This is probably the point in the year where we are furthest away from Snow!
Just look at the flowers that we have in the garden now:
We just need some rain! It is currently very dry and our lawn is really suffering.
Fourth Trip
Fourth Kayak Trip
July 20th, 2003 – Lake Alimagnet
In Burnsville, not far from us, I saw this stack of canoes, chained to a rack, next to the road. Upon investigation, I found there was a lake hidden just behind the line of trees. This is where I did my fourth kayak trip with Troy in his 16′ long double Old Town Loon kayak.
Photos to follow soon!
Third Trip
Kayak trip Three
July 13, 2003 – Lake Phalen
This lake is north of downtown Saint Paul where many Asian people spend their weekends next to the water. I did not realise that this lake was connected to another, but we soon found our way up a river to the next lake to the north.
The one drawback of these earlier trips, is the lack of a camara – photographs – Troy did not yet have a watertight case to transport his camara in.
You cannot click on these maps to enlarge them, but you can click on the satelite photograph at the bottom of this entry to see it in more detail, like most other photos on this journal.
Blue Mealies (Corn)
I keep a packet of blue corn flour on the shelf in the kitchen just for fun! And it is real!
It is ground from blue to black mealies, shown here. The fun thing is that the mealie-pap made from blue corn meal is purple. Commercial corn chips are also made from this flour and they are also dark purple.
Taste? No difference from white or yellow mealies as far as the flour is concerned – I have not yet seen or tasted a fresh blue mealie to eat off the cob.
First Trip
Kayak trip One
6/22/2003 – Eagle Point Lake
It had been a busy week at work for us both, plus father’s day and both our birthdays, so by the end of Sunday, June the 22, we were both full of stress and I think the two wives just thought it better if they sent us off on our own with Troy’s new 16′ kayak.
For that trip Troy still only had one paddle, so we took turns to row, but it was soon clear that we were having a hard time steering the kayak. Because I am quite a heavy weight, we had decided that I should have the middle seat of the kayak with Troy behind me – to balance things out.
Thinking that trading places would make it easier to steer we rowed to the nearest side of the lake, but where we thought there would be grass on a beach, there were just reeds and dead, stinking, reeking algi! I threatened to kill Troy if he caused me in any way to touch that soup remember it is only nine inches below the kayak gunwale but I think he also needed little persuasion and we immediately headed back to the pier where we started. There we changed seats and the difference was remarkable.
The lake, for us, had a new name: Stinky Lake a bit unfair, for it was only on one shore that we saw the thick soup.
For the first time we experienced the thrill of gliding close to a white heron or a crane as they sit near their nests in the reeds.
The water, the physical exercise, the fresh air and nature in general were all tools in God’s hand to sooth our nerves and calm us down.
After more than an hour we got out very refreshed and renewed. With the kayak back on the minivan’s roof, we stopped at Culver’s for a frozen custard treat!
Our next trip would be on June the 28th!
Tae Kwon Do
Having gone through white, orange, yellog, green and blue, Wilhelm tested today for his purple belt! He was very proud when Mr Boltz anounced that he was successful!
The first photo shows him kicking through a wooden board held by one of the instructors and in this second one the instructor fastens the new belt around his middle in a bit of a ceremony – you cannot actually see anything of Wilhem – wrong moment for the photograph.
Lastly the whole class lines up for a final word of congratulations by the owner of the school.
Testing kayaks
Troy called me up: “Are you interested in joining as at Lake Calhoun to test out kayaks and canoes?” Why not! Always a new adventure!
They had the boats lined up on the shore and after signing that you will not blame them if you drown, you simply put on a life jacket and could take one of the boats onto the lake for ‘a spin’.
Look carefully at the next photo to see why Troy and Naomi are still ‘new’ at the game! :^)
The matter was soon rectified when Troy turned his back on his wife, and they were ready to go….!
Of course there were times that there were not enough life jackets available and then the boys amused themselves in the shallow water. Water always seem just as attractive as flame.
Wilhelm and Jacques took to rowing almost like pro’s and they really enjoyed the afternoon. It was difficult to get them to come back to shore! Here is Wilhelm in one of the kayaks he took out.
Megan’s trip with her dad had to be captured on ‘film’! She also enjoyed the close proximity of the water after Troy told her to look for fishes in the water!
If you want to force two guys to co-operate (not always natural in two brothers, it seems), put them together in one canoe!
There were even canoes and kayaks that could accomodate my size and I really enjoyed the experience. The canoe was very difficult to handle in the slight breeze that was blowing – I think I sat too far back.
The kayak was much more manouvrable (or however you spell that) and felt a lot more stable as well, as if it would not capsize as easy as the canoe.
This was a day I will not easily forget – we ended the outing with very special ice-creams in the nearby Haagen-Daz shop!
Droë Wors
Wilhelm helps his mom make dried sausage – it is our own recipe and we do not use casings – the grinder and funnel just helps us to shape the sausage. After four days under a fan, we have the best ‘droë wors’ you can imagine!
A local Lake
On the way back from school I stopped at one of the large lakes really close to our house and went to investigate the fishing possibilities with Jacques…
It was toward late afternoon and there were a few fishermen around. They mostly caught very small fish that they tossed back in.
The still water had beautiful reflections on them.
We decided to give this lake a miss – too much weeds in the water – they even had a dredger standing at one end of the lake, so they were busy cleaning up a little.
Badmington
Mom joins the boys for some Badmington on the back lawn.
The grass and trees seem to compete to see which can come up with the most intense green color.
It was not long and mom also had to assist with getting one of the plumes out of a tree… and guess what, the ball and the plume is still in the tree!
Of course that all means rather hard work! So time to relax!
