One thing about being out of town is that you miss things that happen at home. Big things. Take for instance the ice storm that hit southwestern Minnesota last week. In Dallas I heard something about the National Guard and that was about it. Now, a week after the storm, I’ve been reading bits here and there about the city of Worthington losing half its trees, the damage done to people’s homes and nerves, and the fact that all of Nobles County was without power.

One Worthington blogger I read today commented that compared to what happened in Boston this week, we have to keep things in perspective. To me, though, both incidents also serve as a reminder that after the cameras and reporters have gone home and your story doesn’t show up on the evening news anymore, there’s still a lot of work to be done, whether in Nobles County or Boston.

So congrats to Nobles Cooperative Electric on their announcement today that, with help from their neighbors, they have restored power to all 4,200 of their members.

And thanks to the Southwest Initiative Foundation for setting up a disaster relief fund for the Nobles County area to help with cleanup and rebuilding.

Now this is how you really get things done.