WATER!!!

H20 seems to be the source of lots of happiness in the last two weeks. Not in the sense of drinking it, thou I do love my Mendota Springs or La Croix lime or lemon carbonated water. We have had the warmest spring in a long time ( who am I kidding i just remember that last spring it was cold and it never really warmed up! IMO) and the open water around town has reflected that warmth.

Two Weeks ago my buddy Steve went to the lake to test it out.

Foot note...I swim with STEVE.

Steve in a Speedo...foreground.

Steve ( Not ) in a Speedo...Far Right

Bullet Steve, aka Polar Bear of Steve Not in a Wetsuit. Far left.

The female in the Right foreground is Mary. Steve (Not) in a speedo's sister.

IF your name is Steve, you need to contact me to swim:)

SIS's wife Sarah is in there too, ready to go ride since she is training for the Liberty HIM and was just voted or elected or chosen to be on TEAM EVO-TRI! Awesome Sarah!! Congrats!

Last week when Marit was our guest, we had temps in the low 70's.

Today we had temps in the mid 70's, about 73-74! We also had another guest:

NO. Not a Shark.

Now Marit makes lovely music with her Violin. This guy/gal makes lovely music with his/her call. I cant tell you how awesome it is to hear this while you are swimming. If you have never heard a loon call, you need to contact me and come swim with us:) At one point the loon was less than 15 feet from us, and when i pulled up and stopped my fellow Steve's I was quite Awestruck to see how BIG the bird is. We kept swimming and the loon took a dive into the warm water to keep on searching for whatever it was searching for. Maybe just some holiday time alone with out me saying "Hi Loon, hi how are you?" I was waving at it, and Steve in a Speedo said i wasnt the "mate"he was looking for. Oh well.

In other water news....before hitting this lake:

I got to hit this lake: Where there were no Steve's:) But the temps were in the high 40's, and the air at night was low 50's. You Tempe or Kona or Oahu peeps that need some good old sleeping weather call me! I managed about 20 sec in Lake Superior and quickly knew there were no ice baths for me until at least July. I think the snow melted last week up there!

We did manage to do some river dipping tho and at 62 degrees that felt pretty nice compared to the lake. Before we did that Rich decided to do some light yardwork ( thanks Cheryl, too funny) and started moving this tree down the river. All i will say is it didnt end here. It spent the night downstream and then the next AM was finished off with a chainsaw in bare feet in the river. My sister stood watch with 9-1-1 ready and i couldnt watch. My dad couldnt have been prouder, while the women folk ( hahaha) didnt want to watch. Men and their chainsaws. Sigh.

Mid work break.

The River comes down stream to the lagoon which empties into Gitchi Gummi.

Meanwhile its not a cabin trip if you dont have a sudden change in weather, ie drop 15 degrees, rain and a few naps. Ruby never lets her toy's go far so here she is asking my sister for some loving.

We drove down last night with our stop at the Burrito Union ( 4th and 13th in Duluth, yum better than Chipotle) and got in while it was still light.

There ya have it. Memorial day weekend to this point.

I am going to Kansas next week to race. On a sad note we lost another Uncle this weekend. My dad's younger brother ( he had 2 younger brothers, Angus being the baby) Geordie, passed away late friday night/saturday Am.

He had struggled with some health issues for many years and was losing his spirit. He died beside his beloved Dusty Mairs and we will miss Uncle Geordie's dry wit and humor.

When we were kids he used to always bring us candy and crack funny jokes.

So the funeral is thursday afternoon. I am not sure when i am leaving for Kansas now but will be racing this race for Uncle Geordie and Dusty. I do have some goals, but ya know how things kinda just seem less important when you see a time goal in the big scope of real life. That doesnt mean I am not going to bust my tail ( light a match or two or a whole book. right Stine? under my butt) but I know i will do what i can do with the conditions presented. It seems I am getting TOO accustomed to racing with some emotional baggage, and i hate to call it that, bc losing a loved one is hardly baggage. If anything it just helps me realize how lucky I am to be healthy and able to do what i love. No matter what the outcome.

I am staying with this little dynamo, Leslie, so I am sure we will have some fun in her playground of Kansas. And maybe I will get Chrissie to give me my medal!