Ice on the Lakes and Rivers

After tennis at the Fort Snelling Emporium of Geezer Tennis, I went outside and found spring. The thermometer in my car said 64 degrees. That's warm enough to play outside, if only that pesky layer of ice, and below it the muck, would cooperate. When I got home, my son, UH, was outside without shoes or a shirt basking in the heat. I know, this is false spring, but worth celebrating, or at least enjoying. I went down to Crosby Farm Park to see if the ice on Upper Lake had taken its leave. As you can see in the photo, there is some open water, but ice remains. It's too cold to swim. I circumnavigated Upper Lake and walked along the big river for a while. There were plenty of sun worshippers out, but the river is starting to swell and flooding is expected.



Since it was still very nice late in the afternoon, thanks to daylight saving time, I went to Harriet Island further down the river. The river is not covered with ice, but there are ice floes and pretty big chunks of ice flowing down towards New Orleans. The city looks pretty secure, much of it up on the bluff, but the flood plain may very well live up to its name in the weeks ahead.



It was my fourth consecutive day of tennis. By the time we (the other geezers and me) finished with our two sets, I was tired and ready for some food and some leisure activities. The sets were split 4-6, 6-1, but Dr. Bill was the big winner today. He's been playing well lately and is a force to be reckoned with among this group of seniors. I have tomorrow off from the wars.

John, one of the geezers, and a recreational biker, recommended a good biker documentary about the Tour de France in 2003, called "Hell on Wheels" about the German team, Telecom, that that great horse of a man, Jan Ulrich, led in a dual with Lance Armstrong. The movie is more about Eric Zabel than Lance, but seems to catch the spirit of the event, according to John. I'm going to look for it at Blockbuster.