Friday morning, as I was out on my daily walk, I couldn’t help but think of that old adage, Red sky at night, sailors’ delight; red sky at morning, sailors take warning. Because when the sun came out, the sky was blood red.
The rhyme has become a rule of thumb, used for weather forecasting on the seas for over 2,000 years. During sunrise and sunset, when the sun is low in the sky, it transmits light through the atmosphere. When dust and moisture particles are present, red – the longest wavelength in the color spectrum – is reflected back, and the sky turns red.
A red sunrise indicates a low pressure storm system is moving in from the west. With the sun rising in the east and precipitable water to the west, the result is a red morning sky. When it’s a deep, fiery red, that means the likelihood of heavy rain and high winds.
Sure enough, this would turn out to be prophetic. Those old mariners really knew their shit! The day was hot and ridiculously humid. At one point, it was 92º with an 80º dew point, making the feels-like temperature a miserable 110º. And there was a cold front forecast to move through that evening. Severe thunderstorms seemed inevitable, especially when we stepped outside at 8:30 to catch the sunset.
About an hour later, all hell broke loose. In addition to the heavy rain, there was constant thunder and lightning…but the real culprit was the wind, which gusted to 80 m.p.h. for about 10 minutes. The lights flickered once, but eventually the storm passed. It wasn’t until the next morning, as we drove through town on our way to Milwaukee, that we realized the extent of the damage.
There were trees down all over town, and no power for 24+ hours in some areas. Locals say it was just about the worst storm they ever recall.
Worst of all, one of our local grocery stores lost all their meat, dairy, and frozen foods. They were without power for a full day, and nothing could be salvaged. Shopping today felt surreal.
Amazingly, and I have no idea how this is even possible, we didn’t lose a single tree. You’ve seen our property. It’s huge, and full of trees. The fact that nothing came down, aside from a few small branches, feels like a small miracle. Our neighbors did not fare so well.
So, horrible storm, and there will be cleanup in town for weeks to come. But if there’s one saving grace, it’s the almost 2″ of rain that fell on Friday. Drought be damned, the past few weeks have been quite wet. Four days after mowing, the grass was long again.
My John Deere and I have rekindled our relationship and will be spending lots more time together these next couple of weeks.
Thankfully, after the front passed through, the heat and humidity were gone. Saturday was a very pleasant day, which was perfect since we were headed into Milwaukee. After stocking up on some necessities at IKEA, we wandered around the Milwaukee Public Market, then walked around for a bit, stopping to check out some record stores.
Our next destination was Racine, about 40 minutes south. Tara wanted to celebrate her birthday with dinner at The HOBNOB, a classic Wisconsin supper club with a vintage feel that dates back to 1954. It’s located on a bluff overlooking Lake Michigan. Couldn’t ask for a better view!
We arrived 30 minutes before our reservation, but this was intentional; we wanted to order cocktails and sit out on the patio overlooking the water.
The HOBNOB has five dining rooms, and the one we were seated in was the most picturesque, with views of the water. Which isn’t to say the other rooms were bad; we kinda liked the main bar area, which was darker and had plush booths and piano music. Classy and retro at the same time.
The meal, of course, was fantastic. And filling. Between the fried calamari appetizer, French onion soup, garden salad, and fresh rolls, we barely had room for the main course. But we soldiered on regardless. I got the Steak au Poivre, a 12-ounce New York Strip with brandy peppercorn sauce and mushrooms, and a side of potatoes au gratin. Tara had the crab cakes with an amazing remoulade sauce and fries. It was a meal to remember.
Could we eat another bite? Not even close…but that didn’t stop us from bringing home slices of raspberry cheesecake and chocolate truffle cake. They’re still in our fridge but won’t last the night.
The 90-minute drive home took more like two hours because it was dark, and Google Maps kept sending us down two-lane country roads in the middle of nowhere that were barricaded due to paving work. We had to backtrack a few times and find alternate routes, and keep in mind we aren’t at all familiar with the area.
At one point I was positive we were going to end up spending the night in a cornfield, but spoiler alert, we made it home by 11 p.m.
Mark My Words 
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