Cool, cool water...

It is blast furnace hot here in the San Fernando Valley. Tim and I are, daily, grateful for our lovely new air conditioner (part of the kitchen remodel). But as soon as we step out the door, the heat hits. So I've been thinking -- a lot! -- about lovely Lake Owen and the North Woods of Wisconsin...
(The lake.)


(Bruce and Linda kayaking.)






(Bathing Beauty Stephanie.)



Ahhh, I feel much better.

Linda

Stu's Zoo

Leslie's friend, Karen, recently shot some pictures of Stuart, Leslie and their animals. Thought I'd share some here.


Stuart and Leslie with Oso, Nadja and Marlowe.


Stuart and Oso.


Stuart with Blue, their spritely 25-year-old horse.


Leslie sent a note that she and Stuart have headed up to their cabin in the mountains for the weekend -- sounds peaceful, cool and refreshing...

Adventures from Even Further Up North...

Our roving reporters, Janet and Dub, report in from their holiday in Alaska:


First report: "We were here two days ago -- up so close to the floating piece of ice off the glacier that we could practically touch it. Tonight we are at a B and B outside of Anchorage with all sorts of float planes at our front door. Who knows what we will do next? But we do know that we go to Homer day after tomorrow. Love to all, J" (and as a postscript:)
"And tomorrow I will tell you about the shipwreck." (She sure knows how to write a cliffhanger...)


Second report: "So, I must tell you all of an adventure. We were cruising on Sunday and the captain decided that we could see some bears who were fishing on a stream on shore. As she edged in, whoops, there was a rock outcrop and we ran aground. It reminded me of the time we grounded on the Loire -- sounded like a canoe stopping in gravel. The tide was going out so, even though a fisherman brought his boat over to help and try to tow us, we were going nowhere. When the tide came back in, we floated off. The event caused quite a bit of excitement as the Coast Guard sent a helicopter to check us out, we had several fishing boats standing by, and ultimately even a cruiser came along to escort us. The incident hit the Anchorage paper. The captain was chagrined -- to say the least -- and we missed seeing one glacier that we were supposed to see later in the day. It meant that we went right back to port and docked in the middle of the night rather than in the morning. I suspect that the captain will also be in a bit of trouble."


Third report: "We drove and drove down the Kenai to Homer today and on the way we saw a moose -- finally. They say that more moose live in Anchorage than in the rest of the state but we saw none there. Also saw lots of rain, many mountains, dead salmon, and other creatures."

Further Adventures "Up North"

Every day, Leslie would slip into the lake to swim, and Stuart would climb into the boat to accompany her -- to make sure she didn't get run over by jet skis and speed boats. The picture looks rather like a trainer and his champion, doesn't it?



No family vacation is complete without Dad grilling, and, when in Wisconsin, one must have brats (that's pronounced "br - ahhhh - ts"). Alas, these were some of the fancy (and low-fat) chicken sausages that Donna brought up north. Tasty, but not brats. Sigh. I didn't get a good brat last fall in Madison, and I didn't get one up north this summer. What does an Angeleno on the run have to do to get a decent bratwurst?



I learned how to play canasta one evening -- and proceeded to clean the clocks of my teachers, Janet and Tracy. Was it Tracy who dubbed me "Canasta Shark"? I will gladly take on all comers -- it's fun!

Lake Owen, Round 1

This pretty much sums up life as we knew it at Lake Owen last week: spending time together, water, sun, boats. . . Stuart and Leslie caught some sun on one of the docks.

Alex brought over his "Huggy Bear" boat (so named by his friends for its fab glittery purple and silver sides). Here we have The Brown Boys in Action!


Bruce's wife, Donna, was called in to treat the tresses of various members of the tribe, and wanted a glamour shot for her portfolio. Some of us snuck in to the shot -- can you pick out the "do's" from the "don'ts"?


That's all for now. Stay tuned for future installments.

love, Linda