Goin' and Seein' around Lake Ida on Saturday

Superman's suit is waiting for him in this phone booth, just in case. It's a short walk from our house, over on Oak Ridge Road. Take that! Lex Luthor. The Floding's have a unique bus stop warming shelter for those cold winter mornings waiting for the bus. They live near the winery on co. rd. 34.

This image seemed to be the definition of COLD. It's Lake Ida Cemetery, on the corner of co. rd. 61 and Lake Ida Way. Brrrr.

The deer ran right in front of the car as we drove down Oak Ridge Rd. on the west side of Lake Ida. But of course, do I have the camera ready? They ran a few yards into the woods, and stopped to stare at us.

A January Saturday

The one (and maybe only) nice thing about those below zero days, is that the sky is usually a nice clear blue, with sun. It seems a bit incongruous to wear sunglasses and earmuffs, but we do. Tracy and I have always been partial to earmuffs.

After we spent a some hours with mom, and helped her out with lunch, we went with the guys to Garfield, to the Fire Station Bar and Grill. It's right by the Central Lakes Trail. http://www.centrallakestrail.com/

We were just about the only people in the Firehouse that hadn't come by snowmobile. The fries were great. Here is a sweatshirt on sale there. Maybe for my next birthday. http://www.firestationbar.com/

Or not.

Another customer arriving.

A Room With a View

When I started teaching, I was in this classroom for a few years. Then I was in two other rooms - one faced the hallway, the other one was windowless. I finally was able to move back into my original room, and it's the most calming, natural view - here today's sunset is shining on the birch trees, and the moon is rising over the baseball field. It's the view from my desk chair.

In the morning, the sun is rising over Rice Creek as I enter the room. It is a great way to start the day.

This photo needs a caption . . .

It's an Ole and Lena joke waiting to happen.

Uffda! January weather!

We drove to Alex last night, the car thermometer a steady 32F (0C), and the rain didn't turn to ice until we were within the last 2 miles. Then it was pretty slippery.



Chuck and I went into Alex this morning. I'd promised mom I would be there before lunch to visit her at Knute. We had a nice visit, and lunch together. Then she was happy for an afternoon nap. Me too. By the time we headed home, it had been snowing quite hard, so the highway was just two slushy ruts down the middle. With a glaze of ice underneath. Yuck.

So until he has to go out to blow snow and shovel, Chuck enjoys being snowed in. He has beer in the fridge.

A bit of Danish culture

Sometimes Blogger recommends a blog of note - last summer we followed ryanrunseurope - an American college student who ran across Europe.
This blog is basically someone who photographs people on bicycles in Copenhagen. Having been to Copenhagen twice, that is where I first learned that in Europe there are definite bike lanes, and STAY THE HECK OFF OF THEM if you are a wandering, clueless tourist.
http://www.copenhagencyclechic.com/

There are lots of images, so it takes a while to load.

Norwegians get attention too!

We've focused our energy on Sweden for a while, but Norway has popped up again. Out of the blue we received a Christmas card/letter from one of Chuck's Norwegian relatives whom we've never met before. I wrote back (snail mail) and hope to get it figured out. It's always fun to make a new connection. Svein Otto works on a North Sea oil platform, so he's out at sea for long periods of time. Not the oil platform in the Norway ride at Epcot.