Pegging up a storm!

I recently got the call to sit in for a friend at the weekly cribbage game. It had been a while since I'd played but the cards were easy enough to play much of the night. One of the surprising things was the number of points we got during the play rather than afterwards. By the championship game, Don and I were ahead of Jeff and John six games to two. Of course, in the championship, we lost but it was a very entertaining night of play.

Reporting the Martinsville Results

#1 Bear Down Racing 487 vs. 342 #4 halffastracing
#3 Desert Denny 394 vs. 396 #5 Blue Bayou
#6 Red Neck Racing Academy 350 vs. 367 #2 Overdue

#6 Red Neck Racing Academy was 20-11; lost; now 20-12
#5 Blue Bayou was 18-13; won; now 19-13
#4 halffastracing was 18-13; lost; now 18-14
#2 Overdue was 16-15; won; 17-15
#1 Bear Down Racing was 14-17; won; now 15-17
#3 Desert Denny was 7-24; lost by 2 points!; now 7-25

Completing the Des Moines (Half) Marathon

Yes, Linda and I did participate in and complete the IMT Des Moines Half Marathon. We walked again and with less training than last year but we finished in a time that pleased us both. They altered the course this year to take us up by the capitol from the start. It was pretty impressive to see all those people making their way out ahead of us.

The weather was overcast and cool, great for a marathon as far as I'm concerned. Our limited training probably did set us up for a few more challenges but completing the thing helped me ignore the question about what we were thinking when we signed up. Having the experience of doing one last year prepared us more for the various little things that happen to your body along the way. This year did have a new twist in swelling in the hands. I talked about it before but Linda hadn't experienced it herself. We made it a point to get her hands up to shoulder level from time to time to help drain the fluids; it seemed to help.

As last year, it was very pleasing to cross the finish line. The medal is a nice token but the real reward is knowing we can still do it.

Wandering the Pumpkinville Corn Maze

Linda and I went to Mitchellville to try our skills in a corn maze. Neither of us really quite knew what to expect but figured we'd give it a shot. We paid our admission and received our instructions. First, they showed me a map of the maze; a bit surprising but appreciated. The map looked like a farm: house, barn, trees, and windmill. Our job was to navigate the maze searching for posts with hole punches with various shapes (like star, flower, circle, square.) When / if we found a punch, we were to punch out the corresponding image on the little white ticket we were given.

As we entered the maze, a couple of women were coming out. One asked the other if she got them all. "All but two. They should tell you how far you have to walk." Hmmm...

We travelled the base line of the maze, a row that apparently hadn't been planted in the spring. From time to time, clear paths branched off to the right. We were getting the idea. We turned up one of the paths and found a punch... then another! We were on! It took a while to find our third. I counted twenty punches in the maze. We set a time limit. When we found a punch at the end of four of five vanes of the windmill, it seemed possible. We went over our time limit and, like the lady on our way in, found all but two. It was a good time to be outside.

Shooting the Marion County Courthouse

While Linda and I were in
Knoxville, we explored a bit and found this handsome courthouse. It's fun to see the various buildings as we travel around the state. I'd taken a few pictures of courthouses we'd encountered in the past so it seemed a good idea to start collecting images as we see them. Can't promise I'll get them all any time soon, if at all, but you can expect to see more.

Knoxville is the county seat of Marion County.

Visiting the stadium in Knoxville

Linda and I headed down to Knoxville in search of a corn maze on the 100 Places list. Instead, we found the home of the Panthers. The top of the stadium is at street level with the field sunk down several feet. Along the east and west sides, there are deep stone shelves for fans to be seated. We couldn't tell if it was common to bring lawn chairs but there appears to be room. I have to think it would be an interesting place to play or view a game. Unfortunately, we saw Save Our Stadium signs around town and have since learned that a new field is being prepared. I hope there's an opportunity next year to see a game in this distinctive setting.

Revisiting the Sylvan Theater

Saturday morning, Linda and I got together to see some colorful leaves. So many trees in town were looking good that we stopped by the Sylvan Theater to admire the scenery. It made sense to me to pull out the photo I'd taken earlier this summer. Unfortunately, that shot was taken near noon and the bright sun washed out some of the color (it was mostly green anyway.) I still like the comparison.

Seeing Marshalltown's Tyler Peschong against Valley

Tyler Peschong is the record setting quarterback for this year's seventh ranked Marshalltown Bobcats. With over 5,875 career passing yards, Tyler should pose a problem for West Des Moines' Valley High School Tigers, ranked three in the state. Besides the marquee matchup, the experience of going to a game at Valley Stadium had long been on Linda's list of things to do.

We arrived at the game and found the stands filling up. Valley was honoring their seniors so there were several special presentations and calling out of parents and students. It was soon apparent that there is a lot going on at these games and it was all very polished and went off very smoothly.

The game played out as one might expect. Valley tended to move methodically on the ground but passing to keep the defense on their toes. Peschong threw the ball all over the field completing 19 of 32 for 365 yards; he also had two interceptions, one for a touchdown. I should point out that 19 passes that produce 365 yards means the average per completion is over 19 yards. This kid is pretty special and it was fun to see him do what he does so well. It's also testament to Valley who only allowed one touchdown on the night.

The final score was Valley 45, Marshalltown 12.

Playing with my camera: Water Works Park

Friday, after getting the Friday Construction Photo, I stopped by Water Works Park to see if the trees were colorful. When I got there, I found a few other images that were pretty striking. I'm guessing that my dad isn't too thrilled to see milkweed going to seed or a thistle in bloom but they do make some nice pictures. Maybe some day they'll find a cure for something in those weeds and we'll be glad there were still some around.

I did find some colorful leaves. While it's kind of hard to really convey the impact of a colorful plant but I'll keep trying. There are a couple of trees at the park that I've seen now a few years running and they always seem to have great color at some point in the season. Fortunately, I think I was there around the best time for them this year.

After checking out the trees, I visited a flower bed in the arboretum and found some colorful remnants of summer. These may actually be fall blossoming plants for all I know. It wouldn't be the first time that I was way off base with the decorative varieties. Show me corn or soybeans and I have a better feel for what's normal and what's not.

Friday Construction Photo #26

Metal underfloors are filling in quickly. You can even see where they've poured concrete on top of that metal low in the photo. As the floors are filling in, there's some sort of digging going on underneath it all. Maybe they're doing some of the more local services; I don't know.

Carving Pumpkins

Tuesday evening, I went over to Linda's to carve a pumpkin. After our visit to Howell's Greenhouse, she thought it would be fun to carve a couple of jack-o-lanterns for Halloween. I liked the idea but wasn't quite sure what kind of face to carve. Before I could carve a face, I had to clean out the innards. I mused a bit while we worked on getting the slimy bits and seeds out of our respective lanterns to be.

I joked about making a cat face and then got a bit serious about it. A cat face isn't too hard to do. I got started and, after getting the nose, whiskers, and mouth (complete with fangs) done, I did one eye. It was about then that I realized that eyes are often the hardest things to get right. I remembered the pirate cat at the Heritage Carousel and gave my cat a patch. A pirate cat would be an excellent jack-o-lantern face! Later we lit them and set them out to light the night. They were excellent!

Reporting the Charlotte Results

#2 Overdue 436 vs 461 #1 Bear Down Racing
#4 halffastracing 293 vs 463 #5 Blue Bayou
#6 Red Neck Racing Academy 236 vs 292 #3 Desert Denny

#6 Red Neck Racing Academy 20-11
#5 Blue Bayou 18-13
#4 halffastracing 18-13
#2 Overdue 16-15
#1 Bear Down Racing 14-17
#3 Desert Denny 7-24

Checking out the 2007-2008 Buccaneers

They're baaaaaack! The latest edition of the Des Moines Buccaneers of the USHL are back on the ice. Linda and I went to our first game of the new season Saturday night to see these new Bucs take on the Lincoln Stars.

These are clearly not the Bucs we saw at the end of last season. Most of the starters have moved on to collegiate careers or been shuffled to new teams. There are a few names that ring a bell but I'm not certain they're the same kids. In any event, these guys a not up to late season form but have already shown some of their potential. It'll be fun to see them develop as they become more of a team as the season wears on.

As for the game Saturday night, the Bucs got a power play goal in each period and scored their fourth and final goal of the night in the final minutes after Lincoln pulled their goalie for an added man on offense. Bucs goalie Joe Rodwell had 26 saves in the game while allowing only one goal to be scored against him.

Visiting Ledges State Park

A few miles south of Boone is an uncommon and very popular state park, Ledges. The sandstone foundation was quickly eroded when the glaciers melted leaving a surprising system of canyons and steep bluffs, at least for Iowa. A nice system of trails crisscrosses the park and provides access to some pretty spectacular views.

Just inside the park, we paused at an information station with a headline Bluebird Rebound. As we looked around, we saw a couple of bluebirds. They were joined by another bluebird and a red headed woodpecker. As we watched, we saw several bluebirds and woodpeckers flying from tree to tree in the area. It was surprising to see that many of these two species in such a small space.

We headed on down into the park. Everything was a little wet and the drive through creek crossings were a little more than I remembered; nothing dangerous, just more than an inch or so of water. The stone walls had a nice, moist sheen and the ferns were vibrant.

Linda took a nice photo of a chain holding the barriers in place at one of the points where the stream crosses the road. I complimented her shot and she said I should get one. As I got it lined up, it dawned on me that I might be the subject of a shot... when I looked up, she had me lined up for a shot like the one on the left. I went ahead and she got it. That's how it's done. This one felt a little scary as there was little room for error before I'd be following my camera into the creek. I stayed dry and we both got our shots.

Checking out Howell's Dried Floral & Greenhouse

Linda suggested we take the relatively short trip to see Howell's. It had been a rainy morning and so a greenhouse seemed a good pick. I looked up directions to Cumming, the only address I had for Howell's. It's a smaller town so finding the greenhouse should be easy.

We drove down to Cumming without incident and were surpised to travel the loop of the town and not find any sign of Howell's. We drove to the gas station in nearby Norwalk, asked directions, and only got a blank look. We went back to Cumming and asked directions: go across the interstate, around the bend, and it'll be on your left. Sounded safe to me. We crossed the interstate, went around the bend, and there is was, on our left.

The lane was long and, as we got near the buildings, we were surprised again to see a couple guys directing traffic into parking spaces on the grass... and a whole lotta cars. This was pretty odd. We parked, got our cameras, and walked on down the lane. We were both pretty surprised when we actually saw this place.

There were four low wagons of pumpkins, a couple of traditional greenhouses, a kids play area, a goat petting / feeding area, and a barn with a gift shop on the ground level. One of the greenhouses was filled with picnic tables and a counter where you could order up chili, hot dogs, soft drinks, chips, and juice boxes. Tractors were pulling hay racks modified to haul a dozen or more people out to the pumpkin patch to pick them right off the vine. This is quite an operation ... but the amazing thing is yet to come.

When we went up to the hayloft of the barn, we had no idea what lay ahead. Hanging from the rafters was a truly staggering collection of dried foliage and flowers giving the space an amazing aroma. While I can show you a picture and write about it, I think the only way to really get it is to go there. There are so many interesting plants and smells, you could spend a good deal of an afternoon exploring. It's a winner.

Friday Construction Photo #25

Looks like the steel frame is finally done. I saw them tearing down the crane this week. I'm not sure how they're going to get the flooring material up into place but they're clever, they'll know what to do.

Visiting Gunder, Iowa

Linda and I finished off the food portion of our road trip with a much anticipated stop in Gunder. Another small community in northeast Iowa, Gunder has three prominent features: their brilliant white church and graveyard, the DX station, and The Irish Shanti. As you can see in the sign, the Shanti is the home of the Gunderburger, twenty ounces of ground beef served up with pride. Their website says they started making the thing to put Gunder on the map; it did that and on the list of 100 Things to Eat. It was a tasty burger even if some might think it a bit excessive.

As we got in the car, another couple were heading in and asked if we were heading home. Linda and the couple chatted a bit about how we each had come to be there. The man said "If you like this, there's a tenderloin just over in St. Olaf you should try." Linda put her finger to her lips and said "Shhh... don't tell anyone, we had that for lunch." The couple both rocked back a bit, their eyebrows raised, and then we all had a good chuckle at our gastronomic folly. It was fun.

Returning to Wisconsin

Being just across the river in Marquette and having missed out on cheese curds last time we were there, we returned to the land of the Cheese Head. Just across the river, we saw Valley Fish and Cheese... kind of like crossing the border into Missouri and finding fireworks. Unfortunately, I was in the wrong lane and already committed to turning; we'd come back.

The turn put us on track to visit Saint Feriole Island, home of the Villa Louis, Brisbois House and Store, and the Mississippi River Sculpture Park. We didn't really stop to fully immerse ourselves in any of these but it was interesting to see the structures and location. Having done that, I've read up a little more so I think it served its purpose.

Back on track, we were headed for the cheese when we saw a place too cute to pass up. Looks were not deceiving; this place was a potpourri and candle hunters dream come true. There were all sorts of cute little things to adorn any home. I really liked the tiny ears of indian corn out front, tied in bunches and attached to shocks of corn. Around the base were assorted pumpkins. Very appropriate for the season.

This shop did have something that did catch our attention: the fudge counter. Under the glass were several blocks of color and flavors to choose from. We settled on the chewy praline. The bottom third was vanilla fudge, the middle was pralines, and a nice layer of chocolate fudge filled in the gaps and took us to the top. We only got a little more than half of a mounds bar... it's not like we were all that hungry, it was just a nice sweet treat. We portioned it out into several small tastes and enjoyed that for several miles.

Back on track for the cheese (sounds like we were mice in a maze by now), we wound around surprising one way streets and streets that didn't go through. Finally solving our maze, we parked and made our way up to the curiously decorated shop. The smoked cat sign made me wonder just what kinda folks live in Wisconsin. We stepped into the shop and found a pretty simple interior lined with about any kind of smoked midwestern meat I could think of. It was all there... along with a decent variety of cheeses. They even had cheese curds! Mission accomplished. Time for us to get back to Iowa.

Wandering a little around Marquette

Before Linda and I left Marquette, we travelled north along the Mississippi to see the leaves and whatever was around the bend. A couple of miles out of town, there was a sign for an historic marker. After having run into several interesting little facts on these markers, we took the chance and turned off the highway to see what happened here. Unlike the other markers, this one was a probably half a mile from the turnoff. When we got there, it marked the beginning of the Military Trail where ammo trains ran between two forts... not really something Linda or I found that interesting.

When we turned to go back, the light on the leaves, the parked train, and the river really made some nice images so we stopped for a bit and captured a few. Having done a little model railroading in high school, I liked seeing the various cars up close and wondered if I'd recognize the lines. Most of the cars had unfamiliar Canadian names on them. One, a bright yellow flatbed, had writing along the side: "Let the beauty we love be what we do" was one of the lines of an apparent poem attributed to Rumi.

It was a nice little side stop along they way.

Trying the Half-pound burger at the Marquette Cafe & Bar

Yes, we're eating again. At least we split it.

Marquette, Iowa, is a small river town across the Marquette-Joliet Bridge from Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. Just about a mile upriver from McGregor, these twin cities used to be the hub of rail traffic in the area. Even today, there's decent train traffic in the area.

Marquette's also home to the Marquette Burger, a hearty half-pounder that made the Register's list. As we approached the door to the Marquette Cafe and Bar, we saw a couple of couples apparently deciding whether to go inside. When they asked what we knew about it, Linda shared that the Marquette burger made the Des Moines Register's List. "Good enough for us then!" and in they went.

Unlike in St. Olaf, the tables were pretty full so, like in St. Olaf, we sat at the counter. From this location, we got to chat with the waitress and see many of the tasty looking plates on their way to the tables. Three Crock Pots kept some good looking soups ready to be served. When we talked with the waitress, the list came up and she, like others, had heard of the list but not seen it. The owner had heard of the list and wondered if people were really acting on it. As proof, the waitress asked us to jot down our names and addresses.

The burger was tasty and would hold us over until our next and final planned food item of the day.

Striking out in McGregor... and yet...

I went to McGregor to try the chocolate chip cookie pie at the Twisted Chicken. Linda already knew about McGregor and knew there was more to see than pie, even if it's on the list. That's a good thing since the Twisted Chicken was closed. No pie for me!

With that goal now out of reach, Linda showed me around a little more of the community. It has the look of what I'm coming to consider the classic Iowa river town: lots of small but sturdy brick homes and businesses along a few main streets leading to the river's edge. It's a nice formula that makes for some very nice visuals.

On the subject of visuals, the image in the top of the collage shows an example of the early day storage system used in the area: caves. Reading a nearby brochure, we learned that the cool dry caves were commonly used to store foods and gunpowder. These are uncommon in that they have added doors to the front.

Another surprising fact was found on the plaque in this collage: John Ringling was born here! John and his brothers formed the “The Ringling Brothers United Monster Shows, Great Double Circus, Royal European Menagerie, Museum, Caravan, and Congress of Trained Animals" that eventually became known as the Ringling Brothers Circus.

Learning a little history in Floelich

While browsing one of the publications promoting various events in northeast Iowa, I ran across the Froelich "Fall-der-all." The article also said that Froelich was the birthplace of the gasoline powered tractor. With my dad's interest in older tractors, it seemed like a good place to stop by.

Froelich, Iowa, is now a tiny community of four or five houses and the historic site. When we got there, about the only thing we actually got to see was this plaque marking John Froelich's contribution, the tractor. The General Store was closed and there wasn't much going on anywhere else that we could tell. I guess folks were still recovering from the "Fall-der-all" weekend. Even at that, I did learn a little more Iowa history.

Trying the tenderloin at the St. Olaf Tap

We'd never been to St. Olaf. How could we have known? When the list says to try the tenderloin, we try the tenderloin. Yes, the menu did say it was a full pound. At least we only ordered one patty, two buns. I will also say that it was a nice piece of meat, well prepared.

St. Olaf is a small community nestled in a small river valley along the River Bluffs Scenic Byway in northeast Iowa. If you stay on the byway but look left and right at the two intersections, you've pretty much seen St. Olaf. It looks like a nice enough town, just very small. Handy when you don't have the street address for the place with the food.

When we stepped into the Tap, there was only one other customer in the place so we sat at the bar and chatted with the ladies tending the place. When we mentioned that we'd read about the tenderloin, the owner said that she and her husband had heard of the list but hadn't seen it. Linda got her typed up list from the car and our hosts commented about foods they'd had and foods they'd like to try. It was one of our more interactive meals from the list to date.

Tasting the Triple Berry Pie at the Picket Fence Cafe

Mmm... pie. Yes, it was before noon. Yes, that is a dollup of whipped cream. Yes, it was yummy! It can't be much worse than a jelly filled bismark, can it? C'mon...

Linda and I started what turned out to be quite a day of eating by splitting this tasty piece of triple berry pie. The Picket Fence Cafe struck me more of a boutique than place to have a meal. That said, we did find a table near a window overlooking the street and soaked it all in. One of the things that eating our way through the Register's list has shown me is that, while the food is good, don't miss the place where you find it. This one grew on me.

Checking out The Landing

This former button factory along the Mississippi has become quite an attraction and made the List of 100 Places in Iowa to Visit. Linda stayed at The Landing before and wanted me to see the interior so we stepped inside. The hostess invited us to look around at the rooms and the view; she even opened a couple of unoccupied rooms for us. It truly is a very attractive space with many of the rooms having very nice river views. It would be a great place to stay.

Exploring Guttenburg

This time of year, Guttenburg is smack dab in the middle of a fall traffic pattern. Leaf watchers travel this portion of the Great River Road to see the colors of fall flare up before it all goes brown. Monday, Linda and I join in and took a look. We started with a walk around the very attractive little town of Guttenburg. The bluff overlooking the town was dotted with color but wasn't really at it's peak yet. From time to time, as we were walking, we'd find a particularly nice tree or vine.

As we walked along the river, we saw a boy on the other side of the street walking to school. As the school came into sight, so did nearly a dozen other kids, all coming from various directions, converging on that one point. It was pretty cool to see.

It was also kind of odd that the school overlooks Lock and Dam #10. If you drew a line down the dam, you'd hit the school nearly in the center. I'm guessing that, over the years, several of the students have gazed out the window at the barges working their way through the locks just outside the classroom window.

As we continued our walk along the river, we had nice opportunities to take a few of those very close up photos of tiny flowers along the way. The image in the center is actually a self propelled maintenance platform with permanently mounted scaffolding and cement mixer and all sorts of work tools. We watched it pull up along side the cement wall in the lower left corner of the picture; evidently some work needed to be done there.

On our way back, we had a good laugh at someone's excellent addition to the driftwood tree. I'm not sure you can see it without expanding the image but there's a blue eye and pink lips on the pointy end of that log. With the way that log rises up out of the water, it's a dead ringer for a "Loch Ness Monster" kind of critter.

Reporting the results from Talladega

#1 Bear Down Racing 269 vs 400 #5 Blue Bayou
#3 Desert Denny 254 vs 304 #2 Overdue
#4 halffastracing 364 vs 348 #6 Red Neck Racing Academy


#6 Red Neck Racing Academy 20-10; 14 ... with 6 races to go, can't be done.
#4 halffastracing 18-12; 12 ... I can only tie if I win all and he loses all
#5 Blue Bayou 17-13; 11
#2 Overdue 16-14; 10
#1 Bear Down Racing 13-16... I'm almost locked in here...
#3 Desert Denny 6-24; Denny can no longer catch me.

Arriving just a little too late

Linda and I had hoped to make it to Balltown in time for the Spaghetti Soup and Red Raspberry Pie at Breitbach's Country Dining... but both were gone. We didn't let that stop us from enjoying their dinner buffet. Everything I tried was very good but a few things really stood out as exceptional.

On their salad table, they had an assortment of pickled salads that was extensive, varied, and yummy. After having tried the saurkraut salad in the Amanas earlier this year, it was nice to have another that was comparable.

The roast beef was so tender and juicy that it was almost a challenge to get it on my plate; it was well worth the effort.

The interior of this place is certainly another reason to visit. It would be fun to have a camera in there when the morning or evening sun was casting nice shadows and light around the many antique features of the place.

I'll be happy to return to try again to get the soup and pie from the list.

Visiting Eagle Point Park

While in Dubuque, Linda and I took the opportunity to knock off one of the 100 Places, Eagle Point Park. High on the bluffs overlooking the river and Lock and Dam #11, this handsome park is a treasure. The design of most of the older park buildings is echos that of Wisconsin native Frank Lloyd Wright and really fits in nicely with the natural feel of the space. Along the river, the views of the river valley are terrific. Back away from the river, there are fine shelters, horseshoe pits, and a very photogenic fish pond area. While we were there, a professional photographer was just getting started working with a family near the pond. It's a beautiful spot, well worth the dollar admission.

Returning to Betty Jane's

A few weeks ago, Linda and I passed through Dubuque and had hoped to enjoy one of the signs of fall in this part of the country, a Caramel Apple from Betty Jane Candies; we were a week too early. Now that we were back the neighborhood, we stopped by and picked up a couple. It's my understanding that the caramel they use is the Trappistine Creamy Caramels made by the Trappistine Nuns of Our Lady of the Mississippi Abbey Monastery. It had been a while since I'd had a caramel apple but this was a very nice treat.

Enjoying a couple of sweet treats from The List

I forgot to mention that, when I arrived a few hours before the wedding, Linda had saved me pieces of two items from the list of 100 Things in Iowa You Must Eat. I only know about Barn Happy through Linda's description but it sounds like one of those barns where the steel toe work boot has given way to the open toe dress show. Fortunate for me, Linda stopped by the place to snag a piece of their very tasty Raspberry Coffee Cake. Apparently, Barn Happy also sells the delicate and delicious Angel Cream Coconut Cake from the Peppercorn Pantry Tea Room in nearby Aplington; Linda included a nice piece of that cake as well. It was again quite easy to understand how these two made The List.

Stopping by the Basilica of St. Francis Xavier

After the weather cleared, Linda and I pulled off in Dyersville to see the basilica. I thought it was on the list of 100 Places but, upon further review, it's not. It's still an impressive feature of this rural community.

I didn't really know much about the structure or requirements to become a basilica but have found it interesting reading. People had surprising foresight along the way to make it possible for this structure to become a minor basilica.

Dodging raindrops... LOTS of raindrops!

Linda and I were travelling east along highway US 20 when the skies opened up. It had been raining off and on all morning but this was something else. It got so bad that we felt the safe thing to do was pull well off the travel lanes and sit it out. After the storm let up, the view of the windmill against the lightening sky was pretty striking. We got back on our way but, within another fifteen miles, we were back on the shoulder. The next day, we heard reports that five to seven inches of rain had fallen in the area.

Attending the wedding of Linda's daughter

This past weekend, I had the pleasure of attending the wedding of Linda's daughter. I'd spent some time with the couple from time to time, often briefly as Linda and I were going somewhere; over time, those brushes added up to a sense of familiarity. A few weeks ago, the four of us enjoyed dinner out and then spent time together at Linda's. Through these encounters and conversations with Linda, I developed an appreciation of who they were and truly celebrated their union.

As I was driving up to meet Linda the day of the wedding, I realized it had probably been five years, nearly to the day, since the last wedding I'd attended. Both of these two most recent weddings gave me insights into the ceremonies that I'd missed before. The biggest thing that they both really did an excellent job of communicating was the support that those in attendance should be able to provide the couple. I'm guessing that it's always been there before but I'm now at a better place to recognize it.

Linda was in her element greeting people, introducing friends from various circles, and just being Linda. It was fun to see the recognition when names were exchanged. People finally were able to put a person with the characters they'd been hearing about from time to time. It was nice that several of them said something like "Oh! You're the one who runs all over with Linda!"

At the reception, Linda was often busy interacting with folks but she did join me on the dance floor a couple of times. It was fun for me to knock off some rust and to see some of Linda's moves, even in very comfortable shoes.

Playing with my camera: Garage and Yard

Saturday morning, the early morning sun was great so I grabbed my camera and went outside to see what I could capture. One of the decorative grasses had "tasseled" and looked interesting. A week or so ago, I'd seen a ground squirrel climb into the evergreens to get to these little red berries in the upper right image. As I was wandering, I happened to look into the garage and saw the effect that light was having on the shelves of stuff that accumulates while I'm doing other things.

Reporting the Kansas Results

#2 Overdue 361 vs. 248 #5 Blue Bayou
#4 halffastracing 260 vs. 179 #3 Desert Denny
#6 Red Neck Racing Academy 485 vs. 265 #1 Bear Down Racing

Two of my guys had trouble over the course of this race and Bill's Red Neck Racing Adademy had no problem hangin' another L on me.

As the season is winding down, I'm curious about my "magic number" to catch any of these other drivers.

To figure my number relative to Bill, I took 36 races plus 1 minus my 13 wins minus his 9 losses. That gives a magic number of 15. With only 7 races to go, I can only get 7 wins and hope he gets 7 losses... but that's only 14; I can't place ahead of Bill.

#6 Red Neck Racing Academy 20-9; 15 ... with 7 races to go, I can only tie him if I win all and he loses all... not likely.
#4 halffastracing 17-12; 12
#5 Blue Bayou 16-13; 11
#2 Overdue 15-14; 10
#1 Bear Down Racing 13-16
#3 Desert Denny 6-23; 1 ... A win by me or a loss by Denny will resolve this one.

Playing with my camera: Me

With my new found ability to take a closeup photo, it was probably just a matter of time before I turned the camera on myself... up close and personal.

Yes, those are all Me. I played with the contrast a bit and like the black and white versions. The color image of my eye seemed a nice accent and related to the visual presentation.

Don't worry, I'm not planning any nudes. I was just sitting there with time to kill and a camera in my hand. I think it turned out alright.

Cheering the Bulldogs

Saturday afternoon, Linda and I saw the Bulldogs get back on the winning track with a 48-20 win over Valparaiso. Senior Scott Phaydavong rushed for 133 yards and three touchdowns as the 'dawgs rolled over the Crusaders. Drake also had their passing game going as all three Drake starting receivers -- Travis Hardgraves, Zach Brower and Augustine Agyei -- caught touchdown passes. On top of all that, Logan Rees, Drake junior, kicked the longest two field goals of his career from 45 and 40 yards; it was a breezy day so that probably helped. On top of all of that, the band performed at half time! It was the same show they'd done a week before ... but they performed!

The image I chose with the photographer in it continues something of a theme for me: photos of people taking photos. Several years ago, I took a shot with my mom in the foreground taking a picture of my father and son on a tractor. I liked it and have continued to snap that shot when it's available.

Checking out the 2007 Head of the Des Moines Regatta

Saturday morning, Linda and I went for a walk along the Des Moines River to get a little exercise and to see this year's edition of the Head of the Des Moines Regatta. Last year, she was out of town and hadn't been able to see the actual event. We paused by the Drake / Des Moines Rowing dock and watched some of the comings and goings. There was a lot going on!

As we walked along the path, I saw that egg just sitting on the step at the edge of the sidewalk. We also took a couple little "scenic" loops through the gardens along the river and I got to take a picture of a spider web. Both images were interesting enough for me and were from our walk ... so I included them.

Playing with my camera: Black walnuts

It's that time of year and the walnuts are showing up all over the place. I'm not always sure just where the tree is but I've seen more than one squirrel with one of these in his mouth scampering around, looking for a good hiding place. I'm not entirely sure that my driveway qualifies but I appreciate the material.

Checking out Autobahn

Friday evening, Linda and I went to the 2007-2008 Drake Theatre Department season opener, Autobahn by Neil LaBute. This presentation was more a collection of seven smaller plays played in sequence on the same stage. It's tempting to call these plays vignettes but I'm not familiar enough with the term to use it without this rambling text warning that it may not be truly applicable. Whatever they were, they were interesting.

The only thing that connected these stories was the set. Each was set in the front seat of a car. The stage was overly long in front, suggesting the hood of the car. On the floor to the left and right of the stage, just at the feet of the audience on those sides, were the highway lane marking lines. A steering wheel, accelerator, and brake petal were positioned for the driver. On the plain screen behind the seat, an image out the back window was displayed for each scene. It was simple in appearance but also clear that time and thought had gone into the design.

Of the seven vignettes, three were simply monologues with another person there. I'm sure that many of us have been on trips like those. I say trip but these weren't necessarily trips of any length longer than across town. Linda noticed that most of them also had some sort of word play, or an uncommon use of a word, sometimes repeatedly. I noticed that they also tended to start out pretty normal and, as the picture became clearer, they often got a little strange, a little dark.

The cast for these plays was only four people in various combinations of two. There were two senior men and two freshman women. All did an excellent job in their respective and varied roles. One of the men we had seen in a Drake production last year. It's nice to have that continuity.

Friday Construction Photo #24

The steel skeleton is almost complete. As the frame expands and the space for the crane to operate contracts around it, I bet the builders are applying some lessons learned along the way. In order for the crane to deliver pieces to far corners, it needs room to move. If the nearby steel gets too tall too early, it'll be blocked from being able to reach. I bet there have been some interesting oops moments along the way for some of these guys.

It reminds me of listening to an elder aircraft engineer who worked on at least one military plane before computerized design had arrived. He said it wasn't uncommon to find that two components would be accidentally designed such that they would occupy the same space in the plane; not gonna work very well. I'm sure that, from time to time, building construction runs into a similar gotcha.