Passing a stone

Oh, that was a big stone to pass!

That big stone was the spring sports season, which ended last Saturday with the track finals. Because of budget cuts here in the office, I couldn't travel to cover much of it in person, and because of space restrictions, I couldn't write too much or put in too many pictures. The shoe in pinching here, too. So the trick I had to perform was to squeeze in the same amount of information in less space. Just one trip per week. Write tight. Trim down the pictures and use fewer of them.

Anyway, now it's over. The local sports scene should be a lot quieter now that high school is done with until next August, and I will have a more time for other things. The hockey playoffs are still going on, but that's in the final lap, too. It may be over this Saturday night. It could go until next Friday. Either way, it won't be long.

It's nice and sunny today, with temperatures close to 70, but spring has been reaaaaaalllllllyyy slow to arrive up here. A couple days ago we never reached 50 all day. It's a spring characterized by persistent chilly winds from the northwest. Lots of wind, too. We also have had freeze warnings from time to time, including last night. Sweet! Are we really in June? I've got a feeling that all of a sudden summer will hump on our backs, and we'll go from brisk days in the 60s to muggy ones in the 90s--just like that.

Whatever the weather, my wife and I are going on a little trip next week, a mini vacation. We are going to the eastern end of the U.P. and then north, across the border into Canada--Sault Ste. Marie, specifically. We will be looking around town and taking a train excursion north into the interior--a one-day trip.

Yes, we know about the new travel laws, but we went to the post office about a month ago, filled out the forms and had pictures taken. A week or two ago, our brand new passport cards arrived in the mail. Neither of us have ever had a passport (or had any need of them), so this was a new experience.

The cards are only good for crossing into Canada (or Mexico) by land or sea. If we ever fly into Canada, we would need the familiar passport book. But we have never flown anywhere. Our vacations have always been short and close to home, and this one will be no exception.

In all, we'll be gone four days, including two days of driving. We are hoping to be back home on Saturday, in time to go to a Baby Bison fest at a nearby ranch where they raise--you guessed it!--buffalo. Maybe that will have to wait for another year, but I hope not.

On Friday, I'm taking the afternoon off and driving my wife and son to Rhinelander--just for fun and to look around, maybe a little shopping. We haven't been down there for a while. We were planning to there over Memorial Day, but my car blew a muffler (or so it sounded) on my way to Memorial Day events.

Meanwhile, B and I continue to fine-tune plans for our first visit and our trip to the neopagan event in southern Wisconsin around the Fourth of July. I sent in the registration forms and the check Wednesday morning. (In case you forgot my plan: I am driving my wife for a visit to her sisters in northwest Wisconsin, then continuing west to the Twin Cities airport to pick up B. We drive down there, spend three nights on the road (one in a tent, two in a motel), then I drive her back to the airport. Then, I'm solo as I drive back to the inlaws, pick up my wife again and head for home.)

We have been talking a lot about it, and we're both really excited at the thoought of finally getting to meet each other.