St Paul Curling Club

It's Wednesday night, my usual curling night. The early game tonight was close and almost resulted in a win by our team. We were awarded a two point handicap to start so that we could compete against quite a good team. After eight ends the score was tied 7-7 and in the extra end we came within a couple of inches of scoring the winning point, but had to settle for second. We curled as well as we have all year. The team - Chuck, me, Gino and John - at one time held a 7-3 lead, but weren't able to stay in front. The picture below is the curling club on Selby Avenue where we play our games and where I often eat dinner between games. There are eight sheets of ice where curling goes on continuously most nights of the week. Last year's national club champion teams for both men and women are teams that play out of this club. They are going to Japan for an international bonspiel (tournament) this week, I think. A special congratulations to one of my friends from Cray for being on the women's team. Nice job, Peggy, if you are reading this.



My furnace problem has been fixed. The temperature in the house reached 48 degrees early Monday morning before the arrival of the heating repair man. He replaced the pump and was on his way for something under $600. That is, of course, much cheaper than replacing the pipes, which sometimes happens in cold weather when they freeze and burst in the walls. The temperature outside the last morning was about 6 below zero, which is plenty cold enough to freeze water in or out of a pipe. What i mean to say is, it could have been much worse.

There will be tennis tomorrow, Friday and Saturday. The Friday match is USTA league play, but the other two are permanent times at Wooddale with the hardcore girls and the tennis playing geezers. Tomorrow I may even find something scenic to photograph and add to this blog. The St Paul landscapes are seeming pretty gray and blah, but a coating of fresh snow is expected overnight and that may make for scenic vistas.