Oh, my freaking God....
This cold crap is really starting to get to me. It was -14 this morning when I went to work. No big deal. The bizarre thing is that this cold snap comes on the heels of an unseasonably warm 2 days. Temps on Monday reached 40F, which felt just about like what I believe heaven feels like. To celebrate the heat wave, I carpe'd that Sun-diem by venturing out to the middle of Lake Calhoun to get an interesting view of downtown and the surrounding area from a vantage point that would normally require a canoe and 3 oz. of perspiration. And greater than 32 degrees.
Dream on.
While out there, I saw several other people who were trying to exorcise their cabin demons through "extreme" sports. One particularly interesting setup involved a large motorcycle-esque contraption with a winding spool that was staked into the ice. The line on the spool was pulled by a 4-wheeler to a snowboarder who would ride the retrieved tow line in water ski fashion back towards the staked biker. After building speed, he'd do a trick on a makeshift quarterpipe. On a lake.
Also, the kitesurfers captivated my attention. What these thrill seekers lacked in skill compared to their warm weather brethren I spied in FL, they made up for in numbers. Which led to humorous collisions. Turns out that it was a very nice day to be out... but not really windy at all. As a result, the kiteski/boarders looked a lot like me standing out there on the ice... except for their big kite in the air. It still looked like a good time, though.
Finally, we checked out the Winter Carnival to see the huge ice sculptures that sit out in the middle of St. Paul. We missed out on the ice maze, snow carving contest, giant snow slide, hot dish tent, coronation, medallion hunt, torch parade, national figure skating competition... but we saw some pretty cool ice. I was heartened to find that the organizers had just as much difficulty as I did photographing the chilly art when I snagged this one off of their website (That's the Wizard of Oz).
Well, see ya!
Stay warm.
Dream on.
While out there, I saw several other people who were trying to exorcise their cabin demons through "extreme" sports. One particularly interesting setup involved a large motorcycle-esque contraption with a winding spool that was staked into the ice. The line on the spool was pulled by a 4-wheeler to a snowboarder who would ride the retrieved tow line in water ski fashion back towards the staked biker. After building speed, he'd do a trick on a makeshift quarterpipe. On a lake.
Also, the kitesurfers captivated my attention. What these thrill seekers lacked in skill compared to their warm weather brethren I spied in FL, they made up for in numbers. Which led to humorous collisions. Turns out that it was a very nice day to be out... but not really windy at all. As a result, the kiteski/boarders looked a lot like me standing out there on the ice... except for their big kite in the air. It still looked like a good time, though.
Finally, we checked out the Winter Carnival to see the huge ice sculptures that sit out in the middle of St. Paul. We missed out on the ice maze, snow carving contest, giant snow slide, hot dish tent, coronation, medallion hunt, torch parade, national figure skating competition... but we saw some pretty cool ice. I was heartened to find that the organizers had just as much difficulty as I did photographing the chilly art when I snagged this one off of their website (That's the Wizard of Oz).Well, see ya!
Stay warm.
hey, eagle scout. you're facing the wrong way.
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Anonymous |
12:59 PM