Some Blog Site

Continuation of a previous post

Note: Most pictures can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Iargo Springs

There were some springs near the cabin, and we heard that we had to go see them on our trip. So one morning (it was good for us to get out of the cabin in the morning because our kids woke up around 7 or 8 but the teenagers (and some other adults) would sleep until 10 or 11 so we felt bad that we were being noisy and figured we might as well get out of the house and go see something interesting) we headed to the springs.

The first thing we saw when we got to Iargo Springs was a very nice view of the Au Sable river, into which the springs fed:

The next thing we noticed was the stairs going down to the springs and river. There were a lot of stairs, and at the bottom was a nice boardwalk. The boardwalk went in a lot of directions, as there were a couple of springs and a lot of little creeks and waterways flowing from the springs to the main river. The boardwalk was mostly railingless, which was nice because the boys could hop off and explore whenever they wanted.

We went to the springs and the boys put their feet in the water. The main thing to know about spring water, other than it goes well into plastic bottles, is that it is extremely cold. It was a hot day, so the older boys enjoyed dipping their feet in the water, but not for very long. I tried it, and after about 30 seconds my feet were hurting; when I got out of the water the sensation was similar to the pins-and-needles feeling when my foot falls asleep. And when we put Gamma into the water so that he could enjoy the refreshing coolness, he started crying. We took him out. Don’t worry, the creeks were only ankle deep.

Alpha and Beta liked hiking alongside the boardwalk, seeing what branches they could find:

Gamma was more cautious, staying on the boardwalk. Although he did like to climb railings (in the few places where there were railings)

The nice thing about the springs is that there are a lot of trees so it stays cool. The bad thing about the springs is that it stays damp, so the mosquitoes like it there too. The other bad thing is that there are a lot of stairs. After the trip down the stairs, I wondered how many there were. So on the way back up (with Gamma on my back – now that’s a workout) I counted the stairs: 290 (give or take 10).

Conclusion

The rest of the trip included playing in the lake, watching a DVD or two (old-school cartoons mostly – 1950s-ish), and going to the local fireworks display on the 4th. Overall, it was a success.

Continuation of a previous post

Note: Most pictures can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Now that you are familiar with our cabin, let me tell you about some of the things that happened on our trip.

Roasting Hot Dogs

One of the requirements when you go to a cabin is that you must have a fire pit or bonfire and you must roast hot dogs over that fire for at least one meal. We complied, and the kids picked up a new skill: not holding the roasting fork.

They learned that one from the older boys in the group. Laziness is the mother of invention, right? Okay, maybe it wasn’t laziness, since they were complaining that the fire was too hot. But what’s a campfire without something getting singed?

Now I know why the past tense of “sing” is “sang”.

Free Bat Picture

We went to a local monument thing that had a display about bats.

Yes, it is a picture of a free bat. It is also a free picture of a bat.

What makes it a free picture? There’s no copyright!

It does have a copywrite, but my sources say that “copywrite” is not a legal term and has no standing in the courts.

I was going to title this one “Spelling for Lawyers”, in tribute to the site Typography for Lawyers. But I doubt that lawyers wrote that sign. “Spelling for Signmakers” also wouldn’t work, because I doubt the signmaker designed the thing. And “Spelling for Whoever Designed the Sign” is too long for a title. So you got “Free Bat Picture” instead.

Local Hazards

My kids wore sandals (or equivalent footwear) most of the time. One afternoon though, Beta was playing on the deck barefoot.

My wife, to Beta: “What’s stuck to the bottom of your foot?”
Me, after poking the small gooey black glob: “It is sticky…looks like a piece of tar or something.”

Then the black glob moved.

Then I saw that it was alive.

Wife, to one of the older boys who was there: “Hey Andrew, what did you do with that leech you had earlier?”
Andrew: “We just flicked it off my leg. I don’t know where it went.”
Me: “I think we found it.”

We learned that leeches can survive on wooden decks for at least a half hour.

I don’t recall ever having seen a leech in real life. Movies, yes. Pictures, yes. Real life, now yes. I told Beta that a leech is just a bug that’s like a mosquito; he seemed satisfied with that explanation.

Alpha was interested in watching, and Beta had no choice in the matter, so the three of use watched the leech’s reaction as my wife poured salt on it. The leech was quite animated for a few seconds, then it stopped moving. It didn’t let go of Beta’s foot; I had to peel/pry it off still.

At least it didn’t bleed once it came off – unlike Andrew’s leg which kept bleeding and bleeding after he removed the leech without killing it first. And after I removed the leech, I tossed it into the shrubbery where people do not walk.

Alas, I was not a good blogger and did not run and get my camera to document the leech. So you do not get any photos of the leech. It was only as big as a three grains of rice (cooked), and the whole ordeal took about one minute (from discovery to being pronounced clean), so you’re not missing much.

Stay tuned for Part 3 of the Up North series, coming next week.

We interrupt the saga of our trip to Wisconsin/Chicago for the saga of our trip up north.

Click on a picture for a larger version.

For the 4th of July extended weekend, we travelled a few hours north to a cabin. A friend of ours invited us, and a few other people, to the family lakefront property. It is surrounded by a national forest, so there was no cell phone reception for me, nor was there any internet. And, although it had electricity and plumbing, it did not have air conditioning. No air, and it was in the 90s on the days we were there. And we slept in the upstairs bedrooms – where all the heat went when it rose.

We saw a few things while we were at the cabin:

a bald eagle, drifting through the sky (because he was on vacation too):

a sunset, over the lake (as they are meant to be):

and a squirrel, in the cabin (as they are not meant to be):

For those of you concerned for the squirrel’s welfare, considering that he is perched above an operating ceiling fan in this photo: you’re too late. No, the fan didn’t get him – something else did. I don’t know what exactly did him in, but he is taxidermied and that is his permanent pose on the ceiling of the cabin.

There’s also an owl perched on a rafter, several deer on the walls, a wolverine on a platform, and a jackelope on the wall. My main regret about the weekend is that I forgot to get a picture of the jackelope.

As I mentioned in the post about visiting the Lego store, we saw a 4-D movie.

Needing to attract tourists to visit, the Lego store had to do better than just a 3-D movie. Everyone has those nowadays. To stand above the crowd, you need to have more D than the other places. So the Lego store advertised their 4-D movie.

Being ignorant in the ways of movie technology, I (and the rest of the family) did not know what made the extra D until after we sat through the movie. It was, as you know if you read last week’s post, falling snow.

That got me thinking what the Ds actually are. I know it stands for Dimension, but what are the dimensions?

• A normal movie is considered 2-D, because the screen has width and height.
• A 3-D movie adds depth to the visual aspect.

So far all the Ds are limited to the sense of sight.

• A 4-D movie adds the sense of touch – falling snow, misting water, blowing wind, etc.

But if one of the five senses counts as a dimension, why hasn’t anyone counted sound? Back when movies went from silent to talkies, they should have marketed that as 3-D, right?

And then stereo sound should count as 2-D by itself. Add that 2-D to the visual 2-D and you should get 4-D.

• So what people today are calling 3-D movies are really 5-D.
• And the 4-D movies are 6-D.
• Add in another sense, like smell, and we’re up to 7-D movies.

So we’ve covered sight, hearing, touch, and smell.

• All that’s left is taste. If someone can figure that out, we get 8-D movies.
• But we have two nostrils, so in theory we should be able to get stereo smells. And that would take us to 9-D movies.

But wait! Sound isn’t just 2-D. That stereo stuff is old news (AKA olds). Kids these days have 3-D sound, which is best experienced with headphones. Hey, the theater gives you 3-D glasses, why not 3-D headphones?

• So upping the sound from 2-D to 3-D brings the total to 10-D.
• And, again in theory, if two eyes can observe 3-D sights and two ears can hear 3-D sounds, why can’t two nostrils smell 3-D scents? Woohoo! 11-D!

I am trying to think what a 3-D smell would smell like, but I am having a brainblock on that one. Maybe it’s the holiday weekend. If anyone figures that out, let me know please.

So, for you advertisers and marketers out there who are trying to promote your tourist attraction: your theoretical maximum for a movie is 11-D. I expect some race between competitors to get there.

Or maybe the razors will reach 11 blades first.

This is a little late, but it doesn’t really matter.

For my birthday, my wife bought me a box of chocolate-covered strawberries. Not just any chocolate-covered strawberries, but the gourmet kind.

What makes them gourmet?

The price.

And they were very good.

There were a variety of flavors.
And the berries were wee not-so-wee huge:

That metal object on the right is a quarter. A regulation-size US 25-cent piece.

And I liked their packaging. They were humorous without going overboard.

There was one subtle part:

And one not-as-subtle part:

But…

(There seems to be a downside to just about everything)

You have to eat the strawberries by the end of the second day, otherwise they go bad. It’s not like a regular box of chocolates, where you can eat a couple a day and enjoy them all week. By the third day the strawberries were starting to be not so good anymore. They weren’t moldy or rotten (we left them in the fridge). I thought they were starting to ferment. My wife said they tasted “zippy”, which I thought was an accurate description.

My experience is that strawberries need to breathe. If we store strawberries in a sealed container in the fridge, they go bad a lot quicker (such as overnight) than if their container has some air holes. There seems to be a balance, because leaving them completely uncovered lets them dry out too much.

Other people have other ideas about how to store strawberries. They seem to involve not breathing but draining. Either set the strawberries in a strainer/colander so that they aren’t resting in their juices or store them on paper towels so the juices get absorbed.

Either way, I think chocolate is not the optimum coating for preserving strawberries. It neither breathes not drains. So the strawberries don’t last so long.

In conclusion, if the only problem is that you have to eat them fast, that’s not a bad problem to have.

Oh, and the reason my wife bought them is because she had a coupon for $10 off, and she also got free shipping. They were still expensive, but not ridiculously expensive.