October continues

Summer disappeared so suddenly that it seems like it may make a comeback. It wasn't to be today, although it wasn't too bad a day for autumn. The mercury (who uses mercury thermometers any more?) rose to 50 degrees, stuck for an hour or so and then drifted back into the forties. [How nice would it be to drift back into the forties?]

A walk around Crosby Farm with my camera seemed like a good idea.  I was surprised on arrival to find that the park is in the midst of improvements.  A good deal of asphalt is about to be replaced by prairie, and the parking lot enlarged to replace lost parking elsewhere.  In addition, a new stretch of bike path was bulldozed through the edge of the woods to allow easier access to Upper Lake, necessary because of the loss of road surface.  I guess.  The park was posted as closed, but I walked by the sign and visited Upper Lake.  There were just a few people around, but the wild birds were nestled onto the lakes surface; a bunch of mallards and a flock of Canada geese.  The trees are well on the way to their colorful best, a few have dropped their leaves - probably ashes.

It was a nice walk and a nice day in the forest in the heart of the Twin Cities.  By the big river.

I walked by this structure.  It's just a big pile of drift wood, deposited by the floods of the spring, but now a long way from the nearest body of water.  Upper Lake is in the background.

Johnny Unitas was in the news lately, because his record for TD's in consecutive football games was broken by Drew Brees. Because Alex Karras (Mongo in "Blazing Saddles") died this week at 77, I wondered whether Johnny U. was still alive. Pro football is pretty hard on the human body. He died in 2002 at the age of 69, a fact not lost on a guy about to change decades. He had a heart attack. He had lost almost total use of his right hand, with the middle finger and thumb noticeably disfigured from being repeatedly broken during games.  Tennis is hard on your body, too, but nothing like that.

Crosby Farm is Flooded and Closed

A chilly March day after a string of pretty good Minnesota spring days gave me pause, but since the river crested yesterday, I wanted to see the beaver dam on Upper Lake. The weather creatures have been saying that this is the eighth worst flood on record at 18.5 feet above flood stage in St Paul. Around noon I drove to Crosby Farm and parked. Across the river from the top of the hill I could see Fort Snelling and Pike Island below. The photo below shows Pike Island and the Mendota Bridge in the far background. Pike Island is inaccessible and flooded. I soon found that Upper Lake is also inaccessible. So the beaver dam will have to wait for the water level to ebb. I had a nice brisk walk through the part of Crosby Farm that is still above water, and I managed to get enough exercise for the morning.



The Thursday night mixed doubles went a little late tonight because the next players didn't show up. We played on and were able to get in three complete sets - 6-3,7-5,6-4. We've been changing partners for the last few weeks, weekly, and playing the whole session with the same teams we began with. Tonight I was paired with Becky, against Jerry and Barb. Good tennis and no bickering. Then off to Yang's for grand chicken.

PP is still at White Earth while her car is being repaired. A minor parking lot wounding. She'll be back next week. Unky Herb is off to Chicago again this weekend in the Corolla. Busy. Busy. Busy.

Stay Off the River

I hadn't been to Crosby Farm for several weeks to check on the beaver lodge, but today (a cold and cloudy, rainy day) I ventured down the hill to Crosby Farm and went to have a look. Not much is going on there. The beavers seem to be resting securely in their lodge - no tracks to be seen. There has been human activity in the area, however. Crosby Farm is a pretty good place within the city to do some cross country skiing and there are tracks all over the place to indicate the presence of skiers. They ski on Upper Lake and also along the edge of the mighty Mississippi in spite of the signs. The "thin ice" sign below is next to the river. (The ice on the lake is thick enough to ski on, maybe thick enough to drive a truck on, too.) The sign by the river is relevant. A real danger exists because the river is moving water and the ice unpredictable. I ventured as far out on the ice as the ski tracks, but only briefly. The skiers stay close to the banks.



This is the Mississippi River in winter by Crosby Farm. This photo attempts to show how the river is used by the cross country skiers, There are no tracks going across the river. And there is no evidence of anyone going through the ice, although somewhere in this great state there is usually one or two instances of people falling through the ice sometime in January because they have underestimated the predictability of river ice.



There was tennis tonight again at Wooddale with Jerry and the hardcore girls. We managed three sets and had some good points. Becky was playing well as my partner and we had quite a few long competitive points, sometimes decided by net cord shots.

The Aussie Open has begun in Australia. Justine Henin is playing again. She came out of retirement this year after seeing the success enjoyed by her countrywoman, Kim Clijsters, last year at the US Open. It's nice to see the Belgians back in the draw of the major tournaments. I hope they stay around and play at Roland Garros in May.

One last item. I have a vague memory of a kid's song whose lyrics have been mangled in my mind for some time. I wonder if any one knows where these lyrics came from, or did I dream them up myself. Have these lyrics been copyrighted?

"Oh where, oh where has my little dog gone
Oh where, oh where can he be
Away down south with his tail in his mouth
And his hind legs up in a tree."

Wildlife

It's been a busy week since my return from Tucson. There was Thanksgiving, then Unky Herb went off to Arizona for a vacation, a chance to see the Grand Canyon, some desert and his cousin, John. I guess all is going well there, but he missed a pretty good pie party on Saturday night. I neglected to get any photos of the festivities, but the usual after Thanksgiving group helped PP and I down some Papa Murphy's pizza, a nice salad and a cold beverage. UH called during the party and several of the party chatted with his Arizona host. It was cool.

PP is off to a road trip for her next to last week at MCC. She's wielding her chain saw somewhere near Rochester.

So today, with the weather still decent and no snow yet on the ground, I went to check out the beaver dam that I was watching before my trip to the high desert. The beavers have been working on the ash trees near Upper Lake. I found one tree that was gnawed through, but had not fallen. This was a fresh casualty of the beavers, gnawed through recently and hung up on another nearby tree..




I walked around Upper Lake, hoping to see the animal of the day. After once around, I sighted a brown head swimming in the lake. I think it's one of the beavers, but I could be wrong. I tried to get closer for a better view and the creature went under water and never came to the surface again. I think that he may have retreated to his lodge, but after waiting about five minutes, I went on my way. It was definitely a wildlife sighting, however.



Incidentally, on my trek around Crosby Farm I sighted two guys on bicycles, and one was helmetless. It seemed to be too cold to bike without a head covering, but maybe it was just a hardcore guy.

No tennis today. I had the day off after three straight days of doubles with various groups. My timing is back - after the altitude problems in Tucson - and I'm playing pretty well. It would have been nice to have been in this zone while the tournament was going on. C'est la vie.

Crosby Lake

It was a gray November day and no tennis was on my schedule. It's not warm enough for much, except a walk in the wilds of St. Paul, namely Crosby Farm Park. It was in the mid 40's, and the chance of rain was small. I had been to Upper Lake in the park a couple of days ago and discovered evidence of beaver activity. I thought I might be able to surprise a beaver and get a good photo of one, perhaps enjoying some ash tree for lunch. I have since learned that beavers are nocturnal and hard to find out and about during daylight hours. I did get a pretty good look at a couple of beaver lodges. This one is in Upper Lake.



I also learned that in the 17th century the Catholic Church ruled that the beaver is a fish for purposes of the dietary law. Thus, in Lent the faithful can eat beaver - also otter, if the truth be known. I am amazed at the things one can learn from Wikipedia.

I decided to walk around Crosby Lake. I have been by the lake on my bicycle many times, but the side that runs along the cliff has only foot paths, and rudimentary ones at that. It's a good size lake, but I set out into new territory. New territory is always a little exciting. I first found this deep crevice cutting into the cliff below Shepard Road. It looks dangerous and alluring.



There is also a previously unknown (to me) cave cut into the cliff. See below.

I only met one person during the wild part of the walk. It was a young woman walking with her Springer Spaniel. As I met her I observed that I hadn't expected to meet anyone on the trail. She responded that she had that same expectation. I then said that it was a pretty area. She said that she agreed and said that I shouldn't tell anyone about it. You are all thus sworn to secrecy.



On Crosby Lake there were more signs of beaver activity. There were some gnawed trees, an elevated beaver pond, and this large beaver lodge in the lake itself.



I have included a google maps reproduction of the area where I spent part of my day. I managed to circumnavigate both Crosby Lake and Upper Lake before I came home for a late lunch, maybe four or five miles.



Lastly. The Highland Villager, our local newsy paper reported some info about the deer hunt in Crosby Farm Park last week. The deer herd was estimated at about 24 members, and 5 of them were taken in the first three days of the hunt. There were 14 bow hunters who joined in the doe-only hunt. The same 14 will be at it again next week in the final three days of the attempt to trim the herd to a more manageable number. They hope to salvage some of the shrubbery in the yards of some Highland Park homeowners.

Upper Lake

It's Monday and November. PP had a day off from her restoration quest. She and I decided to visit the smaller lake in Crosby Farm Park, Upper Lake. The season has redecorated the park. Most of the trees have lost their leaves and the oaks have become the predominant colored tree. The buck thorn is still green. They seem to be the only bush that is still green and they are the arch-enemy of PP in her day job. She chainsaws them down when she gets a chance.

The interesting development at the lake is the activity of a group of beavers. They seem to be building a lodge for the winter out in the lake. They have been chewing down trees in the area. I took this shot of an ash tree that was recently felled, but there are others in the area. They bite quite large chips out of the tree trunks and the pile next to the trees is pretty impressive. We walked around the area, hoping to encounter one of the lodge builders, but it wasn't to be.



It's a wild spot in the middle of a metropolitan area and the beavers are doing what beavers do. This is the same area that had a deer hunt for archers last month and they'll be doing it again next week.

It was a sunny day, more like a nice October day than November.

A full moon is out tonight, the one known as the Hunter's Moon. The season is changing.

There was no tennis today, but I'm scheduled for tomorrow afternoon with three other geezers.

Septober

It was such a beautiful day, so after I mowed the grass, I took one of my infrequent treks on the Trek that I got for free from a real biker several years ago. It was early afternoon and I knew I had to play mixed doubles tonight with the hardcore girls and Curt, so I thought I'd keep it to about ten miles. I went down Benhill to Victoria and across 7th to Shepherd Road and continued to Crosby Farm Park along the mighty Misssissippi. There were lots of people walking their respective dogs on the trail, but it was warm and pleasant, so I just ambled along. I found this large bed of Back-Eyed Susans and decided to try to get a photo with the Trek imbedded in them. This is about as good a shot as I got, but I tried. Then I rode home, up Benhill, and the odometer read 15 miles. I'm closing in on a mileage milestone.


The mixed doubles was competitive and a lot of fun. We played inside at Wooddale. We played three hard sets, lots of long points, and went home knackered - speaking strictly for me. I think I need a day off.

Monday Morning Doubles Action

Monday morning doubles at Visitation High School in Mendota Heights was a good way to start the day. There was some wind, but the morning was cool and the tennis was easy. Two hours with some intervals of good play and some bad. 6-4, 7-5 today. Tomorrow is a rest day from tennis, so I may get in a bike ride.

I passed the rest of the day at retirement pace. I had lunch with the Shark and Branny at the Royal Buffet, trying in our way to solve some of the big issues of the day - mainly the energy crisis and how to more efficiently use the sun and water. You know, pleasant BS-ing. And then I went home to water the plants on my property so that it would look nice for the impending visit of she who teaches English in a far land.

This is the tunnel under 35E on the route of my most nearly usual biking route. This gets me almost to Crosby Farm Park and the ride along the river to Hidden Falls. I may very well be using this route tomorrow, but today - no.


This is Crosby Lake in Crosby Farm Park and it has an immense amount of lily pads this time of year. The lake is next to the bike path on the way to the Big River, and is entirely within the Park - no buildings on its banks.


This ride has a lot of nature to experience and it's in the middle of a city. It's a respectable (for me) 15 miles. It does include a climb up Benhill Street, too, always a gut buster.

Theme-ish Day

It is theme day. This photo isn't exactly out my window and not exactly today, but it's some of what you'd see out my window, if it weren't raining. It was taken about two weeks ago when the flowers at Nancy's house were in full bloom.


I did ride this morning before the dripping started. I went down to Hidden Falls via the Mississippi River Road, through Crosby Farm Park, up along Shepherd Road to Otto, then home, including Benhill in my experience. 13+ miles.

With inclement weather here, I was able to watch Venus at Roland Garros lose in three sets to Jelena Jankovic, the four seed, on ESPN2. 6-4,4-6,6-1. Serena rolled, as did Federer and the bulk of the other faves.

Poetry Slam entry from the tousan:
Achtung, achtung,
The first of June
The first day of summer
is coming soon.

Geezer Tennis

Not a biking day for Tousan. I did slam some tennis balls over the nets at Marie Park this a.m. with the Geezer Gang of Eight - a regular Saturday morning event. I think now that I may need a day of rest, like Santini. We played a kind of round robin scheme wherein you only have the same partner for 4 games and then the teams are shuffled. I didn't get to play with everyone, but we each played 24 games, not including tie breakers, so it was enough. There was much good natured ribbing of opponents amongst the geezers. Claims of bad calls, and good natured appreciation of well executed shots - both intentional and accidental.

This photo is from yesterday's ride at Crosby Farm along the big river. It shows that a forest exists in the middle of St Paul.



I puttered around in the back yard - planted some flowers and trimmed some bushes. The city has replaced some sod on the boulevard that was new last year as a result of the "improvement" project in my neighborhood. The sod failed over the winter, so they brought in new - but it looks a little dryer than one would expect for new sod. Long story for very little payoff - I watered the sod profusely this afternoon. The grass on the boulevard is at the mercy of the legion of dogs walked on this street who tend to visit as many trees as they can. This iteration of sod may fail, too.

I wander.