Paddling, Brewing and Birdwatching

Saturday morning was cool and cloudy. I left the house with long-sleeves and a coat on, never imagining I'd get sunburn like crazy. We went for a float on the Des Moines with friends and it wasn't far down river before the sun peeked out and temps warmed right up. It turned out to be a perfect day to do this. We definitely had a great time and after finding the tiniest little rapid near the end, the whitewater bug has certainly latched on and isn't going anywhere. First I think we'll find a vessel other than a Sears "Free Spirit" lake raft that I bought at an auction for $2.

Here I am powering the Free Spirit. It really didn't work too bad except that roughly 75% of energy expended goes into directional control and 25% is for forward motion. Do my sunglasses look messed up on my face? Yes, they do only have one temple. No they are not comfortable. I can't believe they made it to the end without falling off in the water.

Using the Free Spirit's cavernous space to take a break from direction control.

This is a retired rail bridge that has been a single-lane car bridge as long as I can remember. One end of it is still held up by wooden pylons. You can see its replacement in the background. The old bridge was still in service until just few years ago when this highway was redone.

The latter half of Saturday was the big day. Brewing time! I've got the new kettle heating up here. Everything was a success thus far and it's fermenting nicely in the house right now. There are a LOT more steps than making wine, but it's really not any harder. It definitely needs more equipment and a larger variety of ingredients though. This was a five gallon kit and I've got two more kits to go after this one. Anyone need lots of beer?

Monitoring a boil.

Storm after storm after storm it would seem. This one rolled through while I was at work yesterday and as I sit here typing this, another fairly severe one is passing over.

We usually have mourning doves hanging around our house but I've never seen them act this tame before. Corrine was working in the backyard and they just stayed right here while we walked around and talked about them. Perhaps they knew the storm was coming - I may have looked for better cover though.

Sunset from last week sometime I think? Saw it left over on the SD card and thought I'd post it.