Water in Crystal and Liquid Forms

Yes, winter is winding down and summer seems to be on its way... I guess that's the definition of spring. Around here (at least on the "Wet Side") it starts in February and continues... more or less through May.

April was a very interesting month for outdoor activities in our household. On the first, Trevor and I went downhill skiing. We took a friend of Trevor's and his brother and Dad. The four of them had taken snowboarding lessons earlier in the winter. Seemed a little strange to be skiing on April Fool's Day but the joke was definitely not on us. We had a great day.

Then sailing started the following week. We're happy and thankful to have our local lake back again. The original earthen dam was build in the 40's and the drainage system was failing. (Earthen dams actually leak but it's supposed to be a controlled leak...). Somehow the Army Corp. of Engineers prioritized the repair project higher and found the money to fix it last summer. We were potentially looking at years without a lake and the vital flood control it provides... and recreation! Now, I suppose they will focus on Mississippi levee system.

The following weekend we were all back in the mountains for cross country skiing (me, Trevor and Hannah) and snowshoeing (Jolyn and four friends of ours). Lido and Chico went barefoot... We trekked in a couple miles and had lunch. Then it was time to build our accomodations for the night. It seems that no matter where people go they have to improve things. Several people started working on the snow cave while others gathered wood for the fire. Our friend John proceed to build a combination sleeping shelter, kitchen and living room complete with fire pit. Actually the fire creates its own pit as it burns and melts through many feet of snow. The girls headed home around dusk and the guys prepared to spend the night in our snow cave. After breakfast the next morning, we headed off for a wooden shelter another mile or so away and then headed home.

Returning to the valley it was back to baseball and sailing... Trevor's team has had a rough season... winless so far. However, he enjoys it and does pretty well despite the teams results. He's been catching quite a bit as well as pitching and playing infield (around 2nd base). The season continues through the middle of June so there's still time for the team to improve.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The RC is Always Right....

Image
Except when they're wrong and succumb to pressure and personal bias... Tillerman is at it again with another assignment. Last time, in response to his request for Worst Sailing Mistakes , I posted a story about my Protest Shoe . Overall the response provided many funny stories and a few intense ones. Fortunately, no one was seriously hurt (emotionally or physically) in the making of these stories. This time the assignment is Top Race Committee Screw Ups . First and in general, these (for the most part) volunteers to a great job. We couldn't have fun racing without them. The good ones run a race or regatta in such a way you hardly know they're there. On the other hand... they do occasionally make mistakes. In a regatta on our local lake, we were racing on Sunday. IIRC, the points were quite close. We were setting up for what was likely the final race of the regatta. The committee put up the course label and the sequence was rolling. We made sure we new the course, studie
Read more

Blue Like Jazz

Image
We've been reading this book by Donald Miller . It's about his life and faith. What's the connection to Jazz in the book? So far, Miller hasn't talked about this theme very much (at least not explicitly). In the beginning of the book, he mentions that Jazz does not " resolve " for him and that similarly he thinks God does not resolve. What does it mean to resolve? resolve v. tr. 1. To make a firm decision about. 2. To cause (a person) to reach a decision 3.-8. [...] 9. Music. To cause (a tone or chord) to progress from dissonance to consonance. 10.-14. [...] Looking at the 9th definition related to Music, Miller suggests he hasn't found a progression from dissonance to consonance in his experience with God. dissonance n. A harsh, disagreeable combination of sounds; discord. Lack of agreement, consistency, or harmony; conflict Music. A combination of tones contextually considered to suggest unrelieved tension and require resolution. conso
Read more

Bike Commute - Day 8

Image
"Wet ride?" Well it started out pretty dry (relatively). It wasn't really raining (even my my standards of humidity). Then it started raining about half way but not too bad. I didn't wear my "rubber pants" and stayed dry (again relatively). No rooster tail up the back side. Trevor's fender works as expected... I gotta get me some of that. I've ridden almost 130 miles and saved about $19 (just in gas)... but I've spent a little bit more than that on bike lub., tire levers and a pump... and obviously fenders are next. Still it saves gas and mileage on the ve-hicle (the four wheeled vehicled and internal combustion engine vs. the two wheeled vehicle and internal digestion engine). DAY Date Time Distance Cumulative Distance Savings Total Savings Weather 8 5.24.2006 0:41 7.96mi 118.96mi $2.35 $18.73 EUG 7.96mi 126.92mi
Read more