Sun Down

I lost a good and valued friend this week, one of the "good guys". Jim Voight had so many friends and affected so many people that our small relationship was just a blip on his life. But to me, there are few out there with the same intellect and compassion that Jim had. He had a knack of being able to talk to anyone, at their level, and make each person feel wanted and appreciated. That was his special gift and it will be missed. There is so much shouting today that we often overlook the quiet  persistence of caring that Jim brought. We should perhaps all make an effort to mold a little of that into our own lives. I'm going to try......

Rainy Days

Sometimes when you are chasing the sun it hides from you. Such is the case today. Even the egrets don't like it much and huddle on the mangroves. The picture looks a little blurry but that's just the rain messing things up. I spent the day finishing up a good book, Out Stealing Horses, by Per Pettersen. (translated from the Norwegian). He writes in the Hemingway fashion, spartan but strong.

Row, row, row.....

Here's our new toy. We use it to cruise around the back bay and canals, enjoying the birds, and visiting some more secluded beaches.

Bad Hair Day

At least I don't have to worry about this sort of thing happening to me.

Fun in ChiTown

We went to see the Chicago Marathon on October 12. Kirk and Anne both did extremely well in spite of the warmer than normal temps

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End of Summer

We pulled the boat off the lake yesterday. Although we were happy to do it on a nice warm day (85), it always brings a little melancholy to bring another summer to an end. There are only so many....

Day at the Zoo

We went to the Minnesota Zoo on September 10th to see if the Grizzly Coast exhibit would live up to its hype. We got free tickets through the Library Museum Pass which was an added bonus. The exhibit cost the Zoo $24 million and was very well done. The entrance has some very nice metal sculptures and a water fountain. Of course the hightlight of the area was the grizzly exhibit. We were extremely fortunate to get there as two of the three grizzlies were "duking it out" right in front the glass lookout area. I took a lot of pictures but of course none were able to capture the playfulness of the bears or how massive they are even though these aren't fully grown.