Hodag Park.
Dear Friends and Family,
A couple of weeks ago, I spent two consecutive weekends up in Rhinelander with the folks. The first weekend Bob and I worked on reshingling a flatish portion of the garage roof. The second weekend was more about visiting, since Jon and Lisa and their family were up, too. I accompanied Laurie up north in her Nissan. Bob showed up in the wee hours Sunday morning.
One of the highlights of that weekend's visit was a trip to Hodag Park on the northside of Rhinelander on the shore of Boom Lake. Hodag Park is one of the best parks in Rhinelander. My childhood memories of it brought me back to Fourths of July years past, where Mom and Dad braved the large, ruckous crowds to watch the works. Mom, Dad, and the big kids have many more memories of the place as their first home in Rhinelander was a second-story apartment right off the park that they rented from family friend Marge Spencer. Marge still does Mom's hair at the old Magic Scissors on Brown Street.
Emma, Mikey, and I braved the cold water temperature and algae plumes to dip our feet in at the beach. Little Leila enjoyed the swing. I had forgotten how large and well kept that park was; it was a real civic center of Rhinelander. The cool lake breezes were also very refreshing.
After about an hour or so, we all headed to another Rhinelander institution, Jet's Dairy Bar. I had a very delicious soft-serve twist cone. We also got to see one of four hodag sculptures that is ornamenting downtown Rhinelander this summer. Fun.
The following Monday Jim and Tom Bilski came out to the Bowman fields (right across from Laurie's former workplace Wright Middle School) to watch me play softball. The temperature was sweltering, and our team's bleachers were in full sun all game. We also all had black team t-shirts on. We lost badly due to poor team defense, but I was one-for-two with a single!
Later that week, Jim and I invited over a few of my friends from the university to a get together at the condo before the first Concert on the Square. Concert on the Square is a series of concerts held every week on Wednesday for seven weeks or so during the summer. It was good to reconnect with friends. (First below, from left to right, Terry, Katherine, Sarah, David, Katie, and myself; second below, David and Jim share their estimable gifts of gab)
Soon thereafter, Jim and I caught a win at Miller Park with friends Jim Panella and Joe.
This last Thursday, Jim and I travelled with friends Tom and John to Wrigley to watch the Brewers fall to the Cubs, 9-5. It was a good experience despite the loss.
Naturally, everything is old fashioned at Wrigley, from the main scoreboard to the obstructing beams under the second deck. I prefer Miller Park.
Sorry that my notes are so brief this week, but I'm busy and a bit uninspired.
It's a lovely sunny summer day of about 82 degrees. I've decided to take a break this evening from dissertation study to finish this blog entry. Jim went along with friend Scott Snyder to Milwaukee to attend the last day of Summerfest. Time flies.
A couple of weeks ago, I spent two consecutive weekends up in Rhinelander with the folks. The first weekend Bob and I worked on reshingling a flatish portion of the garage roof. The second weekend was more about visiting, since Jon and Lisa and their family were up, too. I accompanied Laurie up north in her Nissan. Bob showed up in the wee hours Sunday morning.
One of the highlights of that weekend's visit was a trip to Hodag Park on the northside of Rhinelander on the shore of Boom Lake. Hodag Park is one of the best parks in Rhinelander. My childhood memories of it brought me back to Fourths of July years past, where Mom and Dad braved the large, ruckous crowds to watch the works. Mom, Dad, and the big kids have many more memories of the place as their first home in Rhinelander was a second-story apartment right off the park that they rented from family friend Marge Spencer. Marge still does Mom's hair at the old Magic Scissors on Brown Street.
Emma, Mikey, and I braved the cold water temperature and algae plumes to dip our feet in at the beach. Little Leila enjoyed the swing. I had forgotten how large and well kept that park was; it was a real civic center of Rhinelander. The cool lake breezes were also very refreshing.
After about an hour or so, we all headed to another Rhinelander institution, Jet's Dairy Bar. I had a very delicious soft-serve twist cone. We also got to see one of four hodag sculptures that is ornamenting downtown Rhinelander this summer. Fun.
The following Monday Jim and Tom Bilski came out to the Bowman fields (right across from Laurie's former workplace Wright Middle School) to watch me play softball. The temperature was sweltering, and our team's bleachers were in full sun all game. We also all had black team t-shirts on. We lost badly due to poor team defense, but I was one-for-two with a single!
Later that week, Jim and I invited over a few of my friends from the university to a get together at the condo before the first Concert on the Square. Concert on the Square is a series of concerts held every week on Wednesday for seven weeks or so during the summer. It was good to reconnect with friends. (First below, from left to right, Terry, Katherine, Sarah, David, Katie, and myself; second below, David and Jim share their estimable gifts of gab)Soon thereafter, Jim and I caught a win at Miller Park with friends Jim Panella and Joe.This last Thursday, Jim and I travelled with friends Tom and John to Wrigley to watch the Brewers fall to the Cubs, 9-5. It was a good experience despite the loss.Naturally, everything is old fashioned at Wrigley, from the main scoreboard to the obstructing beams under the second deck. I prefer Miller Park.Sorry that my notes are so brief this week, but I'm busy and a bit uninspired.jkb
posted by jkbinturkey at 12:16 PM
2 Comments:
Great pictures, great weekend!
I updated my blog a day or two ago.
Love, Lisa
John--
We will leave Monticello on July 16, probably stopping in Madison briefly on our way north on July 17, and plan to be in Rhinelander until August 1, when we'll head back to Monticello...
Brother Don
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