Cruising Lake Superior

On Saturday, I went on my first boat ride on Lake Superior. Clay and I went with a friend from work. The cruise was called A View From The Lake through the University of Minnesota (and other sponsoring agencies). We left from Two Harbors (about 30 minutes north of Duluth) around 9:45A and spent about 2 1/2 hours on the lake.

The trip was an educational one, with the main goals of highlighting the problems of storm water run-off, mercury and global warming. While out there, we played a watershed game, collected plankton from a 47 meter water column, and pulled out worms and shrimp-like creatures from a bottom sample (collected at 370 feet). We also looked at pervious pavement, a composite concrete in which water flows right though. An interesting idea that needs a little more experimentation in the Northland.

Fun fact of the trip: Lake Superior has a flush rate of roughly 185 years. This means that a particular drop of water (or pollutant) would take 185 years to leave the lake. Lake Erie on the other hand, has an approximate flush rate of 5-10 years.

We couldn't have asked for a better day to travel on the lake. The breeze was nice, but the sun was warm. A nice break from the heatwave we've been having.

Hot!

This is a picture of the thermometer on our screened in porch. It was taken yesterday, July 15, 2006 at around 4:30PM. Around 3PM, it was 93 at the airport, which is the somewhat official temperature of Duluth. At that same time, it was 102 in downtown Duluth.

This demonstrates the differences in temperature throughout Duluth. Sometimes it's warmer by the lake, sometimes cooler. Earlier this week, when it was around 90 at our place, it was 74 by the lake (we went down and had a lovely walk).

Our house stays relatively cool because we are surrounded by many trees. The inside temp has not gotten above 78 since the heatwave started. And down in the basement it's 70. We use fans, on these hot days, to move the cool basement air upstairs.

So yes, for those non-believers, it does get hot in Duluth sometimes.

Stay cool!

Is this humane?

Meet Chewie..Chewie Chewbacca to be exact. Chewie has agreed to help us get Bates used to the idea of a baby. Chewie is a good sport about these things even though he's suffered all sorts of indignities throughout his life .... such as living for years in a cardboard box and having to socialize with all sorts of lowly stuffed animals over his lifetime. And he's never once complained!

Chewie was given to me sometime around the time my brother, Micah, was born (1978...I don't know if that was the reason or something else) and he's been around ever since. Chewie doesn't say much, except for when my mom's around to give him a voice. Literally.

Of course I know Chewie can't really talk. I've just always envisioned him being completely immobile, but able to think and ponder the situations around him. Similar to Edward Tulane (Dicamillo wrote Because of Winn-Dixie and The Tale Despereaux...I highly recommend Despereaux and am planning on reading The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane soon).

So we swaddled Chewie (practice for us, too!) and presented him to Bates. At first Bates was really curious, but now he's wondering why we carry around a stuffed monkey in a straight jacket. :)