Whoops! More rain came and the river kept rising but now it's going back into its banks... .

River going down...

but it's still raining...

radar says it's going to keep on coming...

it was almost up to the center tree...

but this looks good to me!

Go figure!

It's still rising... but the rain has stopped.

The river has crept closer

to the warning bushes

that signal its rising.

The rain has stopped here...

and the radar looks clear.

But whatever is going on upstream

affects us.

This is one way we learn

that what happens to you

can affect us!

Nature teaching us again!

Whoa, Mama! The river's rising!

7 a.m.

The Little Cannon River...

usually about 2-3 feet deep at this point

has swelled over 6 foot banks

to climb up the incline towards our home.

Patio and wall were built after the 1998 flood -

which was considered a "500 year flood".

Nothing had come closer than the tree in the center

for the 25 years before that surprise.

This news will wake you up!

Morning comes quietly in the valley with flickers of light on the horizon alerting the animals that their feed is coming. Or they can whinny to wake up their owner.
I can also go to the Internet and see what has been going on overnight in the world. One fascinating website maps out the latest "terrorist acts and suspicious events". Try http://www.globalincidentmap.com.
It’s updated every 300 seconds. So if something awful happens thousands of miles away I can know about it. You can forget about needing a cup of coffee to wake you up!
By just clicking on a spot on the map you are connected to an aerial photo of the land and a newspaper article on the subject.

On a recent day, the FBI was investigating an explosion in Colorado; a bomb squad in Nebraska was investigating a pipe bomb; an army explosive device was found in a car in Georgia... etc.
Some of these are probably not terrorist related. The collapse of the Highway 35 bridge in Minnesota was included on the map and that’s not presently being considered in this category.
The active area that morning was Pakistan and India. “Bomb explodes at a bus station in northwest Pakistan” and “Suspected Islamic militants decapitated an Afghan man after accusing him of spying for the United States…” etc.
What about Europe? “French authorities stepped up security on trains in eastern France…” and England, “theft of a computer database containing thousands of top-secret mobile phone records from terrorism and organized crime investigations.” Northern Ireland… police were bombed after they discovered “a sizeable stash of apparently home-made explosives".

Back in the 1960’s I heard the Kingston Trio give their rendition of a song that has fascinated and/or haunted me ever since. Through the years since I would chuckle as I remembered some of the words as still being appropriate. And the line in captals was a favorite of mine when I was especially crabby!

Has anything changed much? Sing along: (Merry Minuet written by Sheldon Harnick.)

They're rioting in Africa

They're starving in Spain

There's hurricanes in Florida

And Texas needs rain

The whole world is festering

with unhappy souls

The French hate the Germans,

the Germans hate the Poles

Italians hate Yugoslavs,

South Africans hate the Dutch
AND I DON’T LIKE ANYBODY VERY MUCH.

They're rioting in Africa

There's strife in Iran

What nature doesn't do to us

Will be done by our fellow Man

If you remember, the song ends with everyone getting blown up. That part of the song I don’t sing… even when I’m crabby.

I’m hoping we can write a nicer ending.

.

CSI - Crime Scene Investigation: Cannon Falls - How is it done here?

The popularity of television programs like CSI: Crime Scene Investigation shows the interest of the public in the investigative techniques used by modern law enforcement. Of course on TV it's all done within a 60 minute time period! The downside to this perception is that “real life” police may have to work under other conditions.

Cannon Falls Police Officers along with a Goodhue County Investigator will set up a mock crime scene to show how it can be handled.

In practical experience, local law enforcement may not have the tools listed on the CSI website like a “Crimescope” (portable high-intensity light in a range of illumination wavelengths... to detect and identify a wide variety of forensic specimens.) or a portable forensic laser system (to locate trace, evidence including fingerprints, fibers, body fluids, bone chips, narcotics residue, etc.) or a laser microdissection scope (used for contamination-free isolation, extraction and precise molecular analysis of single or multiple cells, usually frozen or embedded in paraffin).

But there are methods of investigation that can be used. According to Crime Scene Response Guidelines (http://www.crime-scene-investigator.net/) in documenting crime scenes you check for details like the lighting (on or off), whether the drapes are open or closed, or the furniture moved by medical teams.

It’s also important to note what should be present but is not – for example a victim’s wallet. Also, what appears to be out of place – like a ski mask during the summer. And what is the full extent of the crime scene? Not just the area involved but access/escape routes and a vehicle.

What is evidence? Anything that can be used to connect the victim to a suspect. The Guidelines site explains: “Using the "shopping list" approach (collecting all bloodstains, hairs, or shoeprints) will probably not result in recognizing the best evidence. For example, collecting bloodstains under a victim's body or shoeprints from emergency personnel will rarely answer important questions. Conversely, a single matchstick (not usually mentioned as physical evidence) recovered on the floor near a victim's body can be excellent physical evidence since it can be directly tied to a matchbook found in a suspect's pocket.

"Since a weapon or burglar tool is easily recognized as significant physical evidence, it is frequently destroyed by the perpetrator. Sometimes the only remaining evidence is microscopic evidence consisting of hairs, fibers, or other small traces the assailant unknowingly leaves behind or takes with him.”

For more information contact Cannon Falls Assistant Police Chief, Rich Wisniewski at 263-2278, rwisniewski@cfalls.net; Goodhue County Deputy, Thomas Wolner at tom.wolner@co.goodhue.mn.us or Paul and Rosie Schluter at spiritsonghorses@yahoo.com.
___________________

A Maze is A-Mazing is amazing!

Horses and kids and a maze...

everyone learns control and balance and giving the correct signals.

But they can't help but making it a competition!

"I'm going to beat you... no you're not!"

And then someone comes and changes the maze!

And now we're playing "Musical Squares"...

As you work your horse around the arena

you notice that there is one less square than there are horses.

When the music stops you have to get your horse to stand in a square.

Sometimes two people want the same square!

This is where you have to be courteous and patient...

the music will start again

and we all know it is a game to help us work with our horses.

Kids and horses... Amazing!

It's been hot and dry and so...

What better place to cool off than in the little river running through...

.

and a break for grandma ...

as the little river does the moving!

Ahhhh.....