Big Fire In Williston Overnight -- July 22, 2014

The Williston Herald is reporting:

A massive fire at an oil company shut down Highway 1804 near Scenic Sports early Tuesday morning.

Williston Police Officer Randy Haugeno said the fire broke out near Red River Supply just after midnight Tuesday morning. Flames rose up to 300 feet into the sky as firefighters and police officers worked to remove any workers and bystanders while trying to control the blaze.

Ray firefighter Jordan Perdue said Ray and Epping fire departments are standing by at the Williston Area Recreation Center to assist the Williston Fire Department.

The police have shut Highway 1804 and the fire department moved bystanders away from the facility, saying there were barrels exploding at the scene.

The Bismarck Tribune is also reporting the story.

I forgot to post this earlier; saw the report earlier this morning, but forgot all about it when we went to the science museum. 

This is barely in Williston, barely outside of Williston. This is on the main highway going east out of Williston, before you get to that little bridge that crosses the Little Muddy west of Halliburton/Sanjel. Since Red River Supply sits right on the highway, it's no wonder the road was shut down. I'm sure it will be open fairly quickly. There are a number of buildings on site. I hope no one was injured. Initial reports suggested no injuries.

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Piano vs Guitar

When I was last in Williston I struck up a conversation with "John from New Hampshire" who taught me a little about guitar playing. I can't play the guitar but always wanted to learn. I'm working with our younger granddaughter to learn to play the guitar (I did play piano, trumpet, and French horn growing up). "John from New Hampshire" mentioned that he could tell if songs were written for piano or guitar. I had never thought about that until then. A good example:

The Story of Riders On The Storm, Ray Manzarek

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A Note to the Grandparents

I will be the first to admit I have a love-hate relationship with California. Other than Williston, I'm not sure I have an emotional attachment to any geographical area any more. I used to have an emotional attachment to three geographical areas in addition to Williston; Los Angeles was one of the three (four), but no longer. I still love being out here for the weather. But that's about all, I suppose.

It's now a tradition to bring our granddaughters out to California every summer for about one month. We stay at the house where my wife's parents retired, in San Pedro. We call it a beach house, though it's a few miles from the beach. But in all respects, it feels like a beach house: small, one floor, front doors and back doors always open when we visit, bath and beach towels everywhere, ice chests full of drinks and ice everywhere, and two Weber grills on the patio, Japanese-style patio furniture made by our son-in-law last summer.

The house has that musty, moldy grandparent smell that such houses eventually get. The "smell" reminds me of my own maternal grandparents' home in Storm Lake, Iowa, the place we would visit every second or third year while growing up in Williston. It was too far and too expensive to go every year. That was one of the heartaches my mother knew but never talked about, only getting to see her parents one every other year or so. Now that I am a parent/grandparent, I know exactly what she must have felt. 

If I could live my life over, I would spend more summer vacations and school vacations with my maternal grandparents.

Our granddaughters love coming out here. They love the house: one floor, no steps, and when they step in the front door they can be in any room in just a few steps. It's a very small house. 

They have free rein in the house, much more than they would experience anywhere else. There is no bedtime, but they go to bed on time, but later than they otherwise might. They watch absolutely no television, though we've never said they couldn't. Part of the reason, I suppose, the remote controls are too confusing. Even I couldn't figure them out if my wife had not taped notes to them. Two television sets, two Blu-Ray players, and five remotes, all necessary, for some odd reason. One of the televisions requires one remote to turn it on/off, and a second remote to change stations. 

The granddaughters spend what little time they have at the house working on crafts. Right now they are folding origami. For the past two nights they have taken their origami foldings out to the front sidewalk to sell them. They sold $11 worth of origami the first night, and coincidentally, another $11 tonight. The material cost is exactly zero. They were given the origami paper by a friend. The younger granddaughter, age 8, is really the entrepreneur working this project. Tonight, her older sister, age 11, told us that she was happy she was getting paid by her (younger) sister to help out. The younger granddaughter, age 8, is going on 18, as they say. Everything comes easy for her. She is the one who finds $20 in small bills on the sidewalk when I find nickels.

We are so busy every day out here in southern California, tomorrow they look forward to staying home and getting caught up in math. Then a Japanese/Chinese food court for lunch, and then Costco to buy lamb for grilling in a day or two. We marinade lamb for at least 12 hours, preferably 24 hours.

Right now, I'm listening to Chris Isaac, May is out shopping, and the two granddaughters are in the other room working on crafts, and so quiet one would not know they are there. Periodically the younger one comes out to get some item: a few minutes ago she came out to get the yardstick, and then came back, putting it back where she found it. OCD.

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At the Science Museum, Los Angeles