1923 Bungalow

Waiting out the Vermin

Our solution to the suspected bats in our belfry is a time honored one -we are waiting them out.  Research indicates that the bats will leave on their own in spring.  At that time, careful observation should indicate where they entered the house and those holes can be plugged.  The last thing we want to do is trap any living thing in our walls.  Ick.

Once spring arrives and the two feet of snow we got last week is melted, we will begin The Bat Project.

Boom!!

There was an incident quite close to our house the other night.  At about 10:00 at night, there was a loud noise and the house shook.  We did a cursory inspection of the premises to try and determine the source - nothing seemed to have fallen off the house or crashed nearby.  Well, the next morning, we determined the cause of the noise.  The auto shop on the corner had exploded! 

This picture is from the Star Tribune.  The incident actually got major local media coverage - all the television stations covered the fire as well!  After seeing the picture in the paper and the attending coverage, we're rather sheepish we didn't investigate a little futher down the street.  The houses nearby actually suffered rather minor damage considering the force of the blast.

Apparently, the police haven't ruled out arson.  Loitering had apparently been an issue, and the police had been called about some loiterers a few minutes before the explosion.  It's actually very lucky that noone was hurt - the shop is right across the street from a big park.

Of course, we'd rather not have this flavor of excitement in our neighborhood.  But excitement there be.