Curling, curling

On a day when the temperature actually broke into above freezing temperatures, tonight the Miller Rink scored our third victory of the season. We will not be chosen to represent the USA at the next Winter Olympics, but it's nice to win once in a while. We played with just three curlers - Mr Moohoo, Wireless, and me. Of course we were bolstered by the support of our loyal fans - PP and BB. They watched and had a brew or two while we coasted to an 8-1 lead after four ends. Then the unexpected happened. With two ends left to be completed, our opponents decided to pack it in. They didn't realize that we are capable of blowing a lead even that large, I guess, or maybe they needed to get back to drinking beer. They shook hands and we swept the ice, the chore of the winners. Pretty sweet.



I've been back from my trip to Port Charlotte for almost a week now. It's been winter since I returned, but today seemed to hint at spring. The puddles on the street corners were growing large, and they were liquid almost all day. I still have a little tan on my legs from the tennis and biking I did in the Sunshine State, but I suspect that it will fade before real spring arrives in the North Star State.

I played USTA mixed doubles tennis Sunday evening and lost to a pretty good team. Marcia and I lost 6-0, 7-5. It took us nine games before we broke into the win column, but after we finally figured out how to play the other team, things went pretty well. It was a match against the team that we are tied with for the league lead, so it would have been nice to win, but it was a good match and I was proud of our ability to come back at the end.

It's Still Winter

Every year Minnehaha Falls does this. It freezes up and icicles hang from rock. This is what this year's version looked like today after several days of below zero luxury in Minnesota.


Curling last night was a good game, but we lost on the last rock delivered. I was the deliverer and nearly did enough to get a point to break a fifth end tie. Alas, we went down by a point. Our season has not been very successful, but we have hopes for the new year.

But I played a little better tennis tonight and the result was a little better, too. We managed to finish two sets and a part of a third, before we were timed off the court and I was able to go to Yang's for my Thursday night lomein dinner. I brought it home and shared it with Herb, who had not yet eaten dinner at my arrival at 9 pm. Tasty.

Curling Night in St Paul

As you can see from the Curling Club schedule board below, we curled on sheet seven at 9 pm and got a handicap of one - so we started ahead 1-0. We had a full team, and Wireless brought along her roommate, the Prairie Princess to watch the action. We had a good night and notched our first victory 7-4. Mr Moohoo, our skipper, was in the zone and made some quite nice shots to get us ahead 7-0 after four ends. In this league, a lot of shots depend on your Plan B - which usually means you've got Lady Luck on your side.


PP took the GRE today, so she won't be nervous about that any more. She says that she's landed a part time job, too, so life is getting a little more structure.

It was a dreary November day that started out with snow on the ground and finished with puddles everywhere. It was a good day to do some curling.

Curling again

Yesterday was a really nice fall day, although tomorrow promises one of those OOTND in THOD days. I took a jaunt over to Fort Snelling State Park to look for wildlife and to test my stamina a little. The Mendota Bridge was looking impressive so I snapped off a photo as I walked beneath it. It's a giant bridge. And it was a nice long trek in the great out of doors.


As I walked along the Minnesota River I encountered wildlife. Two deer were munching on some succulent leaves. This one, the buck, pretty much ignored my presence. I guess it's not yet deer season or they would have been skittish. I don't think that they have a deer season in the park, if my memory serves.


There was curling tonight at SPCC. The three of us - Curt was sick - forced a team of four young guys to extra ends. Gino had executed a last rock draw to the house to get us to overtime. The young guys beat us on a fortunate shot on the last stone and we went home. The victors (them) sweep the ice after the game, so it was a nearly perfect end to a fun game. It was a nice job from Gino and Wireless to keep us in the game.

Water - In the Powder Form

It snowed about six inches in St Paul, nine inches in surrounding suburbs, according to various weather sites. I took these pictures in the early morning before the strong April sun made the white stuff turn to water. That is warm sunshine, about the same strength as September 10.



Both of these photos were taken in my backyard. This is the fence between me and my neighbor.


The curling playdowns were tonight. We were in serious jeopardy of winning the game for a while. After six ends of an eight end game we were up 7-3. We were curling without Wireless, but the other members of the team were pretty much in the zone up until then. In the seventh end we gave up three points when a unlucky carom went astray. Then they scored two in the eighth end to win by one. I had the last stone and missed by a couple of inches on an attempt to get closer to the button than their last shot. So the season ends. Spring can now begin.

My favorite April Fool's Story for this year. The people who make "Butterfinger" candy bars put out a press release announcing that the 80 year old name of the candy was being changed to "The Finger." So, give someone you know "The Finger" for Valentine's Day.

Unky Herb had another bike ride in his parka this evening. The temp was 40 degrees by the thermometer in his green Corolla, but the sky was bright and the roads nearly clear of the snow that fell last night. It's time for biking to begin.

No organized athletics for me tomorrow. Maybe I'll find some low impact activity to get ready for my next tennis outing on Thursday. Napping, perhaps.

Last Day of Meteorological Winter?

In Minnesota, supposedly, the winter season is really December, January and February. That's what the weather guys are saying, so today, Leap Day, is the last day of winter. Yay. It snowed last night on my way to play tennis, and on the way home I was confronted with freezing rain. This morning, Herb and I shoveled the droppings off the sidewalks. As you can see, the winter has not yet loosened its grasp on my backyard. I wisely waited until today to shovel, so that the ice stuck to the top of the snow, rather than merging with the sidewalk. I have had some exercise already today.



The tennis was good last night. Jerry's sub, Pat, played well and the hardcore girls were at their usual steely best. Barb and I fell behind 4-1 in both of the finished sets, but rallied to win both 7-5, 6-4. The fragment set was 1-4, so you can see that we were consistently slow at getting into the set. Becky, who works at the hospital where Jerry is spending the week, reported that Jerry is doing very well. The pathology report showed no spread of the tumor to lymph nodes, so he is very relieved and pretty doggone happy. He's on his way home sometime today, although he has to get used to eating real food again, yet. I look forward to fighting off his driving, swinging forehand volleys soon. Maybe before the snow is completely gone.

I'm amusing myself by not shaving my geezer visage until spring arrives. In the interest of measurability, that means that the temperature in the Saintly City must remain above freezing for 48 consecutive hours. That's my own personal gauge. So far this season, that span has been far beyond our ability to attain. A shot of the current visage is included for scale.



I haven't reported from curling for the week. Wednesday night was a successful evening for the Miller Rink. The game was tied 6-6 after five ends, but we had the hammer, and thus curled last. We had some good shots from Wireless and Kurt, which left three counting stones in the house. We were able to guard them, with shots from Gino, and the game ended with their skip trying an impossible shot with the expected result. 9-6. The playoffs are starting in about three weeks. We have two more games before then, but we are not in danger of winning the league. Curling is a good diversion for the winter months, but winter is nearly over. See above.

I assume that there is a theme for the March first post. Since it is leap year, I hope that it has something to do with jumping. Otherwise, I have some more pictures of the beard.

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.

Orange Bush

Minnesota has very few orange trees.   This one is small and resides near the tennis court that I spent 5 hours on last weekend.   This was taken after three sets of pretty good tennis with the coach.  

It is strange how fast one's reality can change.  I am now freshly back from curling in the Saintly City.  The temperature is 13 degrees and there was frost on my windshield that I had to scrape off before driving home.  

The curling session tonight went well enough.  We had two interesting games that were decided in the  last end on the last rock.   That's how curling is designed.  The last rock often decides the winner.   So I'm guessing that there is no indoor curling in Florida (none outdoors either) and no outdoors tennis in Minnesota this month.  February.

It's getting cold in these parts

It's five degrees as I write. Those are positive degrees. The low tomorrow as predicted by the local weather underground will be -13, and Saturday will be -12, for a total of -25. These are raw degrees, none of that exaggeration known as wind chill. The coldest week of the year is upon us. Thus the bear.



Only indoors activities to report. Curling last night was a mixed bag. The five o'clock league team won a close game in the final end and going to the final stone 7-6. The Miller Rink just missed a win, going into the final end in a 5-5 tie and with the hammer, gave up a point and the win. Hey, they had better and also matching clothes. It's hard to beat color coordination on the field of battle. Our win streak ended at four. So it goes.

The Thursday night mixed doubles was a flat draw. 6-4, 4-6, 3-3 (out of time). It was even, but I was a little off my game and most of the action was the hardcore girls banging shots at each other and sometimes into the net. There will be more tennis next week, followed by hibiscuses. Hibiiscusi???

The stock market tanked again today. There seems to be panic on Wall Street and the politicians are getting involved. That doesn't seem like a very good idea, based on the kind of trouble they've led us into in the last few years. Should we be bailing out the speculators? Will we be bailing them out?

Still January

A January thaw is promised for tomorrow. It's been cold for quite a while, so a little warm up is welcome.

A photo of Herb posing as the Michelin man on a cold January day.


Time for a short update on the curling team. We had to give up a point as handicap for the first time this year. The handicap system is meant to even the score so that the game is more likely to end in a tie. Since we've been on the streak, the league fathers have seen fit to rate us as a slightly stronger team. It made for an interesting game, as planned. We started fast, but our opponents came back to within a point in the final end. We had last rock, but didn't need it, winning 7-5. The streak is extended to four.

Last night was tennis with the hardcore girls. It was a close match and ended at a set each after 90 minutes 4-6, 7-5.

A little George Miller genealogy tidbit. He landed in New York in May, 1828, with his family. Where did he go from there until he surfaces in Steuben County Indiana and later, Bad Ax County, Wisconsin? Many, maybe a majority of Alsatian immigrants, settled in Western New York, especially in Erie County. Many others stayed in the Buffalo area for a short while before moving farther west, to places like Ontario and Ohio. Why was western New York such a popular destination? That is easy to explain. The Erie Canal had opened in 1825. It made western New York easily accessible from the Atlantic coast for the first time. For an immigrant arriving at New York harbor, looking for cheap unoccupied land to settle, Western New York was the easiest place to reach. There must be records of this immigrant family somewhere in upstate New York. A puzzle exists here that should be pursued.

Boxes and Curls

Another Christmas has passed into history. Herb and I spent much of the day with gzmoohoo and family. We had some nice vittles and some gift exchanging. It was a snowy day, another 3 or 4 inches of white fluffy clogged the streets again. Today the city fathers declared another snow emergency and sent out the plows and the tow trucks. Below you can see what the street outside my house looked like this morning after I did my shoveling. It's all white and clean looking, but it's also a little cooler than I would like it. But this is Minnesota after all.


Another picture of snow heaped on the rail at the back door. This may have looked better in black and white, because they are about the only colors still out there. It is December and the only flowers are inside heated buildings.



It's boxing day in Canada, the day that the decorations are boxed up and returned to the attic. That may happen in Canada, but I'm waiting until January, at least. One year I left the Christmas wreath on the front door in place until spring and birds started a nest in it. I have been better about getting on with the New Year since then.

It's also curling day. The first game of the evening at SPCC went south pretty fast. We lost to a team that ceded us a handicap of 2 points, but we fell behind 9-3 before capitulating. The second game was better. This was the Miller Rink and we were curling in good luck. The team we played has beaten us pretty regularly in the last couple of years, but not tonight. Mr Moohoo made some good shots, and I had a lucky carom or two and we won our third consecutive game in the league. It was a nice way to end the curling year.

A Siberian Tiger escaped from its cage in the San Francisco Zoo yesterday and killed a young man. I have been to the Como Zoo in the last few weeks, where some Siberian tigers reside, and even posted a photo of a tiger on this blog that day. It is hard for me to see how a tiger can escape from the areas that they are enclosed in. I am waiting for more info, but it makes me a little more nervous about my trips to the zoo. I wonder if the tiger wasn't released by somebody as some sort of act of terrorism. It reminds me a little of the plot from "Twelve Monkeys," a Bruce Willis, Brad Pitt movie of a couple of years ago. Life sometimes imitates fiction.

Bad Air Day

The air is bad again today. "Unhealthy for sensitive individuals" says the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. Temperature inversions are rare in the winter, but we have one this week. Harbinger of things to come??

The curling teams were successful last night. The Miller Rink won its second straight game and this time it was against the Scott Rink, a team that had owned us up until last night. 8-4. Gino was the skipper for his first time of the season, so his record as skip is perfect. The game came down to the next to last shot, which curling games often do. We had the hammer, which was comforting, but not needed. Both Emmy and Curt had some good shots and the sweeping was ferocious. The skip's last shot was the shot of the game and gave us the win.

My Christmas preparations are gaining momentum. I sent out Christmas letters and did some shopping today. The stores were busy, but not yet frenzied like it will be in a couple of days. There were sales at some stores with as much as 60% off on some items that looked pretty attractive. I understand that some of the merchants are getting a little desperate, because the sub-prime crisis is causing a certain reluctance to spend in many quarters.

The hardcore girls were back tonight at mixed doubles night. We split sets 7-6, 4-6, and started a third before running out of time. We played pretty hard in the bad air, although we were inside. I wonder why the indoor air is not as polluted as that outside. The ladies are trying to organize an 8.0 women's doubles team, but are short of good 4.0 women players. Since Jerry is a big organizer, he found a contact at the club who knows some players, and he is helping to get the team going.

Today was our first day above freezing in December. The high was 33 degrees. And I repeat, we had a bad air day.

That Putin guy from Moscow and the KGB is Time magazine person of the year. An interesting choice and not too popular in some circles. Mitt Romney apparently disagreed with the choice. He wouldn't have liked it to be Al Gore either. Al has had a pretty good year already.

Wednesday Curling

It is still Wednesday. This morning Herb and I chatted over the internet with Kagami Sensei who is still in Ogaki, Japan. This picture was taken in Hokkaido about a year and a half ago, but it's still representative and it's nice to have her picture on the blog. KS is expected to return to the USA in April and May. Then we'll have some fresh photos of her.


There was curling tonight. The geezer rink - the really old guys - lost in the seventh end after being tied at the end of six. It was a game we should have won, but they scored a miracle shot in the fourth end that got them back into the game. Then we lost our edge and lost the lead and the game. The nine o'clock game - the Miller Rink - managed a six end victory. It was a good game, even if the score doesn't show it. We won 9-3. W00t! W00t!

Curling Night in St Paul

It was a night to curl in the Saintly City. The Serier Rink sans Serier came within a point of victory. It was a competitive game, but the good shots weren't forthcoming when we needed them. There was some chatting with the old guys on the team after the game while we ate dinner in the upsatirs area of the club. Mr Moohoo and I are the youngsters on this team, if you can believe that. Harry admits to playing 56 years in a row of curling, starting in Superior, Wisconsin, in 1951 or 1952. He was explaining how curling has changed over the years. The stone size has standardized to 42 and a half pounds, and now curlers slide when they deliver the stone. They used to just slide the stone from the hack (the starting position) down the ice sheet. Now there is a controversy about the use of the stick. People are allowed to use a long stick - kind of like a shuffle board stick - to deliver the stone. It's a boon to people who have a bad back or balance problems, but the purists think that it compromises the sport. On our team (the Serier Rink) only Serier is a stick user, and he has a bad back. Nobody has complained about the stick in any of our games, so I guess at our club it has been welcomed.

It's about 7 degrees outside tonight and it looks like we may see a below zero reading in the morning. Winter is going to be with us for quite a while.

Cold, Clear, Thin Ice

Yesterday was cold and calm. Today was not so cold, but windy. It felt just as cold as yesterday. Since there has been only flurries thus far this season, the ice has frozen clear, without a layer of snow for insulation. My mid day trek was a search for ice. In Minnesota this time of year it is a quest that is easily fulfilled. Thus the photo with the requisite "Thin Ice" sign for those foolhardy enough to venture onto the hardened HOH.

It was cold enough outside that I sought refuge in the Como Conservatory, and thought that I could get some photos in the flower garden. Two problems cropped up. The camera was so cold that it gathered condensation on the lens and was unusable for quite a while. And the flowers were being traded out from the fall flower show to the poinsettia show which starts December 1, this next Saturday. It was nice and warm in the Fern Room.


It is curling night. The Miller Rink will be at full strength tonight, I think. Wireless has returned from Paris and is expected back on the indoor ice at SPCC. We have a losing streak in progress that needs some inspirational curling to curtail.

It is Wednesday and Herb (UH) and I spent about an hour using iChat technology to talk with Kagami Sensei. She is studying hard for her Japanese language test which is scheduled on December 5. She's learning grammar and other idiosyncrasies, but not getting enough social interaction. She had Thanksgiving with Roberto and other assorted Americans. Miki and Roberto rounded up a turkey and roasted it in the tiny Japanese style oven, plus Roberto made some gravy. KS said that the turkey smelled wonderful, just like home cooked bird.

Only 24 more days until the solstice.

Large Refrigeration Unit

It's curling night and the Miller Rink will be only three strong tonight as one of the team members is traveling. It's the night before Thanksgiving, which in the past meant that the Bonnies took the night off and we curled at 7:00 pm. As it turns out, we''ll be curling at our normal time. We will be competing in what could be considered a very large refrigerator. The club makes use of that fact by storing its beer along the edge of sheet one. The kegs in the photo are full and destined to filter through the members at a later date.


We had real snow flurries today and it felt like winter is ready to make an impact on the citizens. I walked up to the Cook's store on Grand and Victoria to see what sort of skewers or sewing apparatus was available for keeping the stuffing inside a roasting turkey. They had several solutions, but I may go with some heavy twine that I have in-house. Or duct tape. ( :-) The turkey is starting to soften up on its path to being thawed out, but I may have to use the running water trick to finish the job. I am likely to photgraph the bird in its golden glory for tomorrow's blog. By that time it will be food.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Curling, Curling

It was curling night and I had to rush home to get in the daily blog and thus stay in the challenge. I curled twice tonight. The first was with the John Serier Rink. We won a tight game 6-5 by scoring two points in the 7th and last end. It boosted Harold's record for the year to 1-8. Harold was the skip tonight. He is a 75 year-old former two-time national curling champion, just slightly past his prime. Below is a shot of sheet number two when I was warming up before the first game. There are two of the 42 pound rocks on the ice.


This is a photo of the other three members of the Miller Rink before the Metro League game at 9 pm. We started about fifteen minutes late because the Bonnie's game went to O.T. We lost the coin toss and had to curl first. We didn't give up a point until the 6th end and by that time we were ahead 8-0. We finished the last end after giving up 4 points and now are 1-1 in the league. We were pretty much in the zone, a fine place to be once in a while.


It's 11:36 and the blog is done.

Curling Season Sweeps In

The Halloween season is in full bloom. A lot of people in St Paul go all out in decorating their houses in hopes of scaring the bejesus out of the tuskers that come to their door for candy. While riding through the neighborhood I ran across a couple of pretty good examples. I don't know of any contest for the largest witch in town, but the first one has the largest witch that I have seen and represents some real labor in getting it affixed to the roof.


This one has a nice array of scary items and seems pretty well turned out. I have seen others about that may need to be photographed, too. Two years ago, when KS went to Japan to teach, she brought a Halloween costume with her, at her boss's request, for the school Halloween program. She also asked me to send some photos of decorated homes to show to the kids, because they don't have the same tradition of dolling up their homes for the holiday. I seems to a USA thing. So I've scouted out some of the decorations in this area, too.


Yesterday was the kickoff of the curling season. We had a game at 4:50 and another at 9 pm, so I spent a lot of the day in the curling club. My team in each case came out a little short on the scoreboard, but it's early in the season yet, and we may develop into a force in the leagues. Anyway, it's just curling.

There was tennis tonight at Wooddale. It was a session of mixed doubles with the hardcore girls and Jerry. It's always fun to play, and there are always some good points and one or two seemingly miraculous points. Tonight, I can remember two. You had to be there to appeciate them, however, because there is no video at Wooddale. We finished two sets and started a third before being evicted from the court by the next renter. 6-4, 6-4 were the scores.

The Red Sox won the first game of the Series in Boston. Sox beat Rox 13-1.

Autumn Trek Photos

The Blogger facility is working a little better today,so I'm uploading the photos that I wanted to use yesterday. Blogger failed me once today, but my repeated upload attempts eventually succeeded.

Yestreday's bike trek began in my own backyard. My sweet little maple tree is beginning to drop all her leaves. They changed color and then the winds came and this is what remained yesterday.


My journey took me to the River Road across the Ford Parkway bridge, and by Minnehaha Falls. It rained for about 18 of the last 21 days, so this is quite high water in the Creek that flows over the precipice. It's a fierce waterfall this month compared with the July barely adequate flow. And the leaves have decided to redecorate.


This is the photo of the spot where the trek odometer reached 400 miles for the year. A puny total for some, but not insignificant for most Social Security recipients. The bridge behind the bike goes to Pike Island in the lowland below Fort Snelling. It is one of the few places in the Twin Cities that you will find a sign forbidding bicycle travel. (There is another one very near Minnehaha Park in the Longfellow Gardens area). It was a busy place when I rode there yesterday, today it was likely deserted.


I found my broom and sliding shoes for curling and went to the club on Selby for the open house today. The place was populated with new curlers, but the event was not very well organized. I watched for a while, then came home to watch the Vikings lose another game, this one to the Dallas 'Boys. I think I'll be able to remember the curling delivery for the first night on the ice this Wednesday.