The weather this morning was questionable.  The sky was grey and the wind was blowing.  Severe weather was in the forecast for the afternoon and evening hours.  However Denise reserved that pontoon boat yesterday so we decided to give it a try.

We headed across the lake to our usual fishing spot.  The idea was to start there and then troll around the lake, thus combining fishing with a tour.  When fishing, we troll in reverse.  This has the advantage of better control (like front wheel drive on a snow covered road), going slower (due to increased resistance as the back of the boat it flat, unlike the bow), and keeping the lines out of the prop.  However the wind was too rough, blowing us around and smacking against the blunt ends of the pontoons.  We turned around and began to troll in the forward direction.

But the wind kept increasing.  I'd say the larger swells on the lake had grown to 2 - 3 feet.  So with the wind and a forecast that suggested things were only going to get worse, we started our way back to the docks.

It was a long rough ride.  I had to go fairly slow to keep people from falling off their seats.  The most direct route back to the docks had the wind straight to our right.  This meant the waves were hitting the sides of the pontoons, making the ride extremely rough.  Thus I zigzagged left and right between the 10:00 and 2:00 positions to cut down the surface area against which the waves hit the boat.  We finally made it.

So the boat ride was a loss.  Denise and Christine had planned to go to Fergus Falls later in the afternoon to do laundry and some shopping.  But as it turned out, Shoremaster called and said my boat covers were ready for pick up (not that there's much to protect any more as my boat sits full of lake mud with an engine that won't run).  And since it was still early, Jack was far from needing his nap.  Thus all of us except Lewie headed into town to do errands and have lunch.

We returned around 2:30 pm.  I spent the rest of the afternoon catching up on the web site while Denise napped.  Keith and Christine were at the cabin taking it easy.  And a thundershower brought Lewie in from the bridge to his rig where he attempted to continue watching "Hogans Heros - The Complete 3rd Season" on DVD.  But he'll have to back up a bit as he mostly saw the beginning and end of each episode between naps.

All except me left at 5:30 pm for the weekly Elk's Lodge Bingo night.  I'd offered to stay home and watch Jack.  He and I had a great time.  He loves to stand by the lake and throw rocks.  And since he was happy and I was comfortable in my chair, this continued for an hour.  It was interesting to watch him learn.  He started picking up one rock at a time, walking to the lake or out on the dock, throwing his rock, and then repeating.  But after a while, he found he could pick up two or three rocks each time he gathered and then have more to throw.  He also experimented with other items like sticks and bark.  They were interesting because unlike the rocks, the remained on top of the water after throwing them into the lake.  This gave him to opportunity to wave goodbye to them as they drifted out.  Jack also learned that grass and moss do not weigh enough to be suitable for throwing.

I could tell he was getting tired and it was getting colder.  I asked him if he was ready to quit but of course he wasn't.  Because of the direction of the wind, the north lake was calm at the shore but the south lake had 1 ft waves.  I asked Jack if he wanted to see the big lake and he agreed.

We walked across the street and Jack's eyes lit up.  The waves were interesting.  But because the shoreline was not specifically defined due to the waves, it didn't take long for his feet to get wet.  I just let it happen as I knew we would quit soon.

Next he started jumping in the water having a big time.  He'd run up and down the beach, jumping and squealing with joy.  But two year olds lack the coordination of older humans and soon he missed on one of his jumps and landed in the lake on his hands and knees.  That did it.  He wasn't sure what had happened to him.  He looked at me and made the sign for "mama".  I told him that I was all he had.  And with that he reached up and I carried him back to the cabin.

I got him dried off and into warm clothes.  He was pretty cold after his fall in the lake.  But soon he forgot all about it as he watched one of his DVDs, ate grapes, and shared his yogurt with the dogs.  I was hungry and heated up some leftovers.  Now Jack was ready to sit at the table with me and have some macaroni and cheese, one of his main staples.  His parents don't use salt and pepper at the table so when he saw me using it, he wanted some on his supper.  I was able to fool him with the salt by just wiggling the shaker over his food but no go with the pepper.  He knew he wasn't getting any because there were no black sprinkles like on mine.  So I put a little pepper on a few of his noodles.

I expected him to not like the pepper.  But as soon as there was no more macaroni with black sprinkles, he asked for more.  Turns out Jack likes pepper as much as I.

We played a little more after supper but soon it was bed time.  I gave him a fresh diaper (which later I found I put on backwards), got him in his pajamas, and put him to bed.

I changed the TV to the one snowy channel that it gets.  Tornado warnings were in effect in many counties, including ours.  It wasn't long before the lightning began, cracking overhead and followed by the loudest thunder I'd ever heard.  Sounded like a cross between a jet engine and a locomotive.  The air had turned warmer and more humid than it was just 90 minutes ago when we were outside.  It was downright muggy.  The winds picked up and began blowing through the house strong enough to slam doors.  It seemed like it would be a good idea to close up all the windows and prepare to take cover if needed.  Jack never even noticed.

But the storm passed without incident and the weather calmed.  Around 10:00 pm, the rest returned from the Elk's Lodge.  Keith had won 2 bingos for $50 each and Christine won a third for the same amount.  Lewie and Denise are still losers but were in good spirits.  Everyone had a good time.

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Please send me an email at  drew@mykitchentable.net.