Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Pond Hockey

So, two weekends ago, on a balmy (seriously) 23 degree day in January, MEL and I walked across the lake and wandered around the Pond Hockey Championships for a couple of hours. It was highly entertaining, and we had the best brats I have ever eaten.

We started off by treking across the frozen lake:



Checked out some of the sights outside:





For those of you from warmer climes, a reminder that everything that you have seen so far has been actually on the frozen lake:


(See--the little boy is wearing skates.)

I will note that little boys and men have many things in common:


(The boys also had hockey jerseys on, but under their coats.)

There were some *extremely* high-tech ways to hold shin guards in place:


Many children--and some adults--were using sleds to get around:


As always; the planes from MSP joined us:


The warming hut was on the beach, rather than on the lake itself, and there were stairs:


Here is the view from the beach behind the warming hut--the hut is on the left in this picture. Note the lifeguard stand:




The warming hut looked about like you would expect on the inside. Beer, brats, coats, flatscreen TVs showing other winter sporting events:


We watched a few games, warmed up, had some brats, and then walked across the lake and went home. One the way home, we saw this man out on the lake:


Because, um, sure. It's 23 degrees out. Why *not* go for a bike ride on the frozen lake?

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

yessssss...why not? those suicidal tendencies dont act out by themselves you know!

Grendel said...

Ahem. First of all, hockey players where sweaters. It was a sweater when Gordie Howe pulled on on, and it's still a damn sweater. Second, believe it or not, NHL players often just use tape to hold the shin pads on. It's just easier.

Third, 23 degrees just isn't that cold. . . :)

Anonymous said...

Gosh-that looks like it was a blast!!! Did that guy have chains or something on his tires, because otherwise he's got to be from the circus to be able to keep that bike upright. Bike-riding creates WIND, which then creates WIND-CHILL! WHAT was that guy thinking?!?

Kate said...

Whatever the players call them, I am going to call them jerseys.

I have noticed the tape in the NHL, and it amuses me there, too. Pragmatic rather than flashy.

I agree that 23 isn't that cold for people in MN. However, in most of the country that is considered really cold, and if you aren't acclimated to it (your body actually makes physical changes to deal with the cold), it feels *really cold*.

Kate said...

I am sure that he didn't have chains. You get really good at controlling tires on ice in MN.

Grendel said...

Oh fer the luv of god. Well, since I can't use the correct form of "wear" (apparently the hockey players are locating the sweaters or something. "Where sweater? There sweater!") Sigh.

Kate said...

Hee. I make typos in comments all the damn time.