S.O.A.R!-ing in Port Richey; Redfish Blues; An Aesopian Fable

Suzanne held her S.O.A.R! Workshop today in the chapel at Unity of Port Richey for a delightful group of attendees. Rudy and Gretchen even got to spend a couple of hours in the workshop since the church is dog-friendly. 

As we were setting up, I glanced out the chapel window and saw Gretchen sitting in the front seat of The Bus watching Suzanne closely. Here is our little girl keeping watch on her Dog-Mom. 

The puppies enjoyed walking the church grounds and looking for squirrels. Here they are on alert. They treed a couple, but never got close to catching one. 

While Suzanne led her workshop, I went fishing, hoping to catch a big redfish for dinner. I first spent an hour at a fishing pier, with nothing but a few strikes and lost bait shrimp to show for my efforts. I returned to The Bus for lunch with My Lovely Bride, and made a fishing foray in one of our kayaks in the afternoon. It was a lovely day, with a sighting of a jumping eagle ray close to the boat. 

There were also several birds diving for small fish. A kingfisher was very active, with an osprey occasionally swooping down for a larger fish. I managed to board this monster fish, the only catch of the day, but he was thrashing around the cockpit such that I feared he would capsize the kayak and I’d be shark bait, so I had to let him go. 

Exhausted from my fishing efforts, I decided to take Corvette Chick out for sushi. (It was my way of getting revenge against the fish community). After a couple of sushi disasters (poor quality fish and/or rice), we have decided that when visiting a new sushi bar, we would try the gyoza and one small order of sushi to ensure we will be happy with the main order. Fortunately, tonight’s experience was almost as good as our Sumter Landing favorite.

Now, to provide a brief tongue-in-cheek answer to Terri Horsmann, our Minnesnowdan Poet Laureate and Chamber of Commerce spokesperson. For those readers who have not visited that state, or who are geographically challenged, the Land of 10,000 Lakes is bordered on the east by Wisconsin (Cheese Head Land), on the south by Iowa, and on the west by North and South Dakota. Since North Dakota is well known for having the worst weather in the Lower 48, you can guess what kind of winters Minnesota experiences. The last ice age saw an ice sheet and glaciers about a kilometer thick covering the state. (The last ice age ended here on July 15, 2008.) Minnesota also borders on Lake Superior, the setting for The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, a ship that was caught in a winter storm and was lost with all hands. (Did I mention that winter in this state lasts from July 15^th until the following July 1^st?)

The state’s most important invention was the Oreo cookie. I have been thanked for eating Oreos because I contribute to Terri’s ESOP. As a Navy guy, I had to look this one up, since no one ever offered me part ownership in any of the ships to which I was assigned. It seems that when Terri retires, she will get a 25 years supply of Oreos. Hey, this is one of the best deals in the world. I might even think about moving to Minnesota for that! (Well, let me think about that for a few minutes...) 

Animals in Minnesota must be able to survive the harsh winter by burrowing beneath the permafrost or vacationing in Florida. Most choose the latter method of survival. Migratory waterfowl are plentiful, but you must remember what the word “migratory” means. Fish are also plentiful, but they are frozen in the ice for many months so are very difficult to catch. (Frozen fish fingers were invented here).

Minnesota has a population of 5 million or so, but only 28 spend the winter there. Most are descendants of four immigrants from Scandinavia, Ole, Lena, Sven, and Sven’s unnamed wife. (She is rumored to be unnamed because she was actually from New York.) It was a harsh life then as now, so few women volunteered to come to Minnesota. Most have been kidnapped from warmer climes. You can tell a native Minnesotan by his/her ghostly pallor and chalk-white legs, unless they have fled the snow and ice to Florida.

Oh, yes, I almost forgot the Ole and Sven jokes, such as when Ole went to the Sons of Norway Hall one night and finally won the door prize, which was a toilet brush. He was so excited that he won he brought it home and used it often. Someone asked him during the next meeting what the prize was and if he liked it or not. Ole replied, "Yea I like the toilet brush, but I think I'm gonna go back to using paper."

We all know of the many famous people who hail from Minnesota; Jane Russell, Jesse Ventura, and recent presidential candidate Michelle Bachmann. (Oh, yes, there are others... but those are definitely the most famous...)     ;-)