Minnesota is Heaven, But Virginia is Home

I actually have the song "Good Night Irene" on my iPod and Dad and I were listening to it on the way home from taking the kids up to St. Peter last Friday. Not that this is some sort of mind-blowing coincidence, but I keep thinking about that song. Obviously. I'm saying "good night" because we did have a pretty good night. At least 3/4s of us did. I was very surprised to go to bed around 10:30 and fall instantly asleep without any sort of sleep aid. It was quiet at that time. I woke up to driving rain and stronger winds at about 2:30 and came downstairs to watch The Weather Channel (who, incidentally are driving me crazy with their constant coverage of the impending disaster in New York City--hello, some of us are actually HAVING a hurricane right NOW, thank you very much, could ya consider giving US some updates instead of interviewing people from Manhattan whose Sunday Times and latte ritual is going to be disturbed?). No, seriously, I understand that NYC ...

Be forewarned, this post contains a MULTITUDE of pictures! And as usual, in no discernable order: Sunday at the Bee My pretty girl They took my Kitten away because I was kissing it and squeezing it too much...I miss my Kitten. Josiah & Annika - I.O. Harris tractor The Winter & Harris tractor (my Grandma and her twin sister used to ride on either fender with their Dad driving...) I'm partial to the Farmalls, though I grew up mostly John Deere, Allis Chalmers and a little Oliver Some of these old tractors are purely fantastic William did NOT get to hold a kitten...they are unionized and were on their 15 minute smoke break when we were there on Saturday. Here's the backside of that tractor...owned by my Grandma Thielhorn's Uncle Irvin Harris (or as the rest of the family spelled it, Harries). SO pretty...for a tractor (and Uncle Eli) Josiah and me, obviously on August 18th--h...