Cold weather power outage – McGovern’s fire

At 1:00 AM Saturday, the power went out for about an hour. The temperature outside was 7 degrees. It didn’t take long for the temperature in the house to drop 5 degrees, which is what woke me up.

Xcel Energy got the power back on. The cause was a car hitting a pole with a transformer next to Patrick McGovern’s restaurant, which started a fire that damaged the building. Night-time power outages are scary on cold winter nights. Thanks to the Xcel Energy workers who were out there in the cold restoring power.

I hope the turret in the picture can be repaired.

Patrick McGoverns building
Patrick McGovern’s – Restaurant, St. Paul, MN West 7th street and Chestnut Ave.

With so many bars on West 7th Street, it is amazing that there aren’t more incidents where cars crash into buildings but there have been a few.

The looney sculpture at University and Snelling

A 33-foot tall, 25-ton steel statue of a loon sits near the corner of Snelling and University, in St. Paul. Designed by famous Scottish sculptor Andy Scott, the sculpture was assembled last week.  The bird is 30 feet tall with a 90-foot wing span. It was still fenced off when I saw it yesterday. The area around it is mostly parking lots and roads that lead to Allianz Field. The area can best be described as bleak or gritty. Just across the street, there is a vacant CVS drugstore.

The sculpture is spectacular. I’ll get back for more photos when the fence comes down.

loom sculpture
Loon – corner of snelling and University
Loon Sculpture
Loom Sculpture
Loom sculpture
loon sculpture

The last picture is for context. I stood at the corner of University and Snelling, across the street from the site facing south with Allianz stadium in the background.

 

 

Where are the Monarchs?

We aren’t seeing many monarch butterflies this year.  As of a year ago, they are listed as a vulnerable species. Global warming and drought have not been kind to them. You can do your part by not using pesticides and by growing milkweed.

I am unsure why, but my milkweed isn’t doing well this year. ??  Maybe it is because of all the rain.

At any rate, this photo was taken in my yard in 2019 and there is a monarch butterfly and a honey bee all in one picture. The flower is a purple aster. Purple asters are plentiful around these parts in the fall but honey bees and monarch butterflies are not as plentiful as they were a few years ago.

monarch butterfly
Monarch Butterfly on purple aster