The summer of 2000 – now forever the summer that was – will be remembered for four things: rain, pigs, weddings and no fishing.

Saturday, September 09, 2000

The summer of 2000 – now forever the summer that was – will be remembered for four things: rain, pigs, weddings and no fishing.

It’s been a fast summer consisting of the highest highs and the lowest lows. It was a summer when many things were accomplished as well as so little. In some ways it was a typical southern Minnesota summer, and yet in others it was quite different. I guess in the end this past summer proved an adventure just like summers should.

Fittingly as I write this column rain is falling on our city. There was a time early in the summer when it appeared the rain would never stop and simply wash Austin into the Cedar River.

The rains ruined summer plans and impacted many lives in our community. Many of our friends and relatives saw years of hard work washed away in an instant. The rains brought trying times and the lowest of lows, yet this community pulled together and with a tremendous amount of pride and spirit persevered.

Today, the impact of the spring and summer flooding is hardly noticeable, but the concern that it could happen again will be with us all for some time.

As luck would have it the rains waited long enough to spare the Pigs in the City. If the floodwaters had come weeks earlier, many of the pigs would have been drowned in the storage facility at Double K Specialty. Instead the pigs had already been positioned around the city – most on high ground.

What an event the Pigs in the City turned into. The kickoff event at Riverside Arena was incredible, and the visitor traffic the pigs have spurred during the summer has been wonderful. The pigs have proved beautiful landmarks and good conversation pieces. I’m sure the pigs will be missed when they are removed from display in October.

By October the lineup of weddings will be wrapped up as well. Two cousins, one brother and several friends will have walked down the aisle by the end of September. We’re desperately hoping these are the last weddings for quite some time. If my calculations are correct, the next family wedding should take place in about 2015 – plenty of time to recharge the wedding batteries.

Weddings have just become too big and too involved. In the end the day is for the bride and groom, which is the way it should be, but for those brides- and grooms-to-be – keep it simple and compact and check with other relatives who may be getting married as well before you set a date.

If you work real hard on those dates your relatives, or friends, who are avid fisherman may actually get to wet a line during the summer. Take it from a wedding casualty who dropped a line in the water exactly one time this summer – ouch.

Yes, summer was an adventure, not the one that was planned, but then again what fun is a planned adventure? Here’s to the summer that was and a wish that summer 2001 brings more fish and less rice.