Snow

Last weekend we had splendid weather, mommie was busy with a course the whole weekend, the two boys nagged and eventually I had to give in and take them fishing at one of the many nearby lakes. Surprisingly enough there was no-one else so we had the whole fishing dock to ourselves (I had preached before hand how wild swinging of fishing poles with hooks on, could lead to a whole summer long ban on fishing in the Potgieter household.)

The day’s catch was good – seven little fishes eventually shared the bucket and it took some convincing on my part that those little fishes would not yield any meat and that THEY WERE NOT GOING HOME!!! Here the two fishermen are trying to catch them by hand to throw them back and so that they could be photographed.

In January our lease on the Ford Conversion Van expired and it was time for a change. We will miss the old stately bus with all its space, but anything with lower gas consumption will also help.

So the new vehicle is this Patriot Blue Dodge Grand Caravan ES. What a pleasure to drive!

And because of its more reasonable price, we could afford a bit of luxury. It has all the nice-to-haves, like power doors and climate control inside (you only tell it what you want the temperature to be and it does all the rest, meassuring the driver, front passenger and rear passengers individually).

The impressive sound system with its six cd in-dash changer has controls on the steering wheel (behind) and I have caught more than one passenger who wanted to know how the volume adjusts itself!

I am sure the next four years with this vehicle will just be a pleasure. Now I can also say I have a Ram on my nose (the Dodge symbol is a ram’s head!).

We are becoming more and more Minnesotan! The slightest upturn in temperature and we discard all warm clothing, dig out sandals, shorts and t-shirts and GET OUTSIDE! Last weekend we spent a few hours walking at the zoo. Spirits were high, but Gina remains a little bit too strong for Jacques! The boys are getting so big and so fast.

Even this huge tiger seemed impatient for the slight shimmering of green to become more prominent. All the plants have buds that look like they all want to personify the word ‘pregnant’, waiting for that mysterious trigger that will cause our green explosion.

Jacques seems to draw a camara lens like a magnet – no matter how rediculous the face he makes or how sad a countenance he has, all photos of him seem to come out looking very good!

At the end of the afternoon we headed home and Gina and her eldest had a mother-son moment. A very satisfying and regenerating day out!

Here you can see a row of the larger bell used in a handbell choir. They have to be handle with both hands, or you will sprain more than just a wrist…

Bill had in our group someone who had been ringing for more that ten years and he had me and Jacques who could barely read music. And in a very special way he kept us all interested, showed us the basic techniques, discussed choir directors differences and also had us play five or six pieces of music written for bells. Starting with a very simple tune and then getting more and more complicated as the afternoon progressed.

We stood at the long row of tables prepared for the evening’s concert.

We had to concentrate so much that smiling was not even considered although everybody said afterwards how much they enjoyed the workshop.

More soon!!

Apart from the visit to the ice sculptures yesterday, I had another very unique experience yesterday: I took my two sons and we participated in a handbellringing workshop!

I have seen a handbell choir before in Europe, but those were with cowbells and very ‘folksy’. What we ‘discovered’, was an artform that was very new to me.

The photo at the top shows one of the bells I played with. The strikers inside are controled only to swing along a single plane and is felt covered, so that the bells give of wonderful mellow tones and no harch sounds.

The workshop was presented in a very special way by a very special man: Bill Alexander, from Duluth, Minnesota.

But more about him, his choir and the workshop tomorrow.

This morning saw us up before dawn and in the new minivan on our way to Rice Park in Downtown St. Paul. We arrived there before the crowds to see the ice sculptures that had been finished the night before. The little light in the trees were still on and the temperature gave us a mercifull windless -15ºC.

Behind me and my mom you can see the ice sail of a viking ship – not much of us is showing…..

Friday’s half an inch of snow did its magic with a thin white coat everywhere.
Ice sculptures like this magnificent Pegasus is just not the same unless surrounded by snow.