The fog that descended on the path around the Falls over the weekend and on Monday might have been Mother Nature’s way of building alignment between the weather and the state of mind of many who travel the path.
The physical fog was caused by a bout of mild temperatures that turned the snow cover into a mist. It was good to see green lawns again, wherever the fog went.
Comments had been made that the snow came too early this year. Mother Nature decided to give us a short reprieve. For that, we are thankful. The reprieve will give us all a chance to retool and retrain a bit.
A number of snow plowing services brought on new employees this season, and some were not as familiar with the routine as they could have been. That was a bit of an issue with the clearing of the Oconto Falls High School parking lot and drives. The game plan for the next snow storm will be revised slightly.
Speaking of game plans, the Packers might have forgotten theirs at home when they headed to Buffalo on Sunday for their noon game. The loss caused the prospects for an outstanding finish to the regular season to evaporate. That evaporation might have left many of their fans in a mental fog on Sunday night and Monday. The analysis and debriefing of that contest will be left to the Monday morning quarterbacks writing in the sports section.
Perhaps another significant mental fog factor had to do with the fact that noon Monday marked the halfway point for December. Ordinarily, halfway points are not that big a deal, but for people with a Christmas gift shopping list, that midpoint could be a stress raiser if progress is not on target. No doubt for many families, the weekend involved shopping and gift wrapping.
According to media sources, Monday was going to be a record day for parcel shipments. If delivery is on time, family stress levels will go down a notch or two.
Monday’s reprieve in temperatures also allowed some work on the new athletic fields to resume. The concentration right now is on the bleacher structures. More than a hundred concrete supports were poured a few weeks ago. The supports needed to be covered with insulation for a few weeks, and now the next phases are under way.
One aspect of the process is to take very meticulous measurements of the exact location and level of the top of each support. That data will be used to fabricate the supporting framework that will hold the bleacher system.
The timing is perfect in that the supports were put in place before the winter freeze-up, and the supporting structures can be built and put in place in winter conditions. This will allow the crews to extend their construction season into what ordinarily would be shut-down time. This turns out to be a win-win situation for the manufacturer and the district.
Another phase of the work that can now proceed is a bit of touch-up grading and the placement of breaker rock under the future bleacher location. The breaker rock will stabilize the surface under the bleachers and prevent erosion. Ironically, the fog actually served as a green light for some of that work.
The final design touches for the athletic field components are now coming together. The combination concession/restroom/press box building is in the 11th hour of design. The plan will be submitted to the state for approval shortly.
The plan is being submitted to the people in the Northeast Wisconsin Technical College masonry program for consideration as a student project for next spring. This could turn into another win-win situation. One element of the design of that building is a recognition wall for donors with an interest in project sponsorship.
Another concept that is coming into shape is the design of a gateway or entrance that would be located near the high school parking lot and lead to seating at the athletic field. A few OFHS students are working on this as a design project.
This will be another sponsorship or recognition opportunity for community members or organizations. With all the effort that has gone into putting this project together, an impressive entrance would be a great tribute to that effort.
It will be an exciting day when the fog finally rises and fans can walk through that entrance to watch the first competition on the new field.
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