Straight to the cut!

There is nothing more welcoming than going home after your first day at a job that requires typing as main function than to cut your fingertip. I managed to accidentally cut myself Wednesday evening while removing a knife in a cardboard sheath from a new box of kitchen knives. I can vouch that the knives were sharp for sure! The emergency department at Mayo Clinic Health Systems in New Prague patched me up with 6 stitches. It’s definitely not fun typing this with a swollen and freshly stitched fingertip.

I figured it would be fitting to let the community know who I am, so here it goes.

I grew up and currently live in New Prague. Most of my time in high school was spent in choir and theater, but I dabbled in writing for the Trojan Times for a while. My college years at Minnesota State University Moorhead followed a similar path. I started as a theater arts major, completing most of the major requirements during that first year. In a change of heart slightly, I switched to a mass communications major after that first year. I still spent a lot of time working theater at the university and at the community theater in Fargo, while also working for The Advocate, the university’s student-run newspaper.

Hard times fell on much of the United States in exiting college in 2006 and I relied heavily on what was my stronghold, the technical and management side of the performing arts. I worked in a variety of places in different roles behind the scenes for quite some time, including live entertainment at Cedar Point Amusement Park in Sandusky, Ohio, and The Fabulous Palm Spring Follies in Palm Springs, California.

The time came for me to come back home and be with my family, both for my aging grandparents and also for my many nieces and nephews who are all growing up. I wanted to be home to build memories with them.

Upon my return, I ventured more into my passions but mainly storm chasing. I have loved severe weather ever since I can remember. I started storm chasing when I was essentially able to drive. The St. Peter tornado in March of 1998 and an extreme softball-sized hail event we had in August of 1994 really sparked my interest to start chasing severe weather. I also felt a strong drive to do useful things with chasing storms. My photos and videos are used by the National Weather Service (NWS) often for training SKYWARN spotters. I, of course, also report directly to the NWS as necessary.

These passions drove me to join forces with Metro Skywarn, which is the Twin Cities area weather spotting group that trains and takes reports for the National Weather Service Office in Chanhassen. I have volunteered as a board member and trainer for a number of years.

I also discovered a group that I am now the president of, the Twin Cities Meteorological Society. I started writing and editing their newsletter as a hobby almost 10 years ago. It has been very interesting to see how people use weather information in so many different ways, from big business logistics to the everyday person commuting to work.

In general, I have worked a large number of different jobs, probably more than the average person by a fair amount. It’s not something I can count on all my fingers and toes anyway. I grew up on a small farm and I have lived in the central urban areas of a big city. There is really nothing I love more than the small town and rural life though.

I feel like these life experiences have given me an interesting perspective on the world that hopefully can come out in the stories I find to share with you. It’s great to be here.