Jenyfer Matthews

I’ve always thought that one of the keys to aging well and maintaining a youthful attitude was to keep trying new things. It’s also a great way to gain material for writing. I goad myself into all sorts of goofy activities with this argument.

I’ve jumped off platforms into freezing springs and jumped on trampolines with my children and hiked through the jungle of Thailand in this spirit (though I did decline to eat a fried cricket or the frog curry). Not only do I get a momentary rush of adrenaline and a warm glow from knowing that I’ve tried something new, I am usually taking notes in my head for possible inclusion in future story writing.

I come to Minnesota for the summer nearly every year. When my children were quite small, I learned to drive the 4-wheeler – you haven’t lived til you’ve navigated an ATV through a boggy spot filled with stumps or gotten one hung up on a fallen log. Last year was the first time I’d tried kayaking and I fell in love with it. This year’s new activity? Shooting.

My father and step-mother, both being hunters and living in the country, have a collection of rifles. They wisely started us out with the rifle with metaphorical training wheels: a .22 caliber.

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After a talk about firearm safety and a demonstration of how to work the safety, they let us shoot. We were only shooting at plastic water bottles but it was strangely satisfying to see them jump in the air and fall over and die when you hit them. It’s also amazing how quickly you can use up a box of ammunition just messing around!

I filled up one half-gallon milk jug just because we had it, and simply because it refused to fall over it was the one target that was everyone wanted to knock over. I counted about a dozen holes in it at the end of the session.

My daughter was particularly determined and said she was going to shoot the cow’s face. I couldn’t see the cow’s face from that distance but she obviously could!

She got him between the eyes and in the nose!

I’d like to say that no plastic bottles were harmed in the process of this activity, but clearly that isn’t true. I also predict that my son’s Santa letter is going to include a request for a BB gun this year. How this experience might end turn up in my writing remains to be seen…

For anyone who cares, this is the first summer that I haven’t gained five pounds immediately upon walking through the door at my father and step-mother’s house. I guess I teased my step-mother publicly on my blog enough – she’s had the usual ice cream bars and cookies around but hasn’t made any special desserts to tempt us all. The baggy jeans I left here last summer are a bit too bit. She did tell me to remind her to make a blueberry pie this weekend however so there’s always time to fall off the wagon I guess.

I’ve had lots of people asking me what we will be doing next, after our summer vacation is done. Short answer: I don’t know. My husband is still working on finding a new job in America and what I do will depend on how that works out. If he gets one, we’ll all stay; if he doesn’t then we’ll have to quickly regroup and decide out next move. I’d like to know more for the sake of the children than myself, but right now I’m doing my best not to think about it too much – I’ve had more than enough stress in my life in the last few months without stewing about situations I have no control over.

In the meantime, we’ve all just been hanging out and doing the things you do in the summer in the north woods: skipping stones on the lake, hiking, and berry picking. Not a bad way to pass the time actually…

Today’s post was delayed by rain.

Yesterday was a hot, still day. The only attractive activity was to go swimming. Lake Superior was so flat and calm that even I got in for a while.

Okay, I’m only in up to my knees, but I stood there for close to 45 minutes! A personal record!

And look how clear it is. Rarely have I seen the big lake so utterly calm. It looks more like I’m standing in a big puddle than a Great Lake!

I guess I should have known by the way the lake was behaving that something was going to happen. There was a tremendous thunder storm last night – my dad’s rain gauge measured 3 1/2″ in a few hours.

This is how the county road to his house looks on a good day – and I still managed to rip off the dirt guards on the bottom of my car.

This is how the county road looks after a hard, thorough rain. There was no way I was getting out this morning in my little car. There were a couple of creeks washing it out in a few places!

Is it any wonder I didn’t get out as early this morning as I normally would have? I am only lucky that the vigilant and conscientious county grader was out early to come and try and smooth out the worse of the run off before I did actually venture out.

There is more rain in the forecast but fingers crossed it will pass us by this time and give us a little time to dry out!

My husband rejoined our family this weekend – first time we’ve seen him since February. He and I honeymooned at my dad’s place before my father built the house that he has now, staying in a rather decrepit cabin at the front of the property. My husband hasn’t been up here since then, so the children and I were looking forward to showing him all of the beautiful scenery that we’ve been enjoying every summer.

What should arrive when he does but a heat wave and a blanket of fog.

Anxious to be out and about after sitting on planes for two days, we went out anyway. The fog gave an interesting layer of mystery to places I’ve seen many times in clearer weather.

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Though it was damp, it was quite a lot cooler down by the lake in the swirling fog.

It was actually a bit foggier in person than this picture would give you to believe!

It’s always amazing to me to find plants and flowers growing out of stone in what is a rather harsh environment. These must be hardier flowers than they look to be!

You know it’s been a wet year when there are not only flowers but wild strawberries growing on the rocks!

They were pretty plump and juicy for having grown on a rock too – yum!

Saw this gorgeous flower out there too but have no idea what it is. Anyone?

It’s not supposed to rain so I guess we’ll just go about our business and enjoy ourselves. I doubt the children will complain it our plans center around swimming rather than hiking!

Actual wildlife that is – there has been no excessive partying in the woods (as yet!)

I missed getting pictures of the couple of wolves I’ve seen on the gravel roads in the area as well as the large black bear that wandered out onto the highway in front of our vehicle as we drove to Canada last weekend. I haven’t gotten any pictures of the doe and twin fawns who come around every day either.

I haven’t been totally unprepared however. I did get a picture of this cool stone figure near the harbor in town.

There were probably 50 stone statues of various shapes in the same little area. They were amazing to see and examine but it was difficult to get a good picture of them all because they also blend so nicely into the larger rocks upon which they sit. I loved the little man above because he was so nicely proportioned and had a round head!

Ten little ducks went out to play…

The mama duck was herding her ten babies around the shallow edges of the rocks in the harbor. She didn’t seem to mind the picture taking and it was certainly safer than getting up close to take a picture of a wolf or bear!

My step-mother continues to feed the foxes in her yard, but this year’s litter isn’t quite as tame as last year’s. They have started coming close enough to the house to be entertaining though. I practically had to run one over to get out of the drive way yesterday morning!

I interpret the above pose as an “No fair, Mom!” moment.

Last but not least, a big happy birthday to my own daughter who is 11 years old today. Where on earth does time go??? All in all I’m very glad that human children don’t grow up as quickly as babies in the wild, but time is still going a little too fast for my liking…

Regardless of state budget crisises and the closure of state offices, when it’s a nice day, you just want to take advantage and spend some time outside – which is what we did on Friday.

I admit that my years living in the Middle East have left an impression on me – I don’t always follow the rules if there is no one around to enforce them! In my defense, I wasn’t the only one parking on the side of the highway and walking into the park around the barrier.

We’ve been to this park a number of times but I never get tired of visiting. What could be more pleasant on a warm day than a walk along a river?

It’s been a wet year so far and the river is really high. This spot, at the lower falls, is normally a place we’d spend a little time, rock hopping and exploring, but many of the rocks were submerged and the mist was flying thick off the waterfall. It was difficult to take any pictures before the camera lens was covered!

The upper falls along the river is called the Devil’s Kettle – so called because the river plunges down a hole on the left side and, so they say, no one knows where it goes. In years past I’ve been able to walk on the rocks right up to the edge of the hole and look down. Not this year!

There is always something new and interesting to see, like this butterfly buffet!

I don’t know what kind of butterfly this is, but it sure is pretty.

The trail in the park area isn’t so very long (though you could keep following it – eventually you’d end up either in Duluth or Canada!) but it can be challenging. You basically walk in and out on the same trail. The stairs don’t seem so bad going down, but going back up all 176 of them is a bit more work on the way out!

I know there are 176 because I had my daughter count them – 2x! Mwhahahahaha…

What could be better after a long walk at a river than lunch and then a swim in Lake Superior? Not much, particularly on a day when the lake was still and fairly warm. It was up to about 60F where we were. The kids ran in and splashed happily for about an hour while I sat on shore on a large, hot rock.

Our outing on Friday was made that much more sweet by a weekend filled with rain. I’m glad my car has heated seats, but I never expected to still be using them in July!

Whenever I’ve taken long road trips in America via the interstate I am often left feeling slight disoriented. America looks disconcerting the same from the interstate wherever you go: the same gas stations, the same strip malls, the same restaurants. I’ve had moments when I’ve been driving along in a daze and suddenly looked around and panicked because I forgot where I was and had no way to tell from looking at the sights around me. One Cracker Barrel looks much like another as you zoom along at 70mph.

I have planned my last couple of long state-to-state road trips with the express purpose of avoiding large metropolitan areas which has had the unexpected benefit of not only avoiding large sections of interstates but also in rediscovering small town America. It’s surprising how many really well maintained state highways are out there.

I drove from Ohio up through Michigan to get to Minnesota just to avoid Chicago. I succeeded in spades: I didn’t see one big city, one traffic jam, and had next to no construction delays.

Sure, you may have to slow down while passing through a town once in a while, but what’s the big rush anyway? Slowing down gives you more opportunity to really look around and appreciate the scenery. Where else are you going to see thriving mom and pop restaurants advertising homemade pies and award winning pasties? Where else might you encounter a gas pump that still has flip numbers (do you even remember how to work one of those? I do) and when you walk inside to pay, find that they have a deli counter where they sell freshly made fish jerky and homemade jam? There are more small hotels out there proudly advertising color TVs and showers than you’d think. (What more do you really need for a night or two?)

I have also discovered that I’m not a huge fan of driving across bridges – particularly impressive suspension bridges with steel decks {shudder} but I digress.

It’s nice to know that while my world traveling days are at least temporarily on hold, there is still plenty to see and explore and appreciate in everyday life – all you need to do is choose the right path. Or perhaps it is more a matter of appreciating the path you take…

Happy 4th of July, America

For anyone who is keeping track, I officially gave up on my diet plan a couple of weeks ago. I liked the concept of the Lose It! site, but also found it a bit demoralizing. Food just has too many calories in it!!!

On the up side, keeping track of my food and liquid (that is the real downfall for me) intake for a week was a great reminder to be more aware of consumption and thinking about how many calories I was consuming was a good incentive to get out and get active. I even started walking 4 miles a day which certainly didn’t hurt a thing. I lost a couple of pounds and I felt better both physically and mentally.

Realistically, I am not going to keep track of every item I put in my mouth when I’m traveling and on a dial-up internet connection. In truth, I guess I just don’t care enough.

I told my sister my tale of woe and she suggested I just buy bigger pants. It’s a good thing that I left some of my larger jeans there last year because I have the feeling they are going to come in handy…

The children and I have done many long haul trips together, but primarily by plane. This year we are driving up to the north woods of Minnesota since we are already on this side of the Atlantic Ocean and we have a car. I told the kids that it would be better than flying – that we’d be able to make our own schedule, eat what and when we liked*, and I even borrowed a dual screen portable DVD player for them to simulate that plane experience (which is more than I ever had on our long drives from Louisiana to Minnesota when I was a child we didn’t even have air conditioning or radio for many years!)

I also told them we’d have more space in the car. I may have misled them a bit on that count. A Volkswagon Golf hatchback holds more than you’d think, but not quite as much I’d like. Every square inch of space is taken, including the back dash and the floor space in the backseat. On the up side, no one will be reclining the front seats into their laps, the kids have about twenty new-to-them movies to watch, and all the other stuff I told them is true – we can eat when and what we want, *provided of course I can find anywhere to stop in the rural areas we’ll be passing through.

I expect the drive to take between two and two and a half days. I used to make the 19 hour drive between Kent, Ohio and Baton Rouge, Louisiana in one shot back when I was in grad school by leaving at 3am, but I think if I tried that now, I’d have a mutiny on my hands. Besides, I’m not 22 years old anymore. One benefit to air travel is that someone else is doing the driving so you can nod off if you wish!

Given the limited nature of the internet connection at my father’s house, I may post a bit irregularly in July and August. That’s okay – it’s summer and I’m sure you have better things to do than haunt my blog anyway, right? I’m sure I’ll be around at least a couple times a week though – after three years of blogging, I’m well and truly hooked on it!

There was a very dramatic thunderstorm the night we stayed in the wigwam. One lightening strike was so close I began to wonder about the odds of us experiencing a lightening strike while sleeping in a concrete teepee. Fortunately, we survived the storm but it was still raining when we woke up. There would be no Lost River Cave tour for us this visit.

Instead, once it stopped raining, we decided to visit another nearby attraction: Kentucky Down Under.

Honestly, if someone had given me a stack of brochures and just told me to choose a couple of places, I probably would not have selected this one. An Australian themed petting zoo in Kentucky??? Skipping it would have been making a mistake. We had a wonderful time.

The admission price may seem a little steep: $22 for adults and $13 for children under 14 years, but the price includes everything and is good for two consecutive days. I only wish I had known that on our first day!

Our first stop was the Budgie house. I have never been all that interested in birds – I like to see them in the wild but they don’t do much for me when they are in cages. This was a bit different though: you walked in with a cup of bird seed. I still might not have gone in if the children hadn’t wanted me to go with them.

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This was a prime example of not knowing what you are missing until you try it. The birds knew the drill and swooped down on us the minute that we entered their space. What fun! My children were a little weirded out by having birds all over them, but I went back for seconds on seeds!

Our next stop was the Woolshed where we got to watch a demonstration of a dog herding sheep and then learn a little bit about various aspects of sheep farming in Australia. After the talk, we were invited to pet the sheep. Doesn’t this guy look content?

We had a little time before our cave tour so we visited the exotic bird garden and also the Lorie cage. These birds are a bit larger and the children were not as keen to walk inside the enclosure. Perhaps this sign (outside the parrot and cockatoo cages) put them off!

I finally managed to talk my son into coming in with me and at least taking my picture.

The birds were beautiful and it was amazing to have them land all over me. I am happy to say that the thief on my shoulder was unsuccessful at dislodging my earring!

Kentucky Down Under also has a cave to explore and we were lucky to get there in time because they only do the tour once a day.

It wasn’t the largest cave in the area but it was lovely. I felt a little like a muppet in Fraggle Rock wandering around all these passages and stairs in the rock!

This was a mammoth stalagmite that has already pretty well blocked on side of the stairs (we came down on the right).

From the cave tour we went to the Outback Walkabout to pet kangaroos – why yes, it did seem a bit surreal! Kangaroos are much softer than you would think they’d be. They are so soft, I’m surprised that you don’t find things made from kangaroo fur – or maybe you do when you are in Australia!

Did you know that kangaroos continue to grow right up until they die? Also, they can jump 9 1/2 feet straight up off the ground. I was glad that they remained calm while we were in their yard walking around with them!

The only two things we did not have time to do were attend a program on Australian Aboriginal customs and traditions including things like boomarangs and didgeridoos and also the presentation on snakes because we had to get on the road to drive back to Ohio. (Sshhh! I might have omitted the snakes on purpose!) We made one last visit to the Budgie house before getting in the car to drive back to Ohio, high on our wonderful day at Kentucky Down Under.

So, having taken the children to see Kung Fu Panda 2 on Friday, exploring caves in Kentucky over the weekend, not to mention the Wigwam Village fun, is it any wonder the children awarded me the Best Mom Ever award on the way home?

I fear this weekend might suffer by comparison!!!