During the storm it was difficult to get a full grasp on what was going on. I could hear the hail, I could see the tree down in my backyard but the full scope of what had come to town was difficult to appreciate until after it had passed. There was hardly a street in town that was passable. Getting a vehicle out on the road was nearly impossible.

My home sustained some minor damage, shingles on the roof were damaged and I lost two trees in my backyard along with piles of branches from the other trees on my property. I was lucky compared to many of the other property owners in Tyler who have significant damage to their homes, businesses and vehicles.

The response from our community was astounding. Within minutes of the storm passing by, neighbors were out helping neighbors and people from other communities poured into town to help in any way they could.

For my part, I went to work taking photos throughout the community of the damage, preparing a record that would be first published in the Tribute a few days later. It was difficult not to think I should be doing something else, but I fully recognized the need for letting people know what happened.

No one was seriously hurt from the storm and today life has mostly gotten back to normal. Less than a month after the storm our town held its annual celebration along with the Lincoln County Fair – at the same time. The city crews and volunteers helped bring the community back to a place to be proud of.

There is yet a lot of work to be done and it will be years before Tyler looks the way it did before Friday, July 1 at 4 p.m.

A young Robert sits in a familiar chair.

The photo features me sitting on a chair that my parents very much still have, holding my father’s Army hat. The age of the photo could probably be deciphered if one was to recognize the era in which that hat was still in service for the Army, but I won’t say for sure. I have to keep up appearences after all.

The concert I have been waiting a year, and in some ways nearly a lifetime for is just 24 hours away. Despite horrible traffic predictions and the possibility of severe weather, I can not wait to see U2 at TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.

I’m some what in the nose bleed section, but I will be close enough to enjoy the action and sing along to one of my  all time favorite bands.

For the full set, please click here.

Over the years my dad has been spotted in many newspapers, both local and national. I ran across this clipping while at the Whistle Stop restaurant in Benson. I was able to track down the original article to go along with it.

If you are going to be in Tyler in July, help us celebrate Aebleskiver Days.

The way I consume television has evolved throughout my life. As a young kid, if I wanted to see something that was on television I had no choice but to sit in front of the TV screen as the show was airing on broadcast. Cable came quickly after but the difference in the schedule was no different. Then came the VCR, recording shows became possible. That evolved into the DVR. TiVo was my friend for many years. Now, I’m watching television in a completely different way.

For the last three years I have been debating over the idea of cutting cable television in favor of an Internet based system. I have chosen Apple TV to fit those needs. As I said this has been a long time coming. I got my first Apple TV for Christmas in 2008 but the decision to cut cable was still to hard.

The hardest part of cutting cable is giving up sports. As an avid sports fan it’s difficult to give up cable, losing out on all those games throughout the week. It’s slowly becoming easier with the help of ESPN3 on my Xbox 360. Add in some “follow your team” subscriptions on iTunes and suddenly things look a little brighter.

For the last three or so months I have all but ignored cable television, using iTunes subscriptions, Netflix, Podcasts, my vast DVD collection and ESPN3 on Xbox Live to cover 95 percent of the television I consume. The five percent of cable viewing came because of the Minnesota Vikings. It’s not easy to find pro-football on the Internet, but I do have an antenna.

Cable TV hasn’t been on much over the last few months since I purchased my second Apple TV, but I still haven’t called the cable company and told them the bad news. I have some hardware I need to return to them and I am planning to do that at the latest after the Superbowl.

I reserve the right to eventually go back to cable if this whole experiment falls through, but I have to say it has been an easier transition than I originally thought. I’ll write more about my experience as I move forward.