Wind Gust of 84 mph Hits Columbus

SO MUCH TO TALK ABOUT!!

Public Enemies? It ain't over till it's over!! - More on that later.
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That's right. And if I was not in the front yard and witnessed it I would not have believed it. All I saw was a wall of dirt and construction debris coming towards us. I ran for cover between houses and watched in disbelief.

It was about 10 minutes later I decided to take a look to see how fast that gust was.

One flower suffered catastrophic damage as it was snapped off at the base.

Yesterday was a test day for the Butterfly garden. The one worry was that since Columbus is a VERY windy little town (we are on the great plains that are between Sun Prairie and C-bus) and all of my Butterfly Garden plants are rather tall, I was, and am worried about perennial structural failure.

So far so good. It being close to July 1st I'll have to take some photos of the garden the next non-windy day.
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Public Enemies - Filming Resumes Monday but in LA

From Dharma

preparations are underway at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia (north of LA near Pasadena) for shooting. When? Monday the 30th has been rumored, but not confirmed. Santa Anita will be standing in for a dog track in Florida.

Shooting will most likely be entirely inside the park as nothing has been done to modify or prepare the exterior. In fact, part of the park was open today for satellite wagering, although they are out of season for live horse racing.

The grandstand building is like an island surrounded by miles of surface parking lots, and the parking lots are surrounded by tall chain link AND thick hedges. Base camp is inside one the many secure lots. It's not Statesville prison, but it's close.




In Johnny Depp news you MUST read Vix's account of his exit which I will steal,

The BEST part of the night, was when Johnny and Jerry jumped up on to the running board of the SUV, and waved to everyone. Then they DROVE OFF hanging onto the side of the car still waving. I don't know how far down the road they went like that since I lost sight of them once they turned the corner. I have NEVER seen Johnny do that before, and it was so touching! The crowd erupted in cheers, and applause as he drove away! WHAT AN AMAZING EXIT ON THE FINAL DAY!!! I have to admit, even I screamed "GOODBYE JOHNNY!" as he drove away. I have never screamed at him before, and I don't know why I did then. I was just so happy that he had done that for his fans!
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On a personal golf note, I played a round yesterday that was one of my most consistent ever.

All my golfing life I have struggled to get off the tee. Pretty good short game but on the tee I was a hack. Middle of last year I had found my swing and my last 7 or 8 rounds I was feeling pretty good hitting 230 yard drives NEAR the middle.

This year I had renewed hope that THAT swing was still there. DJ purchased a G5 driver for me and every round this year I was tweaking my swing getting better, fixing this little thing and that little thing getting closer and closer.

This time last year I was happy with 200-210 yard drives on the fairway. Yesterday I hit 5 of 7 fairways with my SHORTEST drive about 250 and longest 278. YEA - can you understand WHY I am PUMPED??
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After golf I went to pick up my buddy Elweed and bring him back to Columbus to talk landscaping for 8 hours. He had forgotten that we were coming back here and when I said we were he said "OH - I better pack my overnight bag".

You see he has always been stranded in Columbus with blizzards (which landed him in the C-bus hospital for a week) and floods where we are stranded on our island.

THEN at 3:00 we get this hellashious storm and he says "WHAT IS IT ABOUT COLUMBUS". I then told him that the Madison cement create a heat bubble (it's not the lakes) and divert the worst parts of storms north which is where Columbus is. Plus we are in the wide open spaces so there are no blocking hills and trees to slow things down.

On a side note - Brennan's is a great place for shopping - especially for Micro Brews. It's the only place I can find Ellie's Brown Ale which I consider one of the best Brown Ales I have ever drunken. I WISH they would get a stored in Columbus . . . . or Sun Prairie. West side of MadCity is way to far.

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Do not forget - Columbus has the best 4th of July Fireworks around. I don't count Rhythm and Booms as actual fireworks. It is more of a mass gathering of a hundred thousand human to feed the mosquitoes.

But seriously - I was amazed at the fireworks here in Columbus. I guess the guy that makes the bangers is from Columbus and it is a "hobby". He has traveled all over the world perfecting the craft. Big city fireworks show in a small town. ON the 4th of July.
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HEY - did you guys see out photo in the Columbus Journal AND an article by little about it on page 5 or 6 or whatever?? YEA BABY!!
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And finally - we received The THUNDER CAP (also called boring Storm Defender).

Mixed reviews so far - he was doing GREAT until one CLAP of thunder sent him running to the tub.

I have to think it was working on the electrical part but now we need Thunder ear muffs.

It has a silver back side that rubs against his fur.

He does enjoy wearing it though. No problems at all putting it on and I feel he thought it was a pretty cool thing.

OK - have a great Sunday

Rod