snowboarding, awarding, recording

So, last Sunday I headed out snowboarding with the kids from church.  It was a great group, 5 outstanding youth and one other outstanding adult.  I had been snowboarding one other time about 12 years ago when a girl I knew in college said she could get us cheap lift tickets so me, Paula, Heather, Ben, and …. who else came? Maybe Jenny or Adam… anyways I just remember driving forever, falling a lot, and being really thrilled and sore from the experience.  The crazy thing was, as we pulled into buena vista (what else would you name a ski hill in northern mn?) this was the exact same place I had gone 12 years ago!  Now I know MN isn’t exactly ripe with slopes, but what are the odds that I’d end up at the same place.  It made for a nice little trip down memory lane.  Although as you can see from my earlier listing of friends along for the ride, my memory lane is very short and indescript.

They say in relationships that each person takes on certain roles and that includes who remembers what.  Jodi remembers everything in our relationship.  Except numbers and directions.  I think thats one reason I write stuff, if I don’t it’s gone.

Anyways, lest we forget, I was out snowboarding.  It was great.  I actually fell more holding onto the stupid rope for the bunny hill and getting off the lifts than I did the entire rest of the day, and not once did I catch my front edge.  Thank God.  One of the youth was a visiting exchange student from Peru – it was awesome watching him get up the courage to get on the lift and go down his first ride.  I doubt I would’ve attempted as much were I him.

To sum up, snowboarding was good.

On the way to the hills, on some county road I noticed a deer, so I said, “DEER!” and started to brake.  Then I said “DEER SCRATCHING HIS BACK ON A TELEPHONE POLE!” and finally it dawned on me, “DEAD FROZEN DEER PROPPED UP AGAINST POLE!”  Apparently someone hit this dear deer, it died with its entrails contained, and once frozen a kind passerbyer had given it mad props.  Kind of like when you see a hub cap propped up on the side of the road.  Like someone would claim it?

The guys in my car thought this was hilarious and took note that it was at mile marker 68 so that on the way back we could get a shot of it.  And sure enough as we drove home you would’ve thought we were at the gates of disney land.  From mile 72 on down they were absolutely giddy – 4 miles to go!!!  And yes, we stopped and I handed one my camera and 5 young men ran off to the pole to pose with said frozen deer.

nate on deer

That’s Nate, not me Nate, other Nate, riding the wild doe.  There’s more shots over at my flick’r site.

Then they got back in the car and said… my hands kind of stink.

Now off to the awards.  My father in law recieved an award from the Northern Plains Growers Associaton on Tuesday night in Grand Forks.  This was a big deal – a sort of lifetime achievement kind of thing.  There was a big dinner and ceremony and we all got to go.  Normally you wouldn’t go to this thing unless you were a farmer or connected with the farming industry, and it was a total honor to attend as someone whose connection with the land peeks at a 10 x 10 garden plot and the occasional mowing.  After the awards it was mingle time so I followed my brother in laws around and listened in on a bunch of farm related conversations.  Here are a few observations.

Farmers are honorable – I listened in as business deals went down – everything was on a handshake – contracts would be sent out eventually, but only as a formality.

These guys are great storytellers.  Maybe it’s the hours in the field, maybe it was the open bar, but I listened to hilarious stories for hours on end.

Farmers know the land.  I can’t even begin to explain how struck I was by folks describing their land and its location to each other.  I think non-organic farmers get way too much crap for ‘not caring for the environment’ These guys care for it better than any urban hippy at the co-op ever will.  We buy organic whenever we can afford to, and we’re member owners of our neighborhood co-op in St. Paul – that’s all good and fine.  But if you want to meet folks that know, love, and care for the earth, sneak into one of these conventions – it’s amazing.

So, hats off to farmers, thanks for feeding us.

We spent the night in Grand Forks and woke to streets of ice, there had been freezing rain all night.  We delayed our departure but even when we left at 10 there were still jackknifed semis all over the place for the next 60 miles.  thankfully we arrived home safely.

So today, friday, i finally got back into the studio.  It was a fun day – I’m almost done with my 10 song CD.  When I finish I’ll post it with lyrics and notes and all kinds of stuff.  High lights today include using my daughters “My First Tape Recorder” to do some vocals and using an old electro voice room mic to give the drums a super compressed trashy sound.  Once this recording process is over I’m going to have a lot to debrief – it’s been a crazy great experience and I’m not sure if I’ll be able to articulate why…

but then again, what can I articulate?

 

Posted: February 23rd, 2007
Categories: fact
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