Hi, everyone. I am writing this on my sister-in-law's computer. We are visiting here over the holiday weekend. Partly to visit but mostly to divvy up some family possessions. It's late, and my wife was very tired, so she went to bed by herself.
Quick recap: My father-in-law died last December. Since then, the brothers and sisters have been splitting up the household items. This visit is our first since the funeral. Well, sort of. I drove my wife here in April but drove home by myself the same day, while she stayed for a day or two and got a ride home with a sister.
They have been putting some stuff on the side for her, so today was a very busy day over there, as she was finally there to look over things. This might be a good time to remind you that my car has very limited storage space. They had put aside boxes and boxes of stuff for her, on a work bench in the garage. In terms of volume, maybe two or three times what the car can hold, including the back seat. (And, to be painfully honest, much of it was junk.) We selected the stuff she wanted most and pushed, prodded and packed it into the car.
One box that didn't make the cut contained model tractors. My father-in-law was a big collector of model tractors, of various sizes--most of them stood about eight inches tall. I'm not so gung-ho on tiny tractors as he was, but there was a good side. One of my wife's brothers was very interested in them, and my wife sold them to him for $100.
On this particular weekend, seven of the eight brothers and sisters were present, so it was half visiting and half sorting stuff. Today, they went through their mother's jewelry, photo albums, sheets and blankets and some money. Money!
Yes, indeed. Coins, mostly. Some silver dollars (mostly Eisenhower dollars) and many JFK half dollars. This process went extremely slowly, as they divided the coins into Bicentennial (1976) and non-Bicentennial piles. Then they looked the coins over to make sure there weren't any silver half dollars mixed in there. Then they divided the coins into groups of eight, and each took a turn to decide which of the eight half dollars in a group they wanted. It got to be very slow. Of course, there were leftover coins from each group, so they had to decide how they should divvy those up.
Add in a few Susan B. Anthony dollars and a few $2 bills. Of course, the number of those was not divisible by eight, either. There also were some older coins. A few Morgan silver dollars. One Peace silver dollar. Both are from the 1920s. Two Standing Liberty half dollars from the '40s. A Buffalo nickle from the '30s. And an Indian head penny. The date on that one: 1864! They are going to have those coins examined for collector value before deciding what to do with them.
With this very deliberate procedure, progress was snail-like. They also had a long, long talk about my father-in-law's property and what to do with it. Two (maybe three) of the sons want to buy parts of it, but they want to pay less than the appraised value. And there is a retired priest who supposedly interested in buying the land--with gold! So there was a l0ng talk about that and whether they would be able to dodge the taxman. For some of them, you can see dollars signs dancing in their eyes as they talk about it.
For me (and for my wife, I suspect) it was tedious. I, of course, am not one of the eight children, so I watched the discussions and mini-auctions (yes, they did that) of some of the items. At other times, I went off into another room and listened to music. Thank goodness my wife suggested I take along the headphones for the iPod before we left!
It was a very long day. Finally it was over. We drove back to town and got supper at Subway. Then here, to my sister-in-law's place.
Tomorrow promises to be much more fun. Another sister-in-law has gotten wind of a blueberry farm a few miles away, so we are going blueberry-picking! After that, a cookout at someone's place. We will drive home either Monday night or Tuesday morning--with some blueberries for our ice cream. Yummm!
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Pulling it all at the fair
Two weeks ago, the county took place in our town, and I covered some of the events held in front of the grandstand.
Look, it's a small, rural fair. Low budget. Low creativity. Low expectations. They have a midway, some rides, 4-H exhibits and the 4-H livestock auction. Food booths. Elephant ears. They had a horse pull this year, but I opted to cover the 4-H kids' horse show first. Later, I drove past and there were no horses in the arena.
Pulling is an important part of the show. The fair has the horse pull, a tractor pull and a truck pull. I like the horses the best, but I had to miss them this year.
The tractor pull involves tractors pulling a weighted sled--there's a moving concrete box on it, and as the box moves, the sled gets harder and harder to pull.
The arena's dirt floor was very dry (with hardly any rain for the last few weeks, that was no surprise), leading to very dusty conditions ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Events/Trak-Dustypull-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
Eventually I wised up and went on the other side. However, with the tractors pulling into the sun, there was just so much I could do ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Events/Trak-B-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
They finally had a fire truck come out and wet down the track where the sled was being pulled ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Events/Trak-watertruk-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
Most of the tractors in the competition were really old. Most date from the late 1940s or early 50s. It was ironic because the tractor pulling the weight sled back to the start was nice and new ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Events/Trak-Newpuller-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
It was a lot like the truck pull, which took place Friday night. Same basic plan, with pickup trucks instead of tractors. The procedure was the same.
First, the truck pulls the weight sled ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Events/Trak-Dingedtruk-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
Lovely truck, right?
When the pull is done, some heavy equipment pulls the weight sled back to the start ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Events/Trak-Truksled-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
Note the damage made to the track by the truck (or tractor) as it digs into the dirt track, trying to move the sled every last fraction of an inch that it can ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Events/Trak-Dozer-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
So to fix up the track, a bulldozer comes out to smooth things down ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Events/Trak-Trukdozer-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
Then the next truck (or tractor) comes out, and here we go again. And again. And again. It amounts to about 15 seconds of watching a truck pull the weight sled, followed by 2 or 3 minutes of pulling the sled back, the dozer coming out and smoothing the track, the next truck getting all set up, etc. It does get rather tedious.
I liked one of the local trucks that was entered. It was a nice-looking Ford that made a good pull ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Events/Trax-Bluetruk-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Events/Trak-Bluetrukrun-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
But on its next pull, something went very wrong. There was a grinding sound, the truck stopped dead, and something was glowing underneath it. In seconds, people were swarming around ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Events/Trak-Bluetrukstop-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
The engine had blown. I heard later that the guy had put about $10,000 into the engine, which was tested with a dynamometer and rated at 1,100 horsepower. Either the clutch or flywheel wasn't up to the challenge, and the $10,000 engine blew.
And that wasn't the worst for him. The worst came a few minutes later: His well-loved Ford truck was pulled off the track ... by a Chevy ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Events/Trak-Bluetrucktow-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
A fate worse than death.
The truck pull also featured some trucks from the Wisconsin-Upper Michigan Pullers Association: known as the WUMPAs or "whump-ass." These trucks are much more expensive than even the blue truck, beautifully painted, with highly tuned engines running on nitro fuel, like dragsters. And they were loud. VERY loud. Earth-shakingly loud. Hear-it-across-the-city loud. If sound could create light, this would be a very bright photo ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Events/Trak-Wupma-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
The truck show fills about a third to half of the grandstand. But the show on Saturday night fills all the seats, and then some. It's the demolition derby. There were about 60 cars this year, and a few had beautiful paint jobs ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Events/Trak-DDPaintjob-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
While others were grizzled, recycled demo derby warriors ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Events/Trak-DDDandB-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
And even the cars that came in looking nice came out looking not so nice. At one time, this was an Imperial. I guess it still is, not that you could identify it ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Events/Trak-DDImperial-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
The demo derby is easily the most popular event of the fair. All the grandstand seats are packed, people are lined up around the fences, and the beer concession is very busy. Big surprise, right?
Look, it's a small, rural fair. Low budget. Low creativity. Low expectations. They have a midway, some rides, 4-H exhibits and the 4-H livestock auction. Food booths. Elephant ears. They had a horse pull this year, but I opted to cover the 4-H kids' horse show first. Later, I drove past and there were no horses in the arena.
Pulling is an important part of the show. The fair has the horse pull, a tractor pull and a truck pull. I like the horses the best, but I had to miss them this year.
The tractor pull involves tractors pulling a weighted sled--there's a moving concrete box on it, and as the box moves, the sled gets harder and harder to pull.
The arena's dirt floor was very dry (with hardly any rain for the last few weeks, that was no surprise), leading to very dusty conditions ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Events/Trak-Dustypull-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
Eventually I wised up and went on the other side. However, with the tractors pulling into the sun, there was just so much I could do ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Events/Trak-B-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
They finally had a fire truck come out and wet down the track where the sled was being pulled ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Events/Trak-watertruk-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
Most of the tractors in the competition were really old. Most date from the late 1940s or early 50s. It was ironic because the tractor pulling the weight sled back to the start was nice and new ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Events/Trak-Newpuller-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
It was a lot like the truck pull, which took place Friday night. Same basic plan, with pickup trucks instead of tractors. The procedure was the same.
First, the truck pulls the weight sled ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Events/Trak-Dingedtruk-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
Lovely truck, right?
When the pull is done, some heavy equipment pulls the weight sled back to the start ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Events/Trak-Truksled-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
Note the damage made to the track by the truck (or tractor) as it digs into the dirt track, trying to move the sled every last fraction of an inch that it can ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Events/Trak-Dozer-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
So to fix up the track, a bulldozer comes out to smooth things down ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Events/Trak-Trukdozer-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
Then the next truck (or tractor) comes out, and here we go again. And again. And again. It amounts to about 15 seconds of watching a truck pull the weight sled, followed by 2 or 3 minutes of pulling the sled back, the dozer coming out and smoothing the track, the next truck getting all set up, etc. It does get rather tedious.
I liked one of the local trucks that was entered. It was a nice-looking Ford that made a good pull ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Events/Trax-Bluetruk-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Events/Trak-Bluetrukrun-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
But on its next pull, something went very wrong. There was a grinding sound, the truck stopped dead, and something was glowing underneath it. In seconds, people were swarming around ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Events/Trak-Bluetrukstop-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
The engine had blown. I heard later that the guy had put about $10,000 into the engine, which was tested with a dynamometer and rated at 1,100 horsepower. Either the clutch or flywheel wasn't up to the challenge, and the $10,000 engine blew.
And that wasn't the worst for him. The worst came a few minutes later: His well-loved Ford truck was pulled off the track ... by a Chevy ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Events/Trak-Bluetrucktow-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
A fate worse than death.
The truck pull also featured some trucks from the Wisconsin-Upper Michigan Pullers Association: known as the WUMPAs or "whump-ass." These trucks are much more expensive than even the blue truck, beautifully painted, with highly tuned engines running on nitro fuel, like dragsters. And they were loud. VERY loud. Earth-shakingly loud. Hear-it-across-the-city loud. If sound could create light, this would be a very bright photo ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Events/Trak-Wupma-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
The truck show fills about a third to half of the grandstand. But the show on Saturday night fills all the seats, and then some. It's the demolition derby. There were about 60 cars this year, and a few had beautiful paint jobs ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Events/Trak-DDPaintjob-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
While others were grizzled, recycled demo derby warriors ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Events/Trak-DDDandB-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
And even the cars that came in looking nice came out looking not so nice. At one time, this was an Imperial. I guess it still is, not that you could identify it ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Events/Trak-DDImperial-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
The demo derby is easily the most popular event of the fair. All the grandstand seats are packed, people are lined up around the fences, and the beer concession is very busy. Big surprise, right?
Monday, August 25, 2008
The three bears plus one
Time marches on ... into fall! The calendar page still reads August, but we got a preview of coming attractions this morning.
Our area had a frost advisory early Monday morning, though we didn't quite get there. I looked outside early this morning, and the ground was not frosted. We only got down to 34 (but the official temperature, near the river, reached 29).
My life continues to be busy, and what with work projects, other personal projects and the last days of the Olympics, my blog-writing has been on hold. Maybe motivation is a problem, too. I wanted to ... and yet I didn't want to. You know how that goes? I still have other things on my mind.
I have two photo entries coming up. One is from the county fair, held here about a week ago or so. That one is nearly done and could be posted pretty soon. The other is from that powwow we attended in early August. When things calm down, I'll work on the photos from that.
The most important thing this week is that we have a short week at work--we put the paper together on Friday instead of Monday, due to the Labor Day holiday. That coincides with the first football games of the new high school season, kicking off Friday night. So what do we do about that?
Here's what we do: I cover one of the games in person Friday night, then come in Saturday morning, write the report on that game and process some pictures. I also get a phone report on the other game and write a report on that. Then I put my page together; someone else uploads it to the printing plant later. I hope to get it all done by halfway through Saturday afternoon. I should; all my other work ought to be done by then.
Once my pages are all finished, my wife and I are hitting the road--to visit my in-laws in NW Wisconsin over the long weekend. My father-in-law died last December (our most recent visit). Since then the rest of the family has been dividing up things at the house. They put several big boxes of things aside for us--we are supposed to take them home with us in our little car. (FYI, there are four girls and four boys, and my wife is the eldest.)
Of course, there are only so many big boxes you can cram into a little car. We will get there Saturday night and drive home either on Monday or Tuesday. So it's either two or three nights away from home. It must be getting old for the kitties.
****
Now here's something that happened to me last week. I was in the office, working on this and that, when we got a phone call. It was someone I knew, and he was excited. "I've got a bear in a tree near my place; come out with your camera if you want a great shot." He told me how to get there. I called my wife and got her off whatever she was doing so she could see the fun, too.
Here's what the fun was like. See that tree on the left side of the road? Look about three-quarters of the way up ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Bearinair-wide-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
That's what you could see without binoculars. But I have a telephoto lens; it's useful for situations like this. Through the lens, here's what we saw ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Bearinair-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
In all, we have four bears here: the mama bear and three cubs--one below, one above and the third near mom's belly. They were moving around while I was there (about 10 people had gathered to look--it was about 11:30 a.m.) The guy said he discovered the bear while mowing some grass--he saw some fragments of bark at the base of the tree and looked up.
We were there about a half hour, then headed back to town. The guy later told me that the bear and cubs came down about 2 p.m. Just in time to scare the mail carrier while she was making her daily deliveries.
Our area had a frost advisory early Monday morning, though we didn't quite get there. I looked outside early this morning, and the ground was not frosted. We only got down to 34 (but the official temperature, near the river, reached 29).
My life continues to be busy, and what with work projects, other personal projects and the last days of the Olympics, my blog-writing has been on hold. Maybe motivation is a problem, too. I wanted to ... and yet I didn't want to. You know how that goes? I still have other things on my mind.
I have two photo entries coming up. One is from the county fair, held here about a week ago or so. That one is nearly done and could be posted pretty soon. The other is from that powwow we attended in early August. When things calm down, I'll work on the photos from that.
The most important thing this week is that we have a short week at work--we put the paper together on Friday instead of Monday, due to the Labor Day holiday. That coincides with the first football games of the new high school season, kicking off Friday night. So what do we do about that?
Here's what we do: I cover one of the games in person Friday night, then come in Saturday morning, write the report on that game and process some pictures. I also get a phone report on the other game and write a report on that. Then I put my page together; someone else uploads it to the printing plant later. I hope to get it all done by halfway through Saturday afternoon. I should; all my other work ought to be done by then.
Once my pages are all finished, my wife and I are hitting the road--to visit my in-laws in NW Wisconsin over the long weekend. My father-in-law died last December (our most recent visit). Since then the rest of the family has been dividing up things at the house. They put several big boxes of things aside for us--we are supposed to take them home with us in our little car. (FYI, there are four girls and four boys, and my wife is the eldest.)
Of course, there are only so many big boxes you can cram into a little car. We will get there Saturday night and drive home either on Monday or Tuesday. So it's either two or three nights away from home. It must be getting old for the kitties.
****
Now here's something that happened to me last week. I was in the office, working on this and that, when we got a phone call. It was someone I knew, and he was excited. "I've got a bear in a tree near my place; come out with your camera if you want a great shot." He told me how to get there. I called my wife and got her off whatever she was doing so she could see the fun, too.
Here's what the fun was like. See that tree on the left side of the road? Look about three-quarters of the way up ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Bearinair-wide-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
That's what you could see without binoculars. But I have a telephoto lens; it's useful for situations like this. Through the lens, here's what we saw ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Bearinair-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
In all, we have four bears here: the mama bear and three cubs--one below, one above and the third near mom's belly. They were moving around while I was there (about 10 people had gathered to look--it was about 11:30 a.m.) The guy said he discovered the bear while mowing some grass--he saw some fragments of bark at the base of the tree and looked up.
We were there about a half hour, then headed back to town. The guy later told me that the bear and cubs came down about 2 p.m. Just in time to scare the mail carrier while she was making her daily deliveries.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Back to the surface
I am resurfacing just for a few minutes to say hi and good-bye. A short good-bye.
It's just a few minutes because I have lots of writing on my plate. Last week, I had to work on several articles for a special edition we are working on; I had to get interviews and then write them up. I felt intimidated by all that. Plus, it was the first week of practice for the fall sports (football and volleyball), and I had to do articles on them. Plus, it was the week of the County Fair, and I had many assignments there. And the Olympics had my attention, too.
This week, where do I stand? All the interviews for the special edition have been done, and all but one of the articles, too. I feel much better about that! I did the sports previews last week. This week, I have a football scrimmage to cover on Friday and a v'ball tournament Saturday--so that's all at the end of the week. A busy weekend, but what's new?
Meanwhile, the fair is over. We pushed through many pictures on Monday, and I have one more article to write this week. It's the people's choice event, the one that always jam-packs the grandstand, the biggest money-maker of all: the demolition derby. I give it a tongue-in-cheek article in sports with a few photos. I have fun with it while (most importantly) not putting it down. Plus I was able to find a feature this year, too.
Then I've got some personal writing, too. I have to write S. I have to write a new female friend (don't get excited; she lives in Alaska). I want to write a funny blog entry about something that happened during the truck pull at the fair (the night before the demo).
The Olympics continues. I watched a lot of the swimming and Michael Phelps' achievements. I've been seeing this and that. We get three channels that cover the Olympics: NBC, USA Network and CBC, from Canada. Frequently, especially with the major events, both NBC and CBC carry the same event; CBC is Canada first, of course, but they closely watch the U.S. entries.
Sometimes it's fascinating, sometimes not. One sport I like to watch is show-jumping. Riders on horses, jumping over obstacles. CBC has a lot of that during the summer from Spruce Meadows (near Calgary), and my wife and I like watching the horses do their stuff. So yesterday, we found out when CBC was carrying the show jumping team finals and saw the U.S. and Canada in a jump-off to decide first place (which the U.S. won).
The other thing, you may have noticed, is that I'm back to checking your blog entries. I had a mental block about that for a while--just procrastinated on that, maybe worried about all the special edition articles. Now I'm back into that, leaving comments when I can contribute a thought or a joke or a pun (lame though it may be).
OK, back to my Ducks Unlimited article. See you guys around.
It's just a few minutes because I have lots of writing on my plate. Last week, I had to work on several articles for a special edition we are working on; I had to get interviews and then write them up. I felt intimidated by all that. Plus, it was the first week of practice for the fall sports (football and volleyball), and I had to do articles on them. Plus, it was the week of the County Fair, and I had many assignments there. And the Olympics had my attention, too.
This week, where do I stand? All the interviews for the special edition have been done, and all but one of the articles, too. I feel much better about that! I did the sports previews last week. This week, I have a football scrimmage to cover on Friday and a v'ball tournament Saturday--so that's all at the end of the week. A busy weekend, but what's new?
Meanwhile, the fair is over. We pushed through many pictures on Monday, and I have one more article to write this week. It's the people's choice event, the one that always jam-packs the grandstand, the biggest money-maker of all: the demolition derby. I give it a tongue-in-cheek article in sports with a few photos. I have fun with it while (most importantly) not putting it down. Plus I was able to find a feature this year, too.
Then I've got some personal writing, too. I have to write S. I have to write a new female friend (don't get excited; she lives in Alaska). I want to write a funny blog entry about something that happened during the truck pull at the fair (the night before the demo).
The Olympics continues. I watched a lot of the swimming and Michael Phelps' achievements. I've been seeing this and that. We get three channels that cover the Olympics: NBC, USA Network and CBC, from Canada. Frequently, especially with the major events, both NBC and CBC carry the same event; CBC is Canada first, of course, but they closely watch the U.S. entries.
Sometimes it's fascinating, sometimes not. One sport I like to watch is show-jumping. Riders on horses, jumping over obstacles. CBC has a lot of that during the summer from Spruce Meadows (near Calgary), and my wife and I like watching the horses do their stuff. So yesterday, we found out when CBC was carrying the show jumping team finals and saw the U.S. and Canada in a jump-off to decide first place (which the U.S. won).
The other thing, you may have noticed, is that I'm back to checking your blog entries. I had a mental block about that for a while--just procrastinated on that, maybe worried about all the special edition articles. Now I'm back into that, leaving comments when I can contribute a thought or a joke or a pun (lame though it may be).
OK, back to my Ducks Unlimited article. See you guys around.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Bloggy blahs
I can't explain this. I'm having problems right now. Not bad problems. Just ... problems.
Problems with the blog, if you really must know. I think I have enough stuff to write or ponder about. But right now I'm having mental blocks about reading. What happened is that I fell behind on my blog reading when we went out for our trip to the lake last week. It was only two days or so. But since then, I don't know ... I've done a little blog reading. But not a lot.
Can't explain why. The Olympics, OK, maybe that's a factor. But you know how much I love the Stanley Cup playoffs, and I did try to keep up during that time despite watching everything on ice I could find. And I did keep up for the most part. So maybe the Olympics has nothing to do with it. But I feel pressed for time.
Maybe I've got a touch of the blues, with summer nearly over and the fall onslaught of sports work nearly here. It doesn't usually bother me, and you know I like covering football. So ... maybe it's not that either. The John Edwards thing. I had thoughts on that, at least as a jumping off point. Stuff at work.
Even my visit to my mom last week, on our way home from our trip. She wanted me to stay longer--but I was getting very tired and just wanted to go home. We'll go down and visit her tomorrow, and this time we'll put aside more time. That's been bothering me, too.
Just don't feel motivated right now. Just don't feel a lot of things. If I knew where the switch sits, I'd flick it. I know it happens, and I know I'll snap out of it before long. Then I'll be happier. Not yet, though.
Problems with the blog, if you really must know. I think I have enough stuff to write or ponder about. But right now I'm having mental blocks about reading. What happened is that I fell behind on my blog reading when we went out for our trip to the lake last week. It was only two days or so. But since then, I don't know ... I've done a little blog reading. But not a lot.
Can't explain why. The Olympics, OK, maybe that's a factor. But you know how much I love the Stanley Cup playoffs, and I did try to keep up during that time despite watching everything on ice I could find. And I did keep up for the most part. So maybe the Olympics has nothing to do with it. But I feel pressed for time.
Maybe I've got a touch of the blues, with summer nearly over and the fall onslaught of sports work nearly here. It doesn't usually bother me, and you know I like covering football. So ... maybe it's not that either. The John Edwards thing. I had thoughts on that, at least as a jumping off point. Stuff at work.
Even my visit to my mom last week, on our way home from our trip. She wanted me to stay longer--but I was getting very tired and just wanted to go home. We'll go down and visit her tomorrow, and this time we'll put aside more time. That's been bothering me, too.
Just don't feel motivated right now. Just don't feel a lot of things. If I knew where the switch sits, I'd flick it. I know it happens, and I know I'll snap out of it before long. Then I'll be happier. Not yet, though.
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Back from the beach
Back again. Back home from the last mini-vacation of summer. It was the quietest one of all. Maybe it was the nicest of all. Not that everything was perfect.
The game plan: visiting my friend S and her husband at a clothes-optional "lake" in eastern Wisconsin. Calling it a lake does a grave disservice to all real lakes, since this one is really, really small. But it does have a beach on one side; on the other three sides, tall weeds. I bet I can throw a Frisbee from one end to the other. This pond (for that's what it really is) is located at a former farm in a rural area. I first visited it last month.
The trip, from start to finish, only lasted about 36 hours. Not too long, but that's all the time we had available.
After a lot of thought, my wife decided to go along this time. We left late on Wednesday morning, later than I had wanted to. First, I went to the office for a planned meeting to set up coverage for a local fest this weekend. The meeting was never held--too many people were missing. Eventually I went home ... to find my wife in her PJs and on the computer. She had gotten trapped by a sewing website and placing an order.
That meant she was well behind in her packing and preparations for the trip. She can go only so fast, and that's all. She got her stuff selected, filled the kitty food dishes, loved up her favorite kitty for a while, got some water bottles filled, looked around for a craft project to work on in the car (finally found one; the other is still hiding). Then we were set to go.
Due to the delay and stops for lunch and to buy other items we needed, we reached our destination at about 3 p.m., about an hour later than planned. Well, it happens. I wasn't mad. Just impatient, that's all. S and her husband had already set up their tent and stuff. S was wearing a beautiful sky blue see-through, long-sleeved blouse and a dark blue sarong. Her husband was wearing his glasses and some sandals. But within minutes, all four of us were in their tent ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Drgfly08-Darkclouds-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
We had driven through rain showers on our drive south, and other showers were moving through the area. We saw some lightning flashes and a couple bolts hitting the ground. Zap! Zap! So into the tent we went for some talk and snacking on corn chips. It was easily big enough for the four of us and their two dogs.
The shower passed. They said they had been in the pond earlier, floating on air mattresses, but the water seemed cooler today, especially below the surface. The day had mostly been cloudy, and a cold front was moving through the region--that's what was causing the showers and thunder. But now the shower was over ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Drgfly08-Liteclouds-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
About time for us to put up our tent and move our stuff inside. After that, I took a shower to wash off the sweat--they have an outdoor shower with solar-heated water--and relaxed with them.
Her husband had found an appropriately named beer for our trip ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Drgfly08-Beercase-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
It's from the Point Brewery in nearby Stevens Point, Wis. Point beer is a very popular regional brand. Here's what it says at the end of the box ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Drgfly08-Beertext-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
By now, it was the late afternoon, time to start making supper. But the wood they had brought along with them was wet and wasn't lighting. They forgot to bring a fire log with them. I volunteered to get dressed again and drive into town to and get one--after they explained to me what a fire log is. Earlier, S had asked me to bring some wood with me, too, but I forgot. Since I was going to town, they also asked me to get some paper towels--they had forgotten some stuff, too--and a box of smokes. They both smoke, and neither of us do.
Once the fire was burning happily, they made some supper--some veggie burgers. My wife and I shared a foot-long sub we bought at Subway earlier. After supper, we went to the campfire, added some more wood and sat around and talked about this and that, occasionally messing with the wood and dodging smoke, as daylight faded away.
Well, what do you know? Seems they also forgot to take a flashlight. I can fix that--I had brought a lantern for the tent plus a pair of small flashlights, so I went to get one of those. I looked in my bag--and only found one. I looked and looked, but the second one remained well hidden. So I took the lantern back for them.
Around 10 or so we all decided it was time for bed. My wife and I went to our tent and got ready. She took her pills while I held the flashlight. Then she held it while I reached for mine. And reached. And reached.
The pills weren't there! I was sure I had put them in the bag--right about the time I put that missing flashlight in. But as hard as I looked, they weren't there. I emptied the bag. Not even that worked. So I just took some Tylenols and went to bed.
The cold front had gone through, and it was getting cooler as the night went on. We had taken one sleeping bag (spread out open as a bottom blanket) and two thermal blankets. The weather forecast had predicted lows of about 60, but it must have gotten down well into the 50s. My wife and I cuddled up close and pulled the blankets around us, and I put on some socks for a while.
But it wasn't hard to get to sleep or to get back to sleep when we had to get up during the night. All things considered, especially that we rarely sleep in a tent, we slept fairly well.
Morning came, and we decided 8 a.m. was a good time to get up. We had brought some breakfast bars, but S made some scrambled eggs, veggie sausage, mushrooms, cheese, etc., and that was yummy. We started consolidating our stuff, deflating the air mattress, folding it up, sweeping out the tent and then taking the tent down. Packing it up gets easier each time as long as you don't trap air inside.
The air was crystal clear that morning--not a cloud to be seen--and the sun quickly got intense. After a shower (lukewarm water--no solar energy during the night), I was careful to keep the towel between me and the solar disc. We all talked about places to visit, what it's like up north, and it wound up with us offering them our home as a motel if they take a drive up our way next year.
We have a couple extra rooms--the kids' former bedrooms, which are sort of used for unorganized storage right now--and it shouldn't be too hard. They can stay here, save on motel costs, and we can go on day trips to several places in northern Wisconsin and the western U.P. that they would enjoy.
Then it was time for hugs, good-byes and some breaking Brett Favre news. Then it was time for the car to head north. We stopped at a Target and a Hobby Lobby in Green Bay, then back north. We visited my mom then went to dinner. It was our anniversary, so no fast food this time. Then home to our kitties.
The inevitable second guesses: We should have left earlier on Wednesday. We should have stayed two nights. But that wasn't an option this time; we both were on limited time off from work. The weather was too cool; but it's been coolish all summer. So for what we had to work with, it was a good visit. And we had a good time. That's what matters most.
For the record, we only walked to the beach once, and neither of us got into the water. Only the males got completely undressed. And I'm still thinking about S's sky blue blouse. That was really pretty. Ah, yes!
And about the missing pills and flashlight: We found them at home shortly after we got home. Things like that happen.
The game plan: visiting my friend S and her husband at a clothes-optional "lake" in eastern Wisconsin. Calling it a lake does a grave disservice to all real lakes, since this one is really, really small. But it does have a beach on one side; on the other three sides, tall weeds. I bet I can throw a Frisbee from one end to the other. This pond (for that's what it really is) is located at a former farm in a rural area. I first visited it last month.
The trip, from start to finish, only lasted about 36 hours. Not too long, but that's all the time we had available.
After a lot of thought, my wife decided to go along this time. We left late on Wednesday morning, later than I had wanted to. First, I went to the office for a planned meeting to set up coverage for a local fest this weekend. The meeting was never held--too many people were missing. Eventually I went home ... to find my wife in her PJs and on the computer. She had gotten trapped by a sewing website and placing an order.
That meant she was well behind in her packing and preparations for the trip. She can go only so fast, and that's all. She got her stuff selected, filled the kitty food dishes, loved up her favorite kitty for a while, got some water bottles filled, looked around for a craft project to work on in the car (finally found one; the other is still hiding). Then we were set to go.
Due to the delay and stops for lunch and to buy other items we needed, we reached our destination at about 3 p.m., about an hour later than planned. Well, it happens. I wasn't mad. Just impatient, that's all. S and her husband had already set up their tent and stuff. S was wearing a beautiful sky blue see-through, long-sleeved blouse and a dark blue sarong. Her husband was wearing his glasses and some sandals. But within minutes, all four of us were in their tent ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Drgfly08-Darkclouds-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
We had driven through rain showers on our drive south, and other showers were moving through the area. We saw some lightning flashes and a couple bolts hitting the ground. Zap! Zap! So into the tent we went for some talk and snacking on corn chips. It was easily big enough for the four of us and their two dogs.
The shower passed. They said they had been in the pond earlier, floating on air mattresses, but the water seemed cooler today, especially below the surface. The day had mostly been cloudy, and a cold front was moving through the region--that's what was causing the showers and thunder. But now the shower was over ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Drgfly08-Liteclouds-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
About time for us to put up our tent and move our stuff inside. After that, I took a shower to wash off the sweat--they have an outdoor shower with solar-heated water--and relaxed with them.
Her husband had found an appropriately named beer for our trip ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Drgfly08-Beercase-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
It's from the Point Brewery in nearby Stevens Point, Wis. Point beer is a very popular regional brand. Here's what it says at the end of the box ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Drgfly08-Beertext-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
By now, it was the late afternoon, time to start making supper. But the wood they had brought along with them was wet and wasn't lighting. They forgot to bring a fire log with them. I volunteered to get dressed again and drive into town to and get one--after they explained to me what a fire log is. Earlier, S had asked me to bring some wood with me, too, but I forgot. Since I was going to town, they also asked me to get some paper towels--they had forgotten some stuff, too--and a box of smokes. They both smoke, and neither of us do.
Once the fire was burning happily, they made some supper--some veggie burgers. My wife and I shared a foot-long sub we bought at Subway earlier. After supper, we went to the campfire, added some more wood and sat around and talked about this and that, occasionally messing with the wood and dodging smoke, as daylight faded away.
Well, what do you know? Seems they also forgot to take a flashlight. I can fix that--I had brought a lantern for the tent plus a pair of small flashlights, so I went to get one of those. I looked in my bag--and only found one. I looked and looked, but the second one remained well hidden. So I took the lantern back for them.
Around 10 or so we all decided it was time for bed. My wife and I went to our tent and got ready. She took her pills while I held the flashlight. Then she held it while I reached for mine. And reached. And reached.
The pills weren't there! I was sure I had put them in the bag--right about the time I put that missing flashlight in. But as hard as I looked, they weren't there. I emptied the bag. Not even that worked. So I just took some Tylenols and went to bed.
The cold front had gone through, and it was getting cooler as the night went on. We had taken one sleeping bag (spread out open as a bottom blanket) and two thermal blankets. The weather forecast had predicted lows of about 60, but it must have gotten down well into the 50s. My wife and I cuddled up close and pulled the blankets around us, and I put on some socks for a while.
But it wasn't hard to get to sleep or to get back to sleep when we had to get up during the night. All things considered, especially that we rarely sleep in a tent, we slept fairly well.
Morning came, and we decided 8 a.m. was a good time to get up. We had brought some breakfast bars, but S made some scrambled eggs, veggie sausage, mushrooms, cheese, etc., and that was yummy. We started consolidating our stuff, deflating the air mattress, folding it up, sweeping out the tent and then taking the tent down. Packing it up gets easier each time as long as you don't trap air inside.
The air was crystal clear that morning--not a cloud to be seen--and the sun quickly got intense. After a shower (lukewarm water--no solar energy during the night), I was careful to keep the towel between me and the solar disc. We all talked about places to visit, what it's like up north, and it wound up with us offering them our home as a motel if they take a drive up our way next year.
We have a couple extra rooms--the kids' former bedrooms, which are sort of used for unorganized storage right now--and it shouldn't be too hard. They can stay here, save on motel costs, and we can go on day trips to several places in northern Wisconsin and the western U.P. that they would enjoy.
Then it was time for hugs, good-byes and some breaking Brett Favre news. Then it was time for the car to head north. We stopped at a Target and a Hobby Lobby in Green Bay, then back north. We visited my mom then went to dinner. It was our anniversary, so no fast food this time. Then home to our kitties.
The inevitable second guesses: We should have left earlier on Wednesday. We should have stayed two nights. But that wasn't an option this time; we both were on limited time off from work. The weather was too cool; but it's been coolish all summer. So for what we had to work with, it was a good visit. And we had a good time. That's what matters most.
For the record, we only walked to the beach once, and neither of us got into the water. Only the males got completely undressed. And I'm still thinking about S's sky blue blouse. That was really pretty. Ah, yes!
And about the missing pills and flashlight: We found them at home shortly after we got home. Things like that happen.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
The Renaissance comes to the U.P.
We went back to ancient times last weekend when we visited a Renaissance Fair taking place in Ishpeming. And we learned something: There were samurai during the Renaissance.
The event is the Ishpeming Art Faire & Renaissance Festival (held along with a gem and mineral show; the area has a long mining heritage, after all). From that quote I included in a recent post, I had been thinkinh I might see axes being thrown around, beer or related beverages and bosoms.
So here's that scoreboard: I did see bosoms. But those were mostky among the spectators, not the participants. Again, I kept in mind that this is the conservative/repressed U.P., so my expectations were as modest as the medieval maidens.
Beer? Ale? Mead? I did not see a drop of the stuff. Maybe I caught a glimpse of someone with a wine bottle--but nearly all the drinks there were the kind sold and distributed by our local Coke and Pepsi distributors, along with a few energy drinks thrown in for the cutting-edge crowd.
Throwing axes? Yes! I did see that. In fact, that was the first thing I saw. I came upon an area where a young woman was collecting $1 for three ax or spear throws. Most of her clientele were young males, like this dude. They were aiming at stumps nearby ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Ren08-Axthrow-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
Other kids were aiming arrows at targets ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Ren08-Arrowshoot-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
Most of the fair was in a triangle-shaped city park along a lake, where they had booths of artisans and vendors along the outside. One of the first booths was a blacksmith, where a guy with a Scots accent gave a humorous description of what smiths do ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Ren08-Blacksmith-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
The walkway was mostly populated by vendors. Jewelry and weapons were very popular. Here are some of the weapons available for sale at one booth ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Ren08-Weapontable-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
Looks like free trade has enabled new nations to enjoy the benefits of the Renaissance ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Ren08-Pakblade-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
Several booths (at least three) had walking sticks for sale. Here are some of the more artistic creations. Actually, I was thinking about getting a less artistic (and less costly) stick ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Ren08-Walksticks-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
They also had many beautifully carved wooden boxes ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Ren08-Woodboxes-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
As I suspected, there were a great many kids on the scene. This was a one-day event taking place in a city park in the U.P., so inevitably many of the activities were skewed towards the kiddies. Here, some knights led a youngster-powered dragon around the grounds ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Ren08-Kiddragon-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
Here is a table with some of the medieval stuff. Several local groups affiliated with the [URL="http://www.sca.org"]Society for Creative Anachronism[/URL] took part in the event ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Ren08-WeapTable-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
My tour of the park/booths was interrupted by David, who had gone off wandering by himself. He came back and informed me that the knights were about to battle. Well, hey! Camera in hand, I broke off to see what was about to go down.
There were five knights. They seemed about college-age, from what I could tell. They had several battles--when someone gets a good hit on you with the padded weapons, you were supposed to go down. And so the combat went on for a while ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Ren08-SwordA-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Ren08-SwordB-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Ren08-SwordC-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
There were some impromptu battles, too, featuring unarmored warriors ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Ren08-GirlSword-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
OK, that was cool. Something cooler was next. Back across the street, the samurai demonstration, "Knights of Nippon," was about to start. The samurai (all two of them) led the next kiddie march and then returned ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Ren08-SamuraiA-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
How about those outfits? The helmets look like Toshiro Mifune in "The Hidden Fortress."
This is a group ([URL="http://www.kojokan.com"]Kojokan Shinbutai[/URL]) from Iowa City, Iowa, led by a dad and his son (about 17; he has been training for most of those years). The dad runs a samurai martial arts group, and he talked about the samurai and how they trained, about their weapons and how they fought. The idea, he explained, was to end their fights as quickly and efficiently as possible.
This was way cool, at least to me. I'm a big fan of the Kurosawa/Mifune movies ("Seven Samurai," "Yojimbo," etc.) and of classic samurai movies in general. I've got many of them on DVD. So when he talked about how they trained with the katana (the long sword), I listened closely. The boy and his dad did some sparring with their very real katanas ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Ren08-SamuraiB-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
... and with bo sticks ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Ren08-SamuraiC-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
Later, the boy showed what he could do with his blade, working on a rice straw target ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Ren08-SamuraiD-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
Yes, he was quite impressive. (I only wish my photos weren't so washed-out--I noticed too late that I had reset one of the controls for dark shooting conditions earlier and had not changed it back. The pictures are OK--but they could have been better if I had the control set correctly.)
From the samurai, I went back to the main area. We got some very sloppy cheeseburgers for lunch (they just ladled cheese goop atop the burgers; what a mess!). Nearby, a group called Log Jam was performing. This is a drumming/percussion group, and they were impressive, too. As I watched and listened, I thought of the videos Chandra Moon has been posting here of various drumming groups she takes part in. My camera only takes stills, like this one of Log Jam in action ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Ren08-LogJam-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
Then something new. The girls got to take center stage. With swords! Barefoot girls with swords! They positioned the swords crosswise on the grass ... and started dancing to bagpipe music, hopping nimbly around the blades (which were made of wood). These girls are from a Scottish piping and dance class that meets in the Marquette/Ishpeming area, and they sure knew their stuff ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Ren08-Sworddance-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
That was about the end of the show for us. We had to do a little shopping (just a little) and then drove home.
For a one-day show, I think it was about as good as it could be. The samurai were strange to find at a Ren Fair, but obviously I enjoyed them. For next summer, I'm thinking about the larger Ren Fairs that take place around the Midwest, with events more skewed towards adults. I found Ren Fairs near Detroit; near the Twin Cities; in western Wisconsin, near Eau Claire; and just north of the Wisconsin-Illinois state line.
It's something that slipped my mind this summer, with the other things we wanted to do. I hope I can give that more attention next year.
The event is the Ishpeming Art Faire & Renaissance Festival (held along with a gem and mineral show; the area has a long mining heritage, after all). From that quote I included in a recent post, I had been thinkinh I might see axes being thrown around, beer or related beverages and bosoms.
So here's that scoreboard: I did see bosoms. But those were mostky among the spectators, not the participants. Again, I kept in mind that this is the conservative/repressed U.P., so my expectations were as modest as the medieval maidens.
Beer? Ale? Mead? I did not see a drop of the stuff. Maybe I caught a glimpse of someone with a wine bottle--but nearly all the drinks there were the kind sold and distributed by our local Coke and Pepsi distributors, along with a few energy drinks thrown in for the cutting-edge crowd.
Throwing axes? Yes! I did see that. In fact, that was the first thing I saw. I came upon an area where a young woman was collecting $1 for three ax or spear throws. Most of her clientele were young males, like this dude. They were aiming at stumps nearby ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Ren08-Axthrow-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
Other kids were aiming arrows at targets ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Ren08-Arrowshoot-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
Most of the fair was in a triangle-shaped city park along a lake, where they had booths of artisans and vendors along the outside. One of the first booths was a blacksmith, where a guy with a Scots accent gave a humorous description of what smiths do ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Ren08-Blacksmith-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
The walkway was mostly populated by vendors. Jewelry and weapons were very popular. Here are some of the weapons available for sale at one booth ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Ren08-Weapontable-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
Looks like free trade has enabled new nations to enjoy the benefits of the Renaissance ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Ren08-Pakblade-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
Several booths (at least three) had walking sticks for sale. Here are some of the more artistic creations. Actually, I was thinking about getting a less artistic (and less costly) stick ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Ren08-Walksticks-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
They also had many beautifully carved wooden boxes ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Ren08-Woodboxes-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
As I suspected, there were a great many kids on the scene. This was a one-day event taking place in a city park in the U.P., so inevitably many of the activities were skewed towards the kiddies. Here, some knights led a youngster-powered dragon around the grounds ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Ren08-Kiddragon-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
Here is a table with some of the medieval stuff. Several local groups affiliated with the [URL="http://www.sca.org"]Society for Creative Anachronism[/URL] took part in the event ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Ren08-WeapTable-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
My tour of the park/booths was interrupted by David, who had gone off wandering by himself. He came back and informed me that the knights were about to battle. Well, hey! Camera in hand, I broke off to see what was about to go down.
There were five knights. They seemed about college-age, from what I could tell. They had several battles--when someone gets a good hit on you with the padded weapons, you were supposed to go down. And so the combat went on for a while ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Ren08-SwordA-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Ren08-SwordB-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Ren08-SwordC-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
There were some impromptu battles, too, featuring unarmored warriors ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Ren08-GirlSword-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
OK, that was cool. Something cooler was next. Back across the street, the samurai demonstration, "Knights of Nippon," was about to start. The samurai (all two of them) led the next kiddie march and then returned ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Ren08-SamuraiA-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
How about those outfits? The helmets look like Toshiro Mifune in "The Hidden Fortress."
This is a group ([URL="http://www.kojokan.com"]Kojokan Shinbutai[/URL]) from Iowa City, Iowa, led by a dad and his son (about 17; he has been training for most of those years). The dad runs a samurai martial arts group, and he talked about the samurai and how they trained, about their weapons and how they fought. The idea, he explained, was to end their fights as quickly and efficiently as possible.
This was way cool, at least to me. I'm a big fan of the Kurosawa/Mifune movies ("Seven Samurai," "Yojimbo," etc.) and of classic samurai movies in general. I've got many of them on DVD. So when he talked about how they trained with the katana (the long sword), I listened closely. The boy and his dad did some sparring with their very real katanas ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Ren08-SamuraiB-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
... and with bo sticks ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Ren08-SamuraiC-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
Later, the boy showed what he could do with his blade, working on a rice straw target ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Ren08-SamuraiD-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
Yes, he was quite impressive. (I only wish my photos weren't so washed-out--I noticed too late that I had reset one of the controls for dark shooting conditions earlier and had not changed it back. The pictures are OK--but they could have been better if I had the control set correctly.)
From the samurai, I went back to the main area. We got some very sloppy cheeseburgers for lunch (they just ladled cheese goop atop the burgers; what a mess!). Nearby, a group called Log Jam was performing. This is a drumming/percussion group, and they were impressive, too. As I watched and listened, I thought of the videos Chandra Moon has been posting here of various drumming groups she takes part in. My camera only takes stills, like this one of Log Jam in action ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Ren08-LogJam-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
Then something new. The girls got to take center stage. With swords! Barefoot girls with swords! They positioned the swords crosswise on the grass ... and started dancing to bagpipe music, hopping nimbly around the blades (which were made of wood). These girls are from a Scottish piping and dance class that meets in the Marquette/Ishpeming area, and they sure knew their stuff ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Ren08-Sworddance-8-08.jpg[/IMG]
That was about the end of the show for us. We had to do a little shopping (just a little) and then drove home.
For a one-day show, I think it was about as good as it could be. The samurai were strange to find at a Ren Fair, but obviously I enjoyed them. For next summer, I'm thinking about the larger Ren Fairs that take place around the Midwest, with events more skewed towards adults. I found Ren Fairs near Detroit; near the Twin Cities; in western Wisconsin, near Eau Claire; and just north of the Wisconsin-Illinois state line.
It's something that slipped my mind this summer, with the other things we wanted to do. I hope I can give that more attention next year.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
The last week of summer
I hate to admit it, but this is the last week of summer. For me, anyway. The end.
It ends (for me) next Monday, Aug. 11, when high school football practice starts. The kids wear only helmets for the first three days (no, they aren't naked out there; you take me way too literally) and can put on full pads starting on Thursday.
It's a fast pre-season. They have a scrimmage on Aug. 22, and the first games are on Aug. 29.
So I'll be following that, and girls volleyball will start, too. So, essentially, this is my last free week.
Time is ticking away, so I'm out to make the most of it this week. First up, on Wednesday and Thursday, I will return to that clothing-optional beach south of Green Bay. S and her husband will be there. This time my wife will come along. I asked her about it on Sunday, and she said she hadn't decided; I took that to mean she would stay home. (She didn't go the first time I went there, last month.) But Monday, after work, she said she'd come along for the ride, "as long as I can keep my shirt on." I told her, "No problem."
We'll get there Wednesday afternoon, put up the tent, enjoy the little pond there (it's on a former farm) and enjoy the rest of the day with S and her husband. They will have a campfire at night. On Thursday, we'll take everything down, pack it all up and drive back north. We may do a little shopping in Green Bay, but not much. From there, we'll drive back north to visit the nursing home and my mom. Then we'll go out to dinner--it's just happens to be our anniversary, and we have a favorite place for a steak dinner.
By the way, my wife prepares the directory for the women's club at her church. They were going to hold a planning meeting Wednesday to go over changes for this year's booklet. She wasn't sure whether she could get out of it. I said she should simply explain to them, "It's our last chance to go to the nude beach this summer," and they would understand. Honesty is the best policy, right?
Over the weekend, I'm going to be covering events at a local festival. They have a number of things going on, and that's going to consume a lot of the weekend. But we also want to go to a powwow that takes place at the old Indian village west of us, about 40 miles away. We've been to powwows there several times, and they are always colorful, exciting events. A lot of fun with the camera. But this other event just sucks up a lot of time over the weekend. And the events are in opposite directions from our home. That doesn't help, either.
****
As for the Ren Faire last Saturday ... we had a good time there, and it was a nice day. I took a bunch of pictures, and I'll work on them tonight. Hopefully, I can get them posted before driving south on Wednesday.
Incidentally, while I am following "As the Favre Turns" in Green Bay, I don't plan to stop at Lambeau Field or the practice field during our trip. To put it simply, I've got more important things to do. I like football and I like the Packers. But spending time at that farm with my friends is way more important to my happiness.
(Note to self: Remember the bug spray!)
It ends (for me) next Monday, Aug. 11, when high school football practice starts. The kids wear only helmets for the first three days (no, they aren't naked out there; you take me way too literally) and can put on full pads starting on Thursday.
It's a fast pre-season. They have a scrimmage on Aug. 22, and the first games are on Aug. 29.
So I'll be following that, and girls volleyball will start, too. So, essentially, this is my last free week.
Time is ticking away, so I'm out to make the most of it this week. First up, on Wednesday and Thursday, I will return to that clothing-optional beach south of Green Bay. S and her husband will be there. This time my wife will come along. I asked her about it on Sunday, and she said she hadn't decided; I took that to mean she would stay home. (She didn't go the first time I went there, last month.) But Monday, after work, she said she'd come along for the ride, "as long as I can keep my shirt on." I told her, "No problem."
We'll get there Wednesday afternoon, put up the tent, enjoy the little pond there (it's on a former farm) and enjoy the rest of the day with S and her husband. They will have a campfire at night. On Thursday, we'll take everything down, pack it all up and drive back north. We may do a little shopping in Green Bay, but not much. From there, we'll drive back north to visit the nursing home and my mom. Then we'll go out to dinner--it's just happens to be our anniversary, and we have a favorite place for a steak dinner.
By the way, my wife prepares the directory for the women's club at her church. They were going to hold a planning meeting Wednesday to go over changes for this year's booklet. She wasn't sure whether she could get out of it. I said she should simply explain to them, "It's our last chance to go to the nude beach this summer," and they would understand. Honesty is the best policy, right?
Over the weekend, I'm going to be covering events at a local festival. They have a number of things going on, and that's going to consume a lot of the weekend. But we also want to go to a powwow that takes place at the old Indian village west of us, about 40 miles away. We've been to powwows there several times, and they are always colorful, exciting events. A lot of fun with the camera. But this other event just sucks up a lot of time over the weekend. And the events are in opposite directions from our home. That doesn't help, either.
****
As for the Ren Faire last Saturday ... we had a good time there, and it was a nice day. I took a bunch of pictures, and I'll work on them tonight. Hopefully, I can get them posted before driving south on Wednesday.
Incidentally, while I am following "As the Favre Turns" in Green Bay, I don't plan to stop at Lambeau Field or the practice field during our trip. To put it simply, I've got more important things to do. I like football and I like the Packers. But spending time at that farm with my friends is way more important to my happiness.
(Note to self: Remember the bug spray!)
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Off to more adventures
Not much time to write this morning, so I'd better get at it.
Despite [URL="http://drdog.vox.com/library/post/on-a-lovely-summer-evening.html"]the local tragedy[/URL] that took place the day before, we visited the Iron Mountain area Friday afternoon and had a good time. I had ordered something for my mom--the manual from the TV in her room (seems she has lost it)--and it arrived in the mail earlier in the day, and I put it near the camera bag so I would be sure to grab it on my way out. But I also wanted to grab jackets because temperatures were supposed to fall into the 50s after sunset. Apparently my pea-size brain couldn't process "Remember TV manual booket" and "Remember jackets" at the same time.
We visited my mom, and I went out to Subway for dinner for all three of us. My mom usually takes half of a six-inch chicken sandwich, and this time she took about half of that half. But she enjoyed our visit--especially since I did remember to bring along the bridge mix she also asked me to bring.
Our subs took care of supper, so the next step was a "surprise" for my wife: We went to the movies. When we got there, I made a point of groaning that "Hellboy II" had closed (a movie that I really did want to see; well, it'll probably be out on DVD in a few months). Then I went with Plan A and got two tickets to see "Mamma Mia."
My wife, a big ABBA fan, knew we were going to see it--I had mentioned it several times as something we'd do sooner or later--so it really was no surprise. So we saw it. It really wasn't anything tremendously profound except on the subject of living life joyously and loving people. I don't want to give the plot away if you plan to see it and haven't yet. But it was full of ABBA music, dance numbers, lots of color and action and Merryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan really singing their parts (ABBA songs, of course). I can see why "Mamma Mia" was such a big hit on Broadway, and they did a great job bringing that excitement to the stage.
So I enjoyed it, and my wife was very happy--she was singing along (softly) to the music next to me. My guess is that DVD will quickly be added to the inventory once it comes out.
Today, we have a new adventure awaiting us. We are going to a Renaissance Fair. They have a one-day Ren Fair in Ishpeming (near Marquette) today, and we're going there. I asked my wife about it, and she said she is much more interested in that than the Wisconsin Valley Fair (and the Herman's Hermits show) tonight. Plus, it's a shorter drive.
I've never been to a Ren Fair. I had wanted to see one this summer, but it got pushed to the back of my mind by the other things we've been doing. Then my wife heard about this one. She gets the credit for that.
In the Wikipedia entry about Ren Fairs, one writer says "If theme parks, with their pasteboard main streets, reek of a bland, safe, homogenized, whitebread America, the Renaissance Faire is at the other end of the social spectrum, a whiff of the occult, a flash of danger and a hint of the erotic. Here, they let you throw axes. Here are more beer and bosoms than you'll find in all of Disney World."
God, I hope this lives up to that description! Since it's in the U.P., which is extremely leery about the occult, danger and especially erotic things, I must remember to have realistic expectations.
We'll see. It's almost time to get in the car and find out for myself.
Despite [URL="http://drdog.vox.com/library/post/on-a-lovely-summer-evening.html"]the local tragedy[/URL] that took place the day before, we visited the Iron Mountain area Friday afternoon and had a good time. I had ordered something for my mom--the manual from the TV in her room (seems she has lost it)--and it arrived in the mail earlier in the day, and I put it near the camera bag so I would be sure to grab it on my way out. But I also wanted to grab jackets because temperatures were supposed to fall into the 50s after sunset. Apparently my pea-size brain couldn't process "Remember TV manual booket" and "Remember jackets" at the same time.
We visited my mom, and I went out to Subway for dinner for all three of us. My mom usually takes half of a six-inch chicken sandwich, and this time she took about half of that half. But she enjoyed our visit--especially since I did remember to bring along the bridge mix she also asked me to bring.
Our subs took care of supper, so the next step was a "surprise" for my wife: We went to the movies. When we got there, I made a point of groaning that "Hellboy II" had closed (a movie that I really did want to see; well, it'll probably be out on DVD in a few months). Then I went with Plan A and got two tickets to see "Mamma Mia."
My wife, a big ABBA fan, knew we were going to see it--I had mentioned it several times as something we'd do sooner or later--so it really was no surprise. So we saw it. It really wasn't anything tremendously profound except on the subject of living life joyously and loving people. I don't want to give the plot away if you plan to see it and haven't yet. But it was full of ABBA music, dance numbers, lots of color and action and Merryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan really singing their parts (ABBA songs, of course). I can see why "Mamma Mia" was such a big hit on Broadway, and they did a great job bringing that excitement to the stage.
So I enjoyed it, and my wife was very happy--she was singing along (softly) to the music next to me. My guess is that DVD will quickly be added to the inventory once it comes out.
Today, we have a new adventure awaiting us. We are going to a Renaissance Fair. They have a one-day Ren Fair in Ishpeming (near Marquette) today, and we're going there. I asked my wife about it, and she said she is much more interested in that than the Wisconsin Valley Fair (and the Herman's Hermits show) tonight. Plus, it's a shorter drive.
I've never been to a Ren Fair. I had wanted to see one this summer, but it got pushed to the back of my mind by the other things we've been doing. Then my wife heard about this one. She gets the credit for that.
In the Wikipedia entry about Ren Fairs, one writer says "If theme parks, with their pasteboard main streets, reek of a bland, safe, homogenized, whitebread America, the Renaissance Faire is at the other end of the social spectrum, a whiff of the occult, a flash of danger and a hint of the erotic. Here, they let you throw axes. Here are more beer and bosoms than you'll find in all of Disney World."
God, I hope this lives up to that description! Since it's in the U.P., which is extremely leery about the occult, danger and especially erotic things, I must remember to have realistic expectations.
We'll see. It's almost time to get in the car and find out for myself.
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