JKB in Turkey: Snowed In.

Dear Friends and Family,

Greetings from 115 South Franklin Street. It's been a couple months since my last update. Quite a lot has happened in the meantime, mostly good. Fall has turned to winter, and cruelly so, although Bucky is indifferent to the development. I'll narrate this entry in reverse chronological order this time.

The big going-on lately is the 14+ inches of snow that Madison got socked with Tuesday night. Such a large snow had been predicted, but Bob and I suspected that the high end predictions were more the result of a local media frenzy than true meteorological assessments of the situation. We were wrong.

Bob and I each take a separate vehicle when we do our snow removal routes, so fortunately I had my van downtown with me the evening before the onslaught. I was able to get started on my route right away in the morning after the plows began to swipe through downtown. Unfortunately, Bob was stuck in his office in Sun Prairie until he snow blew the access road to Highway C ... a ridiculously arduous task.

We slogged through the situation with grit, patience, and determination. By midnight Wednesday, we were about 3/4 through our route. We both finished our routes by three on Thursday. My impression is that Bob and I did very well to get through our work in the time frame that we did; I have noticed a lot of other snow removal operations are still working at near full tilt. Jim, like most of the city's residents, stayed home from work on Wednesday. In fact, he got his picture in the newspaper for helping push out a delivery driver from a rut in the Capitol Square.

The heavy snowfall did a lot of damage. While the airport in Madison got the official estimate of 14 inches of snow, most other areas got more. Many trees and tree limbs got knocked down. Utility lines buckled under the weight of the snow. Seven people in the Madison area lost digits fittling with snow blowers. The mayor of Madison is embroiled in a road salting crisis as all of the city's main arteries are covered in a two-inch thick layer of compacted ice.

Let's move on to happier times. Jim won tickets to the Duke-Wisconsin college basketball showdown at the Kohl Center. The crowd was loud and ruckous. The Badgers played an excellent game and prevailed despite a furious late comeback by the Blue Devils. The student section stormed the court, as you can see below.

On Thanksgiving Day, Jim and I experienced another cool sporting event, Green Bay's holiday dowsing of the eternally hapless Detroit Lions. Our generous hosts, Rick and Ann Pruden, were very good humored and very tolerant to put up with us cheeseheads. Kenny showed an all too expert skill in showboating about the Packers success.

Jim and I had celebrated the Thanksgiving meal on the gloriously warm and sunny Sunday before the actual holiday. My entire immediate family (minus Jon Hurlburt, who was hunting) gathered at Laurie and Mark's for a delicious buffet-style potluck. Among other things, we played "500" football in the backyard, watched the Packer game, and sung atrociously to the karaoke game Song Star. We were joined by Van and Judy Valaskey and Bob's girl friend Deb.

It was a joy to watch us all gather as the big happy family that we are. Naturally, some of the most adorable moments sprung from the interaction of the cousins. Laurie and Mark were great hosts, as were Mingo, Lilly, and Mr. Britches! Am I forgetting anyone?

Braggs excel at certain activities, such as snacking, teasing, and lounging. All in good fun.

The weekend before this early Thanksgiving feast, Jim and I joined some friends at the Michigan-Wisconsin home football game. I only went to one Badger football game this season; it was a good victory.

I should also mention another very fun event that came to pass in the fall. Jim's eldest nephew Brian Chute got married to his lovely bride Heather in October. The marriage happened somewhere in Elroyland, and the reception was held at a throwback Northwoodsy resort complex to the tunes of a polka band. I'll caption picture to picture from here on out.