A good day to explore the Chicago shore

On a day with strong off-shore winds, the lake looks calm.

Yesterday's marine forecast went beyond "small craft advisory" to "gale warning," meaning winds between 34 and 47 knots (or 39 to 54 miles per hour). Those winds were coming straight out of the west, so the lake looked flat but we knew that paddling on it would be a challenge.

When the wind is out of the west, the waves are in the east.

We have enough experience by now that we know what we can and can't handle. Years ago, we would have stayed off the water on days with such strong off-shore winds, but now we're pretty confident that we can paddle against winds of 40 knots or a little higher, and even enjoy them up to about 35 knots. Since these winds were right on the edge of that range, we decided to mostly stay closer to shore.

There's plenty to do on a near-shore day. You can play in the the harbor, using the dock ramps as an obstacle course.

Sharon sneaks under a ramp, avoiding the hoses, lines and chains.

Alec makes the process look effortless.

We stayed near shore most of the way down to the former US Steel South Works Mill, which was closed in 1983 and is now a strange amalgamation of post-industrial waste and opportunistic greenery. The shoreline looks like boulders, but when you paddle closer you see that it's all concrete slabs, slag and rebar.

The unnatural landscape near the former US Steel South Works Mill.

That's not to say it isn't fascinating and even beautiful in its own odd way. We spent some time taking photos of the material put here deliberately and the stuff that has washed up on shore.



Then we paddled back, taking a more direct route and exposing ourselves to more of the wind. By now, the peak winds were 40 knots (46 miles per hour), and paddling into them required some concentration. At one point, we noticed that we weren't weather-cocking at all, which surprised us until we realized why: we weren't moving fast enough to create a bow wake.

Some days we like to paddle long distances. Some days we like to paddle hard. But some days it's just nice to be out on the lake in whatever conditions arise, putting no pressure on ourselves to do anything more than enjoy the fact that we have access to this local treasure, a lake that is both natural and terribly altered by humanity.

The sea wall

The two faces of an autumn evening. Yesterday's photo looked south east over Portobello enjoying the last rays of the sun. Here, looking north, dark clouds move in over the hills of Fife. I have the beach to myself, apart from the girl with a camera perched on the sea wall.

Construction Along Mosquito Creek

Awesome weather for a bike ride today. Was about 70 deg a little before noon when I headed out from the Wabash Trace Trailhead. Destination was the Western Historic Trails Center.

Had a little problem getting the computer running right. Took some adjustment of the pick-up on the fork.

The last time I rode the Lake Manawa Trail, there was some construction along Mosquito Creek. They have been building a couple of bypassed. Not sure if they are for work on the levee or storm sewer.

Last year, when they had to work on the levee, They detoured the bike trail down to normal ground level and covered it with very coarse rock. This time, the trail level is being maintained at levee height. And, its being PAVED!

Nothing else noted along the ride to the Trails Center. Visited with the folks there. I had not been there for a while. July I was riding at sunrise. The Center is closed Monday and Tuesday.

Good visit, great ride, awesome weather.

Red Dirt!

Took me some time to get moving today. Guess it was the busy day yesterday. Took the Fuel EX7 out to the Mahnoman Unit of Cuyuna Country State Recreation Area, MN. Goal was to explore more of the "green" trails.

Pretty good weather when I headed out of the hotel. Sunny, 70s, breezy. Should be a nice day in the woods.

Drove to the Boot Camp parking lot off of County 128. Mounted the bike and rode the Overburden Road to entrance of Little Sidewinder. Took me some time to get used to the trails, again.

Did not take much time before I was sweating. Even with the 10-15 mph winds, the air was almost dead still in the woods. The ground was damp from the recent rains. Trail conditions were what the racers call "tacky). No soft, wet ground, but surely no dust.

When I got junction with Mucker Mountain (shorter route back to the car) I decided to continue on Little Sidewinder.It this part of the trail along ponds between June Lake and Alstead Mine Lake. Tight, twisting singletrack, but not so many climbs and descents. My kind of riding.

Next decision point was at the junction of Little Sidewinder and Grub Stake. I was ready to take Grub Stake, the shorter route back to the car. Grub stake is typical for the Green trails in the area. Mostly flowing singletrack with sections of up and down. The photo with this post was taken on Grub Stake.

In no time, I was at the junction with Mucker Mountain, taking that trail to Overburden Road. Rode the cravel road back to the car. While it was only 2.3 miles and 31 minute riding time, I was exhausted.

Chatted with the hotel owner when I got back. After a shower, I was craving a sub - so found the Crosby Subway. Relaxed over food. Back to the hotel I processed my trail photos and then crashed to bed.

Hoping to meet up with the Mountain Bike Summit folks this evening.

Jake's Peaches

Last April I told the world the story of Jake's peach tree - the saga of a Harry & David peach pit, planted a few years ago by my sister and her husband and son Jake. In its fourth spring the tree burst into beautiful pink bloom and Red and her family hoped there would be peaches.
Next came a photo of the developing green fruit and then in July the photo above showed them beginning to color.
A week ago my sister Red sent this photo of the ripening fruit with the guy who planted the tree and had faith that it would grow and bloom.

And she also sent a photo of some peaches in a bowl. They weren't huge, but they were beautiful peaches!


When a recycled Harry & David box arrived this afternoon - I had to share the joy!


Dear Family,
There's a light fruity fragrance already - maybe Philo and I can sample one of these very special peaches tomorrow. Thank you all - I can't believe you did this!

And Red - sure hope you and sister Josie will have a chance to get to Mamma Mia soon if you haven't already been to the theater together.
I wrote about seeing it this week with my friend MSS over here at Annie's Addendum and don't think there are any real "spoilers' in my post.
I bought the CD yesterday - guess what - the booklet has all the words, so by the time the DVD comes out - I'll be ready.
Now I just hope you are as thrilled with the movie as we are with the peaches!

Anvils under the Hammer

Yesterday afternoon news reached me that our village blacksmith(click the link to read about over a hundred years of his family business in our village) was selling up, everything in his forge and workshops was up for auction - NOW!


He is an elderly man with no one to take over the business, so I can fully understand his reasons, but I also felt a little sad at the loss of yet another traditional trade from our tiny village.


Ninety-six year old John, the beekeeper, recently visited us to borrow a book which I had previously lent to him...an 1898 account book for a village blacksmith's business. He wanted to show it to his friend, the blacksmith.


How could I refuse? Besides, who better to peruse the old entries than these two chaps, both of whom are nearly as old as the book and to whom the old terms and old farming equipment would have been so familiar.


They had a wonderful time poring over the book together and were able to decipher some of the stranger terms and to explain how things were done all that time ago.

The old and rusty equipment, covered in so many layers of dirt and dust was wonderful to behold.


I love the old and worn metal work, the grain of the wood which has silvered and worn.This equipment was used for making wheels.

Keith, our local village pub landlord, found this old knife, it is bone handled and has seen a lot of use.Our wonderful Railway Tavern often gets a mention in posts, here is one.

We havelost our Post Office, village shop, butcher's shop,the village school

and now the village blacksmith.
Luckily,

we still have the pub and the village hall.

As we left, prospective purchasers were pouring in.I didn't want to stay and watch.x

The Winter Solstice

Whenever the Winter or Summer Solstices come around, I feel like I should do something to mark the day; like run naked through the trees or howl at the moon.  Instead, I lit a bonfire and helped the grandchildren roast marshmallows.  
I guess it was a success, because they kept telling me how cool it was.  What higher praise could I get?  It wasn't as exciting as my former ideas but more appropriate, I guess.  Sigh.....