat – fever – chills – headache kind of thing today. In fact, I slept from 7am to 7pm! Photos owned by the government are public domain, as far as I know…if they complain, I’ll take it down. But I don’t think I’m engaging in anything dishonest by using their photo. I’m sure Governor Hoeven and the others involved in this law’s passing are happy to get the word out. Now I’m going back to bed – my head’s in Mississippi (kudos if you get that music reference)

Citizens’ Night at the legislature

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Last night the state legislature held a Citizen’s Night where they took care of some of the state’s business after hours. This allowed the public who are normally unable to make the regular daytime sessions to stop in and have a peek at how our elected legislators conduct the affairs of making the state’s laws. While it wasn’t as busy as I thought it might be, there seemed to be a pretty good crowd in the hallways.

This is the journal room, where folks can stop by to get a copy of bills they’re interested in. When I had an evening job and could hang out here during the session, I used to spend a lot of time at this window. It’s nice to have the text of the different resolutions and bills available, so you can read it yourself. Then go lean on the legislators from your district if necessary.

Upstairs there were a few groups with displays and people on hand to answer questions. I think these halls would have been busier, but this was during a point in the evening where everyone was jammed into meeting rooms to watch various committee hearings.

This building was built in the 1930s after the original capitol burned. I find it an aesthetically pleasing building, and it’s even cooler at night. There’s a lot of glass that glares into the building during the day, and I think that takes away from the style. At night a guy can see the building the way it was designed, and it’s really very nice. Not bad for such a rural state, huh?

This is one of those committee hearings that I mentioned earlier. In this particular meeting, Secretary of State Al Jaeger was answering questions regarding a bill, one which proposes to restrict an elected official on a city board or commission from serving on a county board or commission at the same time. While there are four people doing just that across North Dakota, he was unaware of any conflict of interest arising from the situation…yet. So it’s a precautionary bill. With larger cities expanding further into counties, there is always a chance of some friction, so I think this bill makes sense from that standpoint. By the way, did you know that only 15 cities in North Dakota boast populations in excess of 2,500 people?

This is the House chamber. There really isn’t anything going on here, because at the time I took this the session hadn’t come to order yet. I had other things to do at 8pm, so I was unable to hang around to watch the session. I’ve seen them before, they look a lot like this!

The Senate chamber. Smaller, cozier, and indicative of the inherent belief of Senators that they’re somehow special among everyone else, including the House. If you look toward the upper part of the screen, you’ll see Joel Heitkamp surfing moveon.org for his show’s talking points. Sorry Joel, I couldn’t resist!

Of course one of the highlights of any such event is going to be the free cookies and lemonade! These friendly ladies served everyone with smiles. This spread was provided and served by the Republican Legislative Spouses. Wait a minute, that doesn’t fit the cold-hearted, racist, greedy stereotype that I keep seeing in the media! Hm…

Thanks to the legislature for putting on this evening. I have to admit that I wish it had been more crowded. This kind of thing is quite interesting and enlightening. North Dakota’s legislature only meets every two years, so I suggest finding some time during the day to go wander around and take it all in. If it seems boring, it’s because you’ve never been there!

I’m no Don Quixote

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Among my favorite features of the rural North Dakota landscape are windmills, functional and otherwise. As with the fallen farm scenes, there’s just something attractive about the windmills that catches my eye. Perhaps it’s because, as with the old abandoned farmhouses, I marvel at the fact that someone made it not too long ago in order to eke out a living from the harsh plains. Some are barely standing, others are still maintained. This is one of the latter.

It’s unfortunate I couldn’t get an angle without the power pole in the background, but at least I did capture the gradient of the evening sky. This windmill is on 26th street in Bismarck, actually, although I’m sure it’s outside the city limits. Since the enhanced 911 conversion, rural roads are given street names and numbers, making it hard to determine where that line is drawn.

Comet McNOT

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All the space weather and astronomy websites have been posting remarkable pictures of Comet McNaught, a near-earth object that put on a fabulous display as it passed through our solar system. The sun started to melt the comet more and more as it approached, and it is now even visible in daylight…if you live in the southern hemisphere.

I tried to capture this comet with my camera…repeatedly. People from as far north as Great Falls, and perhaps even further north, were posting their pictures of it…so what was my problem? Clouds.

I would dutifully get up early to go find a nice high point from which to stalk this celestial event, pull out my little locator map that I’d found on the web somewhere, and wait for the comet to come over the eastern horizon. Many mornings I never even got out the door; a look outside would indicate far too many clouds for the trip to be worthwhile. On some particularly frustrating mornings, the sky would be perfectly clear…except for a thick band along the horizon! It seemed I could NOT catch a break. Soon I began to read on the websites that Comet McNaught would no longer be visible from the northern hemisphere. So I guess I missed it…or did I?

This was a sunrise photo I posted on the morning of January 12th. I’d run over to the church to sweep the snow from front steps and had my camera pack with me (of course). The sun was doing some cool things, so I found some high ground on my way home and grabbed some nice wide sunrise shots for later. As it turns out, there might be a comet in there somewhere!

Obviously I didn’t use my telephoto lens or adjust my aperture to try to find the comet, but I think that I did get it. Had I tried to find it and set the camera accordingly, who knows? Maybe I’d have been able to get a shot of the tail. Maybe I would have had to show up a little earlier, before the sun began to blaze in the eastern sky. In any case, that’s apparently as close to Comet McNaught as I’m ever going to be.

Hangin’ with Daddy and Scooter

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We three amigos were playing the part of couch pilot Saturday. Either PJ was having a really good dream, a strong case of gas, or a nice nap with his dad. I like to think the latter is the case. My wife was kind enough to grab my camera and document the possibility that yes, my boy likes me!

One concern we had was how Scooter would take to a baby. Having a jealous pet is one thing, having one that can fly and dive-bomb is another! True to his sweet personality, Scooter accepted PJ from day one and gives him a wide berth. If we let PJ sleep on our bed for an afternoon nap, Scooter perches atop the closet door, fluffs up, and guards the baby for us.

This is an interesting stage in a newborn, where they start to develop personality and become more expressive. I can’t wait until he starts to babble and smile and all that! Even more I look forward to taking him hiking with me, maybe giving him a little digital camera of his own, and having some father-son time as we ramble around Bismarck-Mandan and the rest of the world.

The new Dakota Beacon is on the stands

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The new issue of the Dakota Beacon is out! It can be found at Barnes & Noble, at many convenience store counters, and in dispensers at places like the post office on 3rd & Rosser or Denny’s on south 7th.

I love the Beacon. It features articles by many talented local authors and commentators from a perspective that’s hard to get anywhere else. Among the authors are my former Creative Writing teacher from Mandan and former ND governor Ed Schafer.

This issue is special to me because I took the photo on the cover! It was an honor to get a call from Steve Cates, the magazine’s devoted publisher. He has a passion for North Dakota issues and the way his magazine tackles them, much like I have a passion for the lighter side of Bismarck-Mandan. We also share a love of Applebee’s appetizers, and I love when he picks up the check!

I invite you to grab an issue of the Dakota Beacon and see for yourself. Sure, they’re free at several locations, but I suggest you subscribe. Since the magazine first started and my mom brought me a copy to read, I’ve been an ardent supporter and subscriber. Try it out, I’m sure you’ll be equally pleased.