Iowa

On the way to Iowa, just South of Durand, there is a hillside that I have taken pictures of in the past, and on Tuesday, the leaves were hanging on and very pretty, even in the rain.

Highway 25, South of Durand, WI

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Wednesday, the wind was crazy in Iowa.  The blue spruce in the courtyard of Dad & Ev's apartment really got a work out.  Here's a short video:

Blue Spruce in Iowa Wind

I have no idea how the leaves were staying on the tree in the background.

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Dad & Ev and I took a drive to Clarion on Thursday.  It was chilly but I got them to sit for a quick picture.

Dad & Ev

They will be headed to Texas soon, the temps in Rockport have been in the '80s, they won't need their heavy jackets.

This is serious

Barley was giving me the serious look.  

It's almost as if she knew there was something bad going on in the town of Durand where Kris and Lora live.  A fire destroyed 3 small main street businesses overnight.  Very devastating for a small community like Durand.  Cottage Hill Floral and Frame,  Toni's Interiors, and The Durand Cafe are all a total loss according to weau.com.  Plus, the temperatures last night were below zero so the firefighters had a dangerous weather situation to deal with on top of the fire.  The news reports say that no one was injured, which is certainly good news.  I suspect that Durand's fire department is made up of volunteer firefighters.  

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I am amazed at the dedication that small town men and women have to this very difficult, and often times dangerous, job of protecting their local towns.  

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Hats off to firefighters.