It was a hoax!

Well, it turns out that my previous post was a hoax.

Sisters

Independent Lens (PBS) is presenting Sisters: A Portrait of a Benedictine Community.

It was filmed in 1999, and talks about the monastic life of the sisters at St. Scholastica Monastary, which is located in Duluth.

I watched it last night and found it fascinating. This is the first time it is being aired nationally.

Check to see when it will play in your area!

My favorite part was when a group of nuns were cheering on the Minnesota Vikings!

Watch what you read

We all saw it coming, but it's still scary! This link was sent to my workplace.

Agents' visit chills UMass Dartmouth senior

Coming soon....

a picture of our own personal Abominable Snowman....a.k.a. Bates. :)

Snow!

We've had the first significant pile of snow today...about 8 inches at 6PM...with 3-5 more expected through tonight. It is very fluffy.

Check out some Duluth Web Cam's:

Lake Superior Marine Museum Association

Allete Lakecam

Duluth Web Cams

Happy gazing!

I have some good news and bad news.....

First the good news....Never fear if your refrigerator isn't big enough to hold all your Thanksgiving food. During the wintertime in Minnesota, you can just put your food out the back door until you need it. Super convenient.

Secondly, the bad news.....my hard drive died yesterday morning. This means I need to go out and buy a new one (for much cheaper than I thought at least).

Thirdly, more bad news, I will lose all the data from my old hard drive...boo hoo.

And finally, on a slightly positive note.......just three weeks ago I made a backup of all my documents, pictures and settings. I have never in my life backed up anything on a computer, and I got this sudden urge to save all that stuff. What a stroke of luck! Of course, I need to wait and see if it really works when I try to put it on my new hard drive.

:) and :( all in the same day.

By the way......Happy Thanksgiving

Direct from Las Vegas

Non-stop flights from Duluth to Las Vegas $69 each way. AWESOME! And flights from Palm Springs to Las Vegas only $29 each way. Are you thinking what I am thinking? Check out Allegiant Air for more information.

Putting the Rock in the House -- Part II

The most interesting thing about curling was the stone. Did you know the stone is made out of real stone? A curling rock is made out granite found underwater off the coast of Scotland (well, the best curling rocks come from there). The granite is mined during low-tide and then shaped. Each rock weighs 42 pounds and they cost about $600 each. The Duluth Curling Club has some of the finest rocks around (or so they say).

Another observation. The ice is not slippery at all. After the ice is cleaned (with a Zamboni type machine), it is sprinkled with water, which creates these little pebbles on the ice surface. For those of you who know the tale (pun intended) of my close encounter with ice, this was happy news.

Okay...so let's curl. To curl you need several thing:

warm sweater or light jacket (duh!)
clean rubber soled shoes (no grit in this ice)
1 rubber gripper (to be placed on your dominant foot's shoe)
1 silicon slider (to be placed on your non-dominant foot's shoe)
1 broom
1 rock
1 sheet of ice

First off, I practiced sliding with the broom as my support, just to get the pose right. It was hard to keep balanced after I pushed off, but it worked. The silicon slider is the only way curlers can really slide on the ice. The silicon makes it extremely slippery. This is why curlers wear a rubber gripper on one foot. Two silicon sliders would be a disaster.


After that we practiced sliding from the hatch with the broom. It's still hard to balance. Must. Strengthen. Quads.

Next I slid out of the hatch with two stones (one in each hand). Much better to balance with, but now I had 84 pounds dragging me down the ice. Those little ice pebbles began to hurt my knee as this point.

After I got the hang of two stones, I moved to one stone and a broom. I held the broom in my non-throwing hand, and used it only to help my balance. I was really leaning into the broom to keep myself upright. I fell a couple of times during this part, but overall it wasn't too bad. It's at this point I learned how to release the stone. The stone is released before you start decelerating. At this point, you find out why the sport is called curling. When a rock is thrown, you give it a very slight turn (a curl), either to the right or left, just before you release the stone. Hence the name curling.


The object of curling is to get as close to the "bullseye" as possible. The ringed area is called "the house". This is where it gets tricky. Each "end" (think inning) of curling consists of eight throws by each team. There are 8 ends (innings) in one game of curling. Only one team can score during each end. The closest stone to the center earns one point. If the team with the closest stone has the next closest stone, they earn another point, and so on. If the second closest stone is the opponents stone, then the scoring team only gets one point. It is possible to earn eight points in an end if your team has all of its eight stones in the house and the other team has none closer than your eight. Does that make sense? Scoring eight in one end is a huge deal in curling.

So the object is to get your stones in the house, while knocking out your opponents stones at the same time.

There are four positions in curling: Lead, Second, Third and Skip

During throws 1-2: lead throws, second & third sweep, skip skips
During throws 3-4: second throws, lead & third sweep, skip skips
During throws 5-6: third throws, lead & second sweep, skip skips
During throws 7-8: skip throws, lead & second sweep, third skips

The sweeping is done to increase the speed of the stone. Sweeping encourages micro-melting, increasing the stone's speed. Good sweepers can increase the length of a throw by about 15 feet. This was really hard for me. A couple of times the stone passed right by me and it was very hard to catch up to.

A friendly end against the group of newcomers was great fun. We won on our last throw by Rory, who got his last throw right in the center of the house.

So I am going to be starting in the new comers curling league. Just like a bowling league, but on ice.

Putting the Rock in the House -- Part I

To.Tired.To.Write.. Stay tuned for an exciting account of my experience at the Duluth Curling Club's curling clinic. It was great! We took lots of digital pictures (thanks Jodi!). The most intersting thing about curling was ......

Dawn or Don?

This post will be about the deer in my life. As you may or may not know, we live on 6 acres outside of Duluth, and so deer are a regular occurrence in our life. It's a love/hate relationship.

When I arrived in July, it was quite apparent that deer had been having their ways with the hostas in the front of the house. I never saw one leaf on those plants all summer. I hope they can come back in the spring without being able to store energy. In the attempts to keep the deer out of the garden to the north of our house, I even used something called Liquid Fence (Who Let the Skunks Out) to keep the animals away. Although it didn't work with the skunk, it seemed to keep the deer out of the north garden. This is part of the hate relationship with deer.

Did I mention that Bates loves deer poop? Oh yes, he does. It tastes excellent. Give him the chance and he will expertly rub his body all over it. So gross and provides Bates with an immediate "Go Directly to the Bathtub" pass. Definitely a part of the hate relationship with deer.

Spotting the deer is quite fun, and they are amusing to watch. The fawns are so awkward and carefree. They love to skip around, being silly when they can. One day, I was sitting on the porch while it was pouring and a little fawn came dancing out into the clearing. Bates quickly barked at the intruder, and the fawn hid in a stand of trees waiting for its mom. On another day, Clay and I were inspecting the pond, when we heard a loud crashing sound..and it was coming closer. I thought it was going to be my chance to finally see a bear. Clay and I stood motionless in strange poses (remember the freeze-bell in elementary school) while we waited for a monster to come out of the woods. And then we saw it. Another little fawn, stuck his head out of a bush. We stayed in our now painful positions holding our breath. Knowing something was definitely up, but not quite sure, the fawn sniffed the air and stomped its feet for a minute or so. Then without warning, and finally realizing we were to be avoided, the fawn spun around and ran off. This is the love relationship with deer.

We have been referring to a mom and her twin fawns as Dawnie and the Fawns. Of course, I could never pick out Dawnie and the Fawns from a line-up, but it's nice to have a connection. I have seen them on the way to work eating in someone's yard, or bounding across the road. Now that I have given these deer name, I am worried that they may find themselves at the wrong end of an arrow. This year, Duluth has allowed bowhunting in the city limits. This is quite a rare event, but there are so many deer, the city needed to do something about it. Although I agree there is a deer problem, this doesn't prevent me from sighing with relief when I see Dawnie and the Fawns. Knowing they are safe for one more day gives me comfort. At least they didn't meet the fate of the poor ornamental deer that some people have in their yards ;)

This morning, we saw the Fawns (we think) with a buck. So did he steal the fawns from Dawn? Or was Dawn really a Don. The antlers were small, but still impressive. He was right, I mean right, under the kitchen window. I took a picture with the digi, but the low batteries meant it didn't write to the disk. But I have added a picture to show you how close the deer get. You might need to make the picture larger, because taking the picture through the screens of the porch distorted the image.

Current Temp: 38, Windchill 34

Places I've Been

I got this from Rory's blog.



create your own personalized map of the USA
or check out ourCalifornia travel guide

Our View of the Lake

Clay came in this morning and told me we had a view of Lake Superior from our property. Being suspicious, I pulled on my coat, hat and shoes before heading outside. Clay took me about 100 yards into our woods, and on top of a small hill he pointed it out to me. I brought the camera, knowing it would be good blog material if it was true. So here, you can see the sun up in the sky, and a shining reflection just above the land directly under the sun. We have lake-view property. Don't tell the county assessor. :)

Fall Clean-up

Well, the weather is getting cooler here in Duluth. Last fall we weren't here for fall-cleanup, which is why I think our grass looked a little tattered this summer. Fall-cleanup consists of raking leaves, trimming back perennials, putting away garden accessories, etc.

As for the grass, we hadn't mowed in about a month, so it really needed it. And the leaves were starting to pile up. The bonus of mowing in the fall is you can mow right over the leaves and avoid the seemingly useless task of raking. Because we have so much yard area, I felt it would be more environmentally sound to mulch the leaves instead of putting them inside of bags. So I found some extension sites that talked about mowing over the leaves. It was a little windy, so it didn't work perfectly, but the lawn looks great, and now the leaves are broken up into small enough pieces they will just provide nutrients to the grass.

While Clay mowed/mulched, I worked in the gardens around the house. I basically got some of the leaves that were left over from last fall. Then I lost my mind and started to chop away at a day-lily. Clay pulled up and asked me what I was doing. After I determined I didn't know, I went back to just cleaning up the dead things. I guess I was so excited about cleaning up the garden I forgot I was only supposed to clean out the dead things. Oops.

Then it was time to move in the animals...the stone ornamental ones that came with the house. Last winter they were left out in the snow and cold and suffered the consequences. We lost one of our birdbaths (in fact we had so much snow I didn't even know we had two birdbaths). The small deer that Bates used to bark at when he first got here has numerous cracks. We moved them all into the small garage, along with the bench by the pond and all our concrete planters. We also took down the swings and took down all the hanging planters that never had anything in them (hmmm..project next year).

The patio was next. Now we have a tropical themed reading and radio listening room in the basement (thanks to our patio furniture moving inside). We completely emptied out the porch, except for the BBQ (can we use it during the winter?).

We are ready for winter, so let it come. I was getting anxious about all the things that needed to be done, but now that they are mostly done, I can sit by the fire and relax.

What's in your shuffle?

I got this from Mandie's Journal.

1. Copy these instructions and post them into a new entry.
2. Open up the music player on your computer (or turn on your MP3 player).
3. Set it to play your entire music collection.
4. Hit the shuffle command.
5. Tell us the title of the next ten to twenty songs that show up (with their musicians), no matter how embarrassing. That's right, no skipping that Carpenters tune that will totally destroy your hip credibility. It's time for total musical honesty.
6. If you get the same artist twice, you may skip the second (or third, or etc.) occurrences. You don't have to, but since randomness could mean you end up with a list of ten song with five artists, you can if you'd like.

Here's my list...and obviously I didn't cheat.

Avalon Shores --John Tesh
Fantasia for a Gentleman, Adagio -- Goran Sollscher, etc.
Take Me Home -- Phil Collins
The Wheat -- Hans Zimmer & Lisa Gerrad (Gladiator soundtrack)
Bad Bad Leroy Brown -- Jim Croce
Nearer My God To Thee -- Eileen Ivers (Back to Titanic soundtrack)
Women 'Cross the River -- Linda Rondstadt
Unsung Psalm -- Tracy Chapman
Maui Hawaiian Sup'pa Man -- Israel Kamakawiwo'ole
One Clear Voice -- Peter Cetera
Into the Great Wide Open -- Tom Petty & the Heartbreakes
Once in a Lifetime -- Sarah Brightman
Vivere -- Andrea Bocelli
Hard to Say I'm Sorry -- Chicago
Ironic -- Alanis Morissette
What'll You Do About Me? -- Doug Supernaw

FYI...It's Snowing

Just wanted to let you know it is snowing right now. Barely, but it is snow. Current Temp: 39

Infant Potty Training

Okay. This was in my Newsweek from last week. For those interested in reducing the number of diapers in landfills, this is another alternative to cloth diapers. A little strange and definitely not main stream. Click here to go to DiaperFreeBaby.com

By the Snape of the Neck

I am very curious about how everyone feels about Snape from the Harry Potter books. Please let me know your opinions. WARNING: IF YOU READ THE RESULTS OF OTHERS, THE ENDING OF BOOK #6 COULD BE SPOILED FOR YOU.

Please take my short 3 questions survey!

Click here to take survey

Yo-Ho, Yo-Ho a Paddler's Life for Me!

One of the things I did this summer was paddle in the Lake Superior Dragon Boat Festival's Dragon Boat Races. Clay and I signed up to paddle on the University team, which consisted of 22 paddlers, 1 drummer and 1 steersman.

Being adventurous and wanting to try all sorts of new things in Duluth, I thought the Dragon Boat Races would be a lot of fun. And they were! First off, we had practice on the Tuesday and Thursday before the race. Practice was a combination of laughing and groaning; laughing due to the extreme absurdity of paddling in sychronization with 21 other paddlers, and groaning because the end of the race seemed to be so far away (the race was only 450 yards).

The drummer sits at the front of the boat on a tiny chair and yells encouragement along with counting. The steersman was provided by the Rotary Club and basically ran all the practices.

On race day, we raced at 11:30 and 4:00. The best time from the two races would be the qualifying time for the finals. We did really well, coming in 51st out of 82 teams. And even though we felt we could have bettered our first time in the second race, a strong wind came up in the afternoon, making this dream impossible. :(

If you have the opportunity to watch or participate in a dragon boat race, I strongly recommend them. I think I will do it next year.

Puppet Mania

Today I bought two hand puppets. I don't know what came over me, but the Tweed Museum of Art was having a huge sale to get rid of merchandise. I bought some paint-a-pot kits, and a children's book. But the puppets were just adorable, and with the deep discounts, I couldn't pass them up.

I first saw a unicorn, which has a workable mouth and is the size of Bates. Clay was trying to make Bates jealous by sitting in his chair with the unicorn on his lap. Bates definitely did not like what was going on.

So I put the paint-a-pot kits, book and unicorn on hold while I went back to work. After work, I walked back down to the Tweed and picked them up. While I was waiting in line, I saw another puppet, a fortune teller. She is so cool, with little cord hoop earrings, curly hair, a head scarf and a crystal ball. The fiddler was with her at the Tweed, but I didn't get him. I jus saw their picture at the Folkmanis web page, and now I feel like I broke up a couple. Clay says he might still be there.

I know some kids who will get a kick out of these puppets when they visit. And Clay says now we can give each other puppet shows...that made me laugh. I wouldn't put it past us.

You can call me "Magna Eye"

Your Superhero Profile

Your Superhero Name is The Magna Eye Your Superpower is Symbiosis Your Weakness is Jealousy Your Weapon is Your Silver Claws Your Mode of Transportation is Zebra

What's your Superhero Name?

I love that I ride a zebra and my special powers are symbiosis. Let me know what you are?

Know any good RSS readers?

As you may or may not have noticed, I have syndicated my blog (see the orange XML button on the right). I am still learning exactly what that means, but who ever said you needed to understand something before you got on the technology band wagon.

I am also trying to pick a good RSS reader service. Does anyone have any recommendations?

ERV's on a DR

Have you ever wondered what it's like to be a Red Cross volunteer on a national level?

Before a national disaster even strikes, local Red Cross volunteers enroll in a national Red Cross database. They select 1-3 jobs they are capable and trained to do, and when a national disaster strikes, those who are available for a specific job are deployed to those disasters.

These stories are wonderful and heartwarming. I deployed people when I worked for Red Cross, but I never actually went out on any national disasters. Nothing will replace actually being there, but the stories they brought back made me feel like I was there with them.

Read the diary of two volunteers from Duluth and Superior. These two are Emergency Response Vehicle (ERV) drivers, and responsible for feeding people who are in hard to reach places.

A variety of things

Want something fun to watch on your computer? How about some of your favorite movies, re-enacted by rabbits. My friend Jennifer introduced me to it. I loved the Titanic one... check it out!!

I am going to be walking in the American Heart Association Heart Walk on September 24th in Duluth. If you haven't yet spent your budget for charitable giving, this might be something you would be interested in. You can directly support me at MY Heart Walk web page.

This morning Clay, Bates and I took a walk through our property and ended up at Tischer Creek. We only scared up one deer and we saw lots of birds. Clay said I didn't have to keep clapping, but I thought it would help keep the bears away. Hee-hee.

That's all...

Who Let the Skunks Out?

Well, it happened. I am infuriated about it. There is nothing I can do about it. Better luck next year, right?

What am I talking about? Let me back up a little bit. For a house warming gift, my friend & colleague Jodi gave us a patio tomato plant that had a big jump start on the growing season at her parents' nursery in Finlayson. To keep off the deer and rabbits, Jodi let me borrow something called Liquid Fence. This stuff really really really stinks...I can't even describe the smell due to FCC regulations (just kidding). So I applied the spray twice (as per the instructions) and strapped the tomato plant to the 10 ft. tall bird feeder. We have been eating nice, juicy tasting tomatoes, with about 30 green ones queued for ripening.

Yesterday, when I finished getting ready for the day, my dad (they had been visiting) told me he had something to tell me and that I should sit down for it. He said, "Some of your friends came last night and ate all your tomatoes." W-H-A-T!!??!! I was so upset. I tromped out there in my blue fuzzy slippers and checked it out for myself. Yup...Tomatoes gone....all of the them..Not even evidence of a late night feast.

So who are the suspected foodnappers? Tops on our list include skunk, deer, rabbit and bear in that order. The skunk just got onto the list because last night Bates flushed one out right by our back door (luckily he/we didn't get sprayed). After reading about skunks, I think we have our criminal. At least it's already dressed in prison garb.

Tomato-less,
Sunshine

'Four to Score' Up for Grabs

The first one to e-mail me will be mailed the paperback edition of Janet Evanovich's fourth Stephanie Plum novel, Four to Score.
Include your name, and address when you write.

Also...if you are going to Grand Canyon, or know someone who is, please tell them to be careful when they take pictures of the canyon, or relieve themselves on the canyons edge. It sound like an improbable way to go, but Over the Edge has many stories about canyoneers who lose their lives this way.

And for goodness sakes, leave your clothes on when you get lost!!!

Current Chapter: Flash Floods

A Rainbow of Reading

I have gotten myself into a bit of trouble. You know the kind…you start one book, put it down for a second and somehow start another, and another and another, and before you know it you have too many books by your nightstand and not enough room.

This has happened to me yet again, and I don’t know how I got myself into it…well yes I do. But I need to get myself out of this lovely mess. And abandoning the books is out of the question, so I need to devise a plan…similar to when you are trying to get out of credit card debt. I start paying off (reading) the credit cards (the books) with the highest interest rate (the most pages read…I guess). But there are other factors at play…when they are due at the library, how many times I have renewed them so far, etc. So here, I present, my strange and diverse collection of semi-read books:

***************************************************

The Stories of Eva Luna by Isabel Allende: Given to me by Cris & Nick many years ago and on my nightstand ever since. % read: 30%. (Note: These short stories are the kind that makes you go Hmmmmmm after you read them).

Tenure and Promotion for Academic Librarians by Carol W. Cubberley: This is an interlibrary loan from the College of St. Catherine in St. Paul, MN. It is considered one of the “must-reads” for academic librarians. % read: 0% (Note: Not sure if I can renew this one, but due 9/6).

Black Rose by Nora Roberts: This is the second in a paperback trilogy. % read: 2%

Over the Edge: Death in Grand Canyon by Michael P. Ghiglieri and Thomas M. Myers: This 400+ page book describes “gripping accounts of all known fatal mishaps in the most famous of the World’s Seven Natural Wonders”. According to Tony Hillerman (who can’t help but think of cataloging class when you see that name), “If you believe that everything interesting about the Grand Canyon has already been written, you’re dead wrong.” % read: 17% (Note: This is also checked out through interlibrary loan, due 8/25 and no renewal allowed. I may stop reading this book, as it gives me a slightly sick feeling as I am laying in bed reading about all the tragedies).

As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner: This was a spur of the moment Costco purchase while we were at Maui. It was in a box of three (Oprah’s box set, I believe) other Faulkner books which, luckily, I haven’t started. % read: 63% Another sad story about death. I only chose it because it was the shortest Faulkner book and my mom had snagged Black Rose to read before I could.

Postcards from the Edge by Carrie Fisher: An LA Times Book Festival purchase, signed by P. Leia herself. % read: 0%.

New York Dead by Stuart Woods: Another LA Times Book Festival purchase, signed by the author.

‘A’ is for Alibi by Sue Grafton: This is the third time I have tried to get into this series. % read: 42%

Forlorn River by Zane Grey: This first edition hardback book (1926) is written by one of the best known western authors. % read: 76%

Hard Eight and To The Nines by Janet Evanovich: Enough said. % read: 0%

Sea Glass by Anita Shreve: I loved The Pilot’s Wife. % read: 0%.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J. K. R: I can’t wait to start this one. My friend Jennifer lent it to me and saved me about two months on the waiting list at DPL. Bless her!

*************************************************

If you’ve read this far, you are a brave soul. This exercise in thought has made me realize 1) I need to get crackin’ and 2) Death in Grand Canyon will be the first book I attempt to finish. I'm off to throw around a softball with Clay.

By the way, what books are on your nightstand?

P.S. The picture was taken from our backyard. Many thanks to Clay’s telescope for providing the magnification.

Superior Swimmer

This past weekend I did something I never thought I would do. I ran into Lake Superior, thankful for the cool water. And I mean C - O - O - L.

My cousin Amy came to visit us for a week (with two of her youngest children), and on the weekend, her sister, April came for a visit as well. On Sunday it was warm enough to head down to Park Point, our local beach. Park Point is located at the end of Minnesota Point, a long finger of land that extends towards Wisconsin Point (a long finger of land coming from Wisconsin). There is a break in between the two, which is where some of the ships enter the port.

So we packed up some sodas, snacks, beach toys and headed down around 11AM. Although it's usually cooler by the lake in the summer time, a south wind made the beach quite warm. We were there only 5 minutes and I asked Clay, "Do you dare me to just run into the lake?" He said, "Sure." Later, he told me he didn't believe I would actually do it. But run I did. I was so hot, I just had to get cool.

My first reaction to running into Lake Superior...it's really really rocky along the shore. Most of the rocks are smoothish, but they still can cripple when you walk over them. The further you get out, the more sandy it is, until finally you only run into the occasional small rock. And I didn't quite swim in the lake...maybe just got into it up to my belly button. After 10 minutes, when my legs went numb, it was quite enjoyable. :)

Lake Superior can be a dangerous body of water though. The conditions always change, and waves create large holes. One minute you can be standing in waist deep water, the next in water over your head. I was a little freaked out about walking out so far from the shoreline, but I made it. On the way back in I ran into some strangely shaped metal object, which I quickly jumped away from. What was it?

Beer Batter, Part II

Sunday. Power washing is cool. After the grime, salt and sand of the winter, it was time to clean out the garage. Clay got a power washer for Christmas from his parents, and we finally had the time to use it. But after the garage I couldn't stop...next it was the lawn tractor, lawn mower and bikes (which haven't been ridden in a long time, mine since Cal Poly).

Nothing else exciting happened except for Clay picking the lock of the upper garage, because apparently none of the 50 keys left by the previous owner work, so we haven't been in it since we moved in. So my McGyver got in, and now we open the door with needle nose pliers.

Coming soon: Pictures of the garden!!!

Beer Batter

This weekend has been filled with exploration and adventure. We've been doing little projects around the house as well as exploring Duluth.

First, Friday night we successfully changed the swing chains from our swingset. The old ones were rusty and nasty, giving anyone who tried to use them lovely rust stain. So now we are ready for my cousin and two of her children. They will be coming Monday night and staying for a week.

Saturday morning I had the hankering to go garage sale-ing, with the dual purpose of seeing parts of Duluth I had never seen and finding some good recyclable household items. With our trusty map we went to about ten different sales and bought a wide variety of objects: a casserole dish, glass vase, two tupperware pie-piece containers, clipboard with pen-on-a-chain, a wall clock, The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds: Eastern Region (Clay says I never read labels before I buy...I guess he's right), plastic snow sled with rope and a bundt pan. All for $19. What a deal.

On our adventure, we ran into Wade Stadium, home of the Duluth Huskies. The Duluth Huskies are part of the Northwoods League of the Summer Collegiate Baseball Association (SCBA). If you have ever seen Summer Catch, with Jessica Biel and Freddie Prinze Jr., you'll know a little bit about SCBA. The Stadium is really nice, and we were able to walk out into the stands to pick our seats...Row 1, Section A...right in between home plate and first base. But the game didn't start until 7PM, so off we went to take our spoils home and watch Grease.

So at 7, we headed back down to the stadium. The game was great, and we learned a lot from our seat mate, Stig. He has been coming to these games since the 40's, when Duluth had a minor league team. He has had the same season ticket seats for the past 13 years, and he told me he was over 80. The concession stands were great, and being so close to all those young, collegiate baseball players allowed me to focus more on the game. The starting pitcher and catcher were from UCLA, although they didn't seem to hear my shouts of "Go Bruins!"

One funny thing is when they promote the "Beer Batter". If a particular opponent, at a particular time, strikes out at a particular time, then it is 1/2 price beer for the remainder of the inning. This causes the crowd to chant "beer, beer, beer, beer" (somewhere in there I heard Homer Simpson). The funny thing was Stig was chanting with the best of them. He told me he only gets one beer a game, so he tries to wait to see if the Beer Batter strikes out. Well, the 4th Beer Batter did actually strike out, and as soon as the umpire's arm went up for the last strike, Stig was gone, poof. He was fourth in line he told me after he came back.

The game ended in spectacular fashion as it was tied at the bottom of the 9th. With players on 1st and 3rd, our batter bunted and the player from 3rd ran in and scored, although how he did it was beyond me because the ball was only a couple of feet from the plate after it was bunted. This, I was informed, is called a squeeze (why, I don't know). Free fruit popsicles on the way out sealed a fabulous night.

To be continued.........................

Snap it Up

Today our neighbors came over and asked us if we knew what to do about snapping turtles. Apparently they had one living in their yard that was a potential threat to their dog, Pal. We didn't know what to do, but we headed over there to check it out.

It was the largest wild turtle I have ever seen. His shell was the diameter off a basketball, his head was as big as a 330ml bottle of Perrier, and his tail had 1/2 inch spikes along the top. I keep calling it a he, but it could be a girl, I guess. We tried to herd it towards a marshy area, and it moved fast. I wish I had my camera. But this is a good example.

Any ideas on how to handle a bully snapping turtle?

Reading Now: The Stories of Eva Luna by Isabel Allende.

Blog Born Today

Well, I finally broke down and did it. I created my own blog at the encouragement of my friend Brian. I will use this forum to continue my Duluth updates. I am still trying to get the thing properly formated and organized, so expect changes on a regular basis. For your reading enjoyment, I have posted the old e-mails I sent last winter.

Reasons Why Spring Has Sprung

Since the first day of spring, I have been noticing things around here that seem really....well....spring like. Here are the reasons why I think spring has sprung:

1. The birds are back in town. And no, I don't mean robins or ducks. I mean seagulls. I have been seeing them everywhere and their sounds remind me of the ocean. Also, I have seen evidence of other animals out and about. There are plenty of squirrels, rabbits, raccoons and deer around. When Bates and I go outside we rush to the top plateau (to get an idea of the lay of our land, we are about 50 feet from the road, with a slight incline and then another 50 feet (inclined) from that we have a clearing with a pond. Behind that we have lots of woods. We are basically one football field wide and three deep) and have a contest of who can spot the deer first. It's not a question of if, but where. Bates usually wins. Sometimes we see 3-4 but lately we have been seeing upwards of 10.

2. The ships are back. The harbor is closed for about 2 months of the year and I saw my first ship in the lake approaching the harbor. I almost went down and watched it glide through the canal (for a nice webcam of the canal, visit http://www.lsmma.com/camfs.html). Watching the ships is a hobby for some and all the expected departure and arrival times are printed in the newspaper daily.

3. My dog is shedding. And we aren't talking strands of hairs. It is coming out in clumps as if he were a sheep. I could vacuum everyday (do I, no) and it wouldn't be enough. I have been brushing him everyday and it doesn't seem to help. We went down to the lake two weekends ago and walked on the beach (okay, it is covered in little stones, but it is a beach all the same) and he got horribly muddy. I can tell 'mud season' (unfortunately what everyone calls it here) will be fun.

4. The temperature has been above freezing during the day. Yesterday the high was 54 and the breeze felt...gulp...nice. Also, this means the pot-hole crews have been on our street twice already. They have two pot-hole crews that started in mid-February. One crew heads east, the other west. They fill up with 2000 pounds of warm patch and go until they run out. We had this really visious pot hole about 1 mile from our house. It was so bad we warned people who were visiting to look out for it. It wasn't very big, but the shape of it was such that it could change the trajectory of your travel. It was fixed in late Feb. We saw the crews out again on our street last week.

5. Dairy Queen opened. Enough said.

6. The snow is melting. The driveway is completely melted and it is full of mud and gravel. I took the dog yesterday down to our mailbox and he got completely filthy. All the natives say I am very lucky to be leaving during the worst time of year...mud season. Apparently this is much less desirable than winter. I am sad I don't get to see the first leaves and grass or the bears coming out of hibernation. After 90.5" of snow this year (yeah....just go ahead and think how much snow that is), we have 18" on the ground still. They say we are losing about 1" per day in the shade, so if the weather stays above freezing we should at least have the snow gone by middle of April. ..........Speaking of bears, we also hear we aren't supposed to feed the birds once the bears come out of hibernation. Unless you are like us and have a bear proof feeder (built by the previous owners). It is a steel pole over 8 feet tall posted deep in the ground with a bird feeder on top and hooks for suet. Our neighbors said it was bear proof because they once saw a black bear standing on its hind legs pushing and pushing on the pole and it didn't give out. I don't know if I am comforted or frightened by this.

8. People are wearing less clothing. I washed our winter coats and we are now wearing our spring coats. I see lots of young people wearing shorts, sandals, Capri’s, even tank tops. I think it is a little soon for that. The weather forecasters aren't even wearing their coats anymore. Why, you ask, does a weather forecaster wear their coats during broadcasts? Well, in Duluth the weather forecasters on television give their forecast outside. Yup...Outside. By the way, Sven Sundgaard (http://www.kbjr.com/anchor/anchor-story.asp?n=6) is one of the cutest meteorologists and probably one of the youngest to be chief. And yes Clay knows why we watch NBC news.

Well, my three months in Duluth are up tomorrow as I fly back to CA for my last quarter at UCLA. I hope you have enjoyed my tales. I won't be writing again until July when I am back in Duluth. I am sure there will be plenty to write as I share my first seasonal year in Duluth with you. I am sending another e-mail after this one with a couple of pictures of our snowbound house. I hope all is well with everyone!!!!

Winter Activities

Well, much has happened since I last wrote you. Where to begin?
First, I did sign up for the John Beargrease Dog Sled Race. Of course, I am not running a team in the race (some of you guys cracked me up), but I am working at headquarters answering phones and taking down times off the ham radios. Check out their website if you want to find out more about the race (http://www.beargrease.com/). Basically, the race is over 300 miles along the north shore of Lake Superior. There are checkpoints along the way where the time is radioed into HQ. Should be interesting. I wish I could watch the beginning of the race, as I hear it is very moving and emotional, but I will be at HQ, which is nowhere near the beginning of the race. I will let you know how it all goes.
Early in Feb, we went to our first University men's hockey game. Actually two of them. It was great. The place is packed, and the stadium has very steep seating, so it seems like everyone has a good view. And they are FAST. Their skating skills are amazing. My favorite player is the goalie (must stem from my obsession with Ray LeBlanc from the 1992 Olympic Games...he was the first goalie to wear the highly decorative ITech masks...(http://www.wrightmask.com/rayleblancusathumb.jpg)). How they know where the puck is boggles my mind. I don't even know where the puck is half the time, which explains why they have a light and horn to indicate a goal.
I did my first winter sport this past weekend.....ice skating. My sister-in-law, niece and I went to Play It Again Sports, a used sporting goods store and bought used ice skates. Then we went down to Bayfront Park, right along Lake Superior. Unfortunately, we had a heat wave that day, about 40, so the ice was horrible. Super horrible. Funny enough, the warming house was "Closed due to extreme weather" (extreme?????). You would skate smoothly, and then jerk to a stop on a rough patch. Funnier yet was the water that would shoot out from the ice as you skated over it. We had a hard time explaining to my niece, Maddi, who is 3 years old that we weren't on a lake, just a flooded field. She would panic when the water would shoot out. To put it mildly, I am a horrible skater. I haven't skated in 20 years and it shows. Again, another reason to be impressed by ice skaters and hockey players.
While we were out skating, Clay and his brothers were snowmobiling. While Kari, Maddi and I were having dinner, we got a call from them on the trail requesting a pick up in Tower, MN (about 90 miles north of Duluth). Clay had broken his collar bone and they were 10 miles out of Tower. So we ran around, checked mapquest and drove up there. They were able to ride to Benchwarmers, an eatery/bar (with about 50 snowmobiles parked outside), which is where we found them. They left the sleds there and we all made the trip back to Duluth and St. Luke's Hospital. Clay is okay, but he is very sore and it is hard to move around much. He is still teaching his classes, which is a good sign. They just gave him a sling which he has to wear for 4 weeks.
Well, I wanted to leave you with some information about Lake Superior. This lake is amazing. It really has so many stories to tell. It is the second largest lake in the world and the deepest of the Great Lakes. What fascinates me is the number of shipwrecks found in Lake Superior. One in particular is the Edmund Fitzgerald, which went down on November 10, 1975. There is a great song by Gordon Lightfoot about the disaster. Check out http://home.europa.com/~random7/fitz.htm to see the lyrics and annotation. If you have the time, try and listen to it (you will need 6 minutes of your time...its a long one), but if not, just sing every two lines, and drawl out the last word of every two lines. He kind of speaks it instead of singing, so you can get the idea. Apparently, the water is so cold that those who are lost at sea never surface to the top. The last four lines are spooky:
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee
Superior they said never gives up her dead
when the gales of November come early
This is why they say Lake Superior is haunted, and there are lots of books out there on the topic.
Well, I hope all is well wherever you're at.
Take care,

Ice Dams

Well, it has been awhile since my last letter, so I thought I would drop everyone a line. In the last two weeks we have had 20 inches of snow, but a small melting off due to the higher temps (high twenties). Of course, with all this melting comes the evil ice dam. What, you may ask, is an ice dam? Well, it has been quite an education for me as well. The definition of an ice dam, from www.homedirect.com/glossary is :
A condition which can occur with snow and freezing conditions. When snow or ice melts on a roof over a heated or partially heated attic space, the melting water may refreeze over an unheated areas such as a roof overhang. This re-frozen water may create a "dam" and allow additional melt water to back up under shingles and cause leaks (Illustration "A"). Solutions include: proper roof venting and insulation (Illustration "B"), membrane roofing or roofing underlayment, and heat tapes. Once an ice dam occurs, remedies are difficult and or dangerous. Working on a frozen roof should be avoided, as should the use of any open flames. The use of hot water to melt the ice may help, it may also increase the amount of leakage.
Well, we have one of these, and the ice has worked its way into our attic above the bathroom. Very strange. Water and ice are forces to be reckoned with. Clay had been continually raking the roof (he bought a roof rake....see
http://www.plowhearth.com/plow_assets/images/shop/catalog/8593.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.plowhearth.com/product.asp%3Fsection_id%3D2005%26department%3D3006%26search_type%3Dcategory%26search_value%3D3120%26pcode%3D8006&h=253&w=230&sz=20&tbnid=63E0pMoJP24J:&tbnh=106&tbnw=96&start=12&prev=/images%3Fq%3Droof%2Brake%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26sa%3DN if you need a real mental picture), but it got so warm one day that there was a lot of melting and refreezing before he got home from work. I am not a roof raker.
I have been acclimating rather well to the weather here. Less of the hats and scarves. It really decreases the time it takes to get ready if you don't need those. Of course, my new coat really helps. I got the Lands' End Belted Down Parka in Antique Ivory (http://www.landsend.com/cd/fp/prod/0,,1_2_1930_2330_109214_87661_5:view=59,00.html?sid=4006181615566110010), and it is very warm. My wool pea coat was not cutting it. Too many places for wind to sneak into. I now know why hoods have fur or fake fur on them...they really help keep the snow out of your eyes when it is snowing. It is also good down to -15 without layers and -35 with layers. My kind of jacket.
New find in the grocery store: Lefsa (http://www.igourmet.com/shoppe/shoppe.asp?cat=4&subcat=Breads). Not very tasty although someone told me storebought Lefsa isn't very good. I would call it a triangular tortilla made out of potato. You are supposed to spread butter on it, sprinkle with sugar and eat.
Take care and hope everyone is well.

Skirt Weather

Today I decided to wear a skirt to my internship. Better to take advantage of the good weather while I can right? Of course, everything is relative and my nice weather is 12 degrees above zero. We have had a little cold snap over the past five days and this is the first day we are above zero, so get out the party hats. We have had lows in the -25s, to highs in the -1s. So you can see why I am jumping for joy...of course, I am wearing tights...I'm not that brave, although I did see a UMD student wearing flip flops one day. Brrrrrr.
Well, I have started my internship at the University Library, about 15 hours per week. I have a sweet little office (until they hire someone to fill it), a phone line and e-mail address. I have been spending time with the librarians going over their resources of choice and going to meetings. The university was wonderfully smart when they decided to build here. They have tunnels connecting to everything and everywhere. The union is only 5 minutes from the library and Clay's office is just 5 minutes farther from that. You can go to the gym, class, the food court and the dorm and never step outside. Pretty smart if you ask me. Parking is a real issue here (yes, even in Minnesota), but I seemed to find one right away, on this first day of classes.
Today was a typical day...I dropped off Clay at work in the morning, without any crashes or spin outs. Our rear wheel drive truck has provided many challenging opportunities that involve lots of white knuckled moments. In Iowa it was flat. Here it is hilly, not that hilly, but hilly enough to make it a challenge sometimes to even get home. I just usually close my eyes when we head up a hill after a snow. On our way to a New Year Eve's party, we had to call our hosts and ask for another route to their house. We just couldn't make it up this one hill. We were seriously sliding down backwards at about 10mph. Luckily no one was parked in the street that day. We were directed to another, less steep hill, and if we backed down the street enough, we could get a good running start. I find myself chanting "I think you can" to the truck on many occasions.
After dropping off Clay, I proceeded to clean the floors. In CA, even IA, I didn't find this a hugely necessary job, but here it is. The combination of grit, sand and salt that they use on the roads creates a little concotion they like to call snirt. It gets everywhere. I feel like I am at the beach sometimes, walking around in all this sand. The dog doesn't help either, especially when he comes in from a romp covered in dreadlocks of snow. He looks like one of those mountain climbers with ice all over their face. And he just looks at us like their is nothing wrong at all.
Well, I haven't done anything much of interest yet. Still working myself up to doing anything that requires extra energy. The dog sled races are coming up in February and I am thinking of signing up for those. Hope to try cross country skiing soon as well as curling. I will keep you posted.
Sunshine