The Royce Files

The Red River finally crested at 36.99 on Sunday afternoon. With the temperature rather warm (about 50 F), quite a few Fargoans greeted the crest in downtown. It was nearly a no event even though this crest ranks in the top 10. Advanced forecast had predicted a crest near 38. At noon yesterday the river appeared to be a bit more than 2 feet below the Island Park dike downtown. So CNN would probably declare "Flood Over" and remove their equipment from town. However, I did nott see CNN this year. Preparations for this year were well in advance of the crest. Sandbagging opperations stopped 5 days ago so I never took the chance to volunteer since I was planning on doing that the end of last week. Now the watchers are on duty ensuring flood protection holds. I was out west of the Go this weekend and saw a considerable amount of overland flooding until before Oriska. This land is pretty flat and when the snows melt it just heads o...

In a little over 24 hours the Red River of the North will reach major flood stage in the 'Go. That is about 30 feet above its normal elevation. Forecasts thus far predict a crest on the weekend at just above 38 feet. This of course could change, like we saw last year. Thus far, both cities straddling the river have been amassing sand bags since 2 weeks ago. Salvation Army disaster relief units are in town parked not far from my home. Then this previous Sunday Bethel Evangelical Free Church hosted a pre-flood prayer meeting. Bridges have closed. Now the call for volunteers has gotten louder. Most colleges in the area are on spring break. The sand bag convoys have begun to run down the major thoroughfares. It seems normal now albeit a bit warmer than the previous fight. So we are on the brink waiting to hear whether it will get worse. Fargo flood information site .

My town has been doing a St. Patrick's parade for a few years now. We don't exactly got a large population of Irish. I think I know a handful of directly Irish in town. Most of us are indirectly Irish in some way. According to my family tree, I've got a great grandmother who has Irish ancestry and perhaps a great great grandmother too.  Many just become a wee bit Irish to join in the libations. On to the parade. I took a few pictures. Unfortunately the best part of the parade happens in the first 5 minutes- with the historical reenactors, bagpipes, and the marching firemen in full dress. I missed that all because of a train. I couldn't cross into downtown until it passed. The rest of the parade is a bit ho-hum. Just people wearing green and occasionally throwing sweets with a few mascots thrown in for good measure. The man who usually jigged the entire route in a green tux passed away last year. It appeared his entire family came en-mass to walk or ride in the parade....

1st of March a holiday? I must be crazy. How can that be? I think I'll try to make you see. A kind of memory of a former day. Of Washington and red coats and that road they call the Pulaski Expressway. In the recent past, it was decided to recognize Revolutionary War hero Casimir Pulaski with a special holiday. It seems only Illinois and parts of Wisconsin observe the 1st Monday in March. Other places seem to enjoy remembering his death in October but mostly east of the Mississippi. There are plenty of other things that have been named to honor the Polish born Pulaski. One of course is the Pulaski Expressway in Chicago. Then are lots of cities and counties named after him. The forest fire management tool called the Pulaski is not named after him. Polish-Americans derive great pride from his exploits with George Washington and the colonial army. I believe he may have saved George's life once. He also had a nice mustache. On to other things: how about ...