Posts Tagged ‘winter’

It’s wonderful.  Everywhere, so white.
The river has frozen over.  Not a soul on the ice.
Only me skating fast.
I’m speeding past trees, Leaving little lines in the ice,
Splitting, splitting sound, Silver heels spitting, spitting snow.
– Kate Bush

It’s not like you ever think you know everything.  It’s just that sometimes it’s hard to go so far back to the beginning that you feel like you don’t know anything!  That’s what it was like this weekend when we decided to give cross country skiing a go.  Every single step I took during those first days of kayaking I am reliving with cross country skis, right down to being pretty sure the sales guy thinks I am much less athletic than I am capable of being.  Oh well, some things never change.  After a day on the trails I’m not sure this is my thing, but when it’s January in Wisconsin you’ve got to do something. -  I wrote a bit more about day one on the skis here.

What’s new pussycat? Woah, Woah
What’s new pussycat? Woah, Woah
Pussycat, Pussycat
You’re so thrilling
And I’m so willing
To care for you.
– tom jones

Oh man.. While we here in the great white north try to squeeze in a few more day paddles before the snow flies and the water freezes,  some shops are already contemplating next year’s orders and manufacturers are crossing the ‘t’s on their new kayaks and kit!  It’s just the way of things.  How many days until Christmas?

Read the rest of this entry »

Some people would never plant fruit trees in their yard because they hate the mess.  For a couple weeks a year I totally get their point.

Today is the first day of school in this part of the world.  The news is raging about a predicted up-swing in Swine Flu cases, hospitalizations and deaths because everyone is sending their kids to school, while reminding everyone to send their kids to school.  Ah…?

Read the rest of this entry »

It won’t be long yeah, yeah, yeah
It won’t be long yeah, yeah, yeah
It won’t be long yeah
– the beatles

I woke up this morning to a distinct chill in the air and the Beatles singing in my head.  Winter’s on the way and it won’t be long now.  Today I’m going to meet JB for a bit of play time on, and in the water.  Better do it now, while we still have time.

Here is the other place in my part of the world where you can still find open water.  It’s a hydro-electric dam in a city called Sauk-Prairie located on the Wisconsin River. The waters below the dam are popular with fisherman looking to hook monsters as big as their boats, Bald Eagles who have found this open section of river to be a lifesaver in the dead of winter, and of course the occasional desperate kayaker looking for a bit of a wave.

Read the rest of this entry »

I’d love to stay up with you
but I recommend a little shuteye
Go to sleep
And dream
Of snow
- from White Christmas

We are under a Winter Storm Warning here in Wisconsin today.  It started yesterday when moisture from the Gulf of Mexico began to get sucked up into Wisconsin and met with cold artic air from Canada.

Read the rest of this entry »

Just a couple weeks back I was standing in warm water on a sunny beach. . . What the He*l Happened!?  Winter storm & weather warnings continue around the mid-west today.  It may not be safe to drive, but paddling isn’t so bad. Click Here For The Pictures.