Posts Tagged ‘swimming’
Heat Beating
We had no trouble beating the heat on Saturday. That big body of water does wonders for avoiding overheating when the weather gets aggressively hot enough to trigger warnings.
We lounged in the water at our beach several different times throughout the day and added a cruise on the pontoon boat for good measure.
A hot Saturday in July brought out a large number of people with the same idea. Both the prominent sandbar at the mouth of one bay and the public island near our shoreline were filled with boaters parking to play in the soothing water.
There is a good chance that today will be a repeat of the same activities since the heat and humidity have yet to ease.
No sense in fighting the elements when there is a big lake offering comfortable respite right outside our door. It’s what being up at the lake place is all about, after all.
Well, that and eating ice cream from West’s Dairy. We managed to do some of that, too.
I won’t mention the hubbub that occurred last night at zero dark thirty, involving some screaming and unwelcome winged rodents that have reappeared inside our living quarters. Maybe I was just dreaming that again.
Cabin life.
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Brilliant Fun
Such great fun can’t last forever, so we are driving home to Wintervale today. We will be taking a lot of good energy with us from four days of lake fun with Barb and Mike. We boated through three channels and four lakes to visit the Joyce Estate on Trout Lake in the Chippewa National Forest. On the way home, we paused to swim for a bit in each lake.
We coped with some hot and muggy weather, including strong wind on most days and a little rain yesterday. We took advantage of the precipitation to complete some planning and make reservations for our coming visit to Iceland in September.
During a pause in the rain, we parked on the north shore of Wilkus’ lake and played along the shoreline.
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We have been eating fun treats (man, I love black raspberry chocolate chip ice cream) and scrumptious meals from the creative minds of Barb and Cyndie. Mike provided his mastery on their great propane cast iron griddle to make smash burgers for dinner.
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There was broccoli steaming beneath that cover.
Evenings allowed us to catch up on the day’s Olympic competitions and marvel over the high level of athletic ability and accomplishments. Cyndie and I slept soundly and enjoyed another break from daily animal duties.
The brilliant fun with friends is done for a while but we will replace it with brilliant fun with Asher and the horses and some normal fun mowing grass this week. I’m scheduled to head back to Hayward on Thursday for a weekend cycling during Cyndie’s brothers’ annual gathering of guys who golf.
I suspect that will be brilliant fun, too.
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Photo Moments
Another fine day in the woods of northern Minnesota. Strong winds, warm temperatures, smoky haze-filled sky, swimming, eating like royalty, and ending the day with the spectacle of the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris.
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Swimming Deeper
While I was watching the third stage of the Tour de France bike race, Cyndie was outside walking Asher. I spotted them down at the beach and was happy she had him playing in the water again. Soon after, I heard Cyndie calling for him. Then I heard her calling for me to go after him from above.
Asher had decided to take off down the shoreline to our west. I had just started into the woods between our place and the next property over when I heard shouting from the island out in our bay. People there had seen our dog run up from the lake toward the house above.
Eventually, I was able to nab Asher and get him home in time to watch the finish of the day’s bike race. Later in the afternoon, at a time when the beach was sparsely populated, Cyndie and I took Asher back to the water with a 30-foot leash to keep him from running off.
It had become a very hot day and I was happy to immerse myself in the water where I could coax our pup to do the same. Asher showed great interest in coming out to meet me but quickly turned around after just a few paddles in the deep water. It was interesting to witness the look of apprehension on his face as he experimented with the new adventure.
We got him to swim further and longer with each invitation but he always wanted to turn as soon as possible to get back where he could stand again. The funniest behavior he displayed was his urge to do the classic doggy body shake to get the water off his coat even though he was still standing almost to his neck in the lake.
After a busy day of new activities, Asher showed more interest than usual in doing some power lounging on the couch in the porch.
I think he is adjusting well to the pace of life up at the lake.
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Indoor Games
Walks with Delilah will be short and wet this morning. It’s a good thing we took full advantage of the beautiful weather yesterday because much of today will be spent indoors. The main mass of precipitation is moving away to the east but it has left behind a sloppy landscape and gray skies.
We enjoyed a long and leisurely paddle around the island and schoolhouse bay yesterday in a gentle breeze of mid-morning sunshine. After floating on top of all that water we just had to go for a swim in it back at our beach. On a brief and unsuccessful errand to town to find an AC to DC transformer, we made a stop for the spectacular flavors of premium ice cream from the famed local creamery, West’s Dairy.
It’s like a rule that we have to sample some of their delectable combinations whenever in close proximity –[read: anywhere in town]. I made a last-minute change of mind to Banana with threads of Salted Caramel that didn’t disappoint.
The afternoon included a rollicking game of CrossCrib on the deck with multiple lead changes throughout. By the time we finally sat down across from each other for dinner at the Tavern at White Stag Farm, we both shared the comment, “You got some sun today.”
The wet start of our day today is allowing me a chance to be distracted by television coverage of Premier League matches while trying to chronicle yesterday’s fun.
Spectator sports on television are a guilty pleasure and may be my version of indoor games for as long as Cyndie allows. I suspect she will be seeking a chance to reclaim her honor in the weekend’s CrossCrib competitions, to which I will be more than happy to oblige.
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Getting Away
We have made a quick change of scene, which comes at a convenient time to allow our minds to stray from the heavy angst associated with Wednesday’s violent upheaval in all things chicken-related.
Yesterday, Cyndie’s mom drove out to our place and the moment I arrived home from work, the three of us packed up Marie’s car and headed up to the lake.
We picked up a take-n-bake pizza from Coop’s that tasted more scrumptious than ever and turned on the replay of the 17th stage of the Tour de France on the satellite TV.
It served as a balm for my wounded psyche.
Festivities for today involve a visit from special guests. The Wilkuses are flying to the Hayward airport from their cabin near Grand Rapids, MN. How fun is that?!
Primary objective: Swim in the lake. Followed closely by eating too much fun food, gabbing away for hours on end, and probably one more dip in the lake, just because it’s there.
We’ll try to pretend this getaway keeps us from thinking about the loss of almost all of our chickens.
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Enough That
That’ll be enough of that. I’ve changed the login password so the animals won’t be able to babble on here again for as long as I can avoid it. I’m grateful for their help and everything, but I think it is best delivered in small doses with long intervals between.
We had new help tending to the ranch while we were gone and they did a spectacular job of caring for animals and property. It makes our time away that much more enjoyable. Our fun was guilt-free.
Flying to Barb and Mike’s lake place worked out fabulously. In just a blink of an hour we were there. It was a wonderful weekend of palling around with treasured friends, eating out, shopping, playing games, boating, swimming, hiking, visiting, cooking/eating/cleaning, taking in a movie, sharing stories and laughter.
Happily, the weather cooperated in allowing us to fly home on schedule, without conflict.
It was a priceless weekend. Thanks, Mike and Barb!
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Precious Weekend
What a fabulous time we had at the Wilkus’ cabin north of Grand Rapids, MN over the weekend. We all marveled over the gift of a friendship connection that feels so natural that time and distance away from each other have no bearing on the comfort and ease we all feel when we are able to spend time together once again.
We hiked woods, boated and swam in the lake, and enjoyed bountiful food with lively social conviviality. It was a truly priceless time together that I will cherish for a long time.
Let’s just see how well I get my mind back on work at the day-job today with all the fine memories still freshly percolating in my head.
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Thank you Barb, Mike, and Ryan!
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Relative Something 