Vacation

The past two weeks have been my "summer." I had no school and no work. It's been a year since that has happened for more than a week. With that in mind, it makes sense that sometimes I wondered what to do with myself. I spent a week in Iowa with my parents and enjoyed some bike rides in the prairie winds. It took a bit for me to regain an efficient and smooth pedal stroke with my clip-on shoes. The best part of biking on the prairie is going 20 mph on the way home with the wind at my back. I've also been enjoying reading some books that I can actually hold while lying on the couch. I've read some Raymond Chandler and Charles Dickens.

As usual, I got in on some small town farming culture. The local co-op elevator association that serves 5 area towns provided a free meal in honor of their new 16,000 ton fertilizer plant. After a meal of pork chops, cheesy potatoes, baked beans and fruit, we were given a tour by one of my cousins who happens to be a board member. He gave us all the statistics regarding how many tons the different bins could hold and explained how a farmer's fertilizer order can be mixed to order and weighed before being put into the truck.

After my return to Minneapolis, a friend and I took an overnight camping trip near Cannon Falls. Bri is rather adventuresome and organizes a winter camping trip every year. I have always had school and work as an excuse for not going but in August I don't have to worry about being cold, especially not with Bri's tent that is made for winter camping. Ventilation is not its strong suite. However it did keep us dry during the afternoon storm. We ignored the deputy's invitation to go to the "concrete building at the beach" and stayed in the tent. Though we heard the constant roll of thunder it didn't get very close. We were glad when the rain stopped and we were able to get some fresh air. We slept well with our heads near the screen door and I actually needed a sheet by morning. After the sun burned through the clouds and it warmed up a bit we kayaked 8 miles on the Cannon River. It was a peaceful few hours with enough gentle rapids to keep things interesting and at times turn us around so we were heading downstream backwards.

This week I head back to work and I need to take care of some odds and ends before classes start again in a week. A friend commented today that I looked like I'd spent some time out in the sun. I've enjoyed being away from my desk while I could.