On Sunday I was at my parent's farm with family members. I had an amazing day full of fun activities. I think you will agree the list is impressive. After breakfast we walked past the barn, between the corn and soybean fields, through the poison ivy and down into the maple/basswood forest slope to the lake. After that I went to a polka mass. This was my first polka mass. I half expected dancing because to me, polka is a dance more than music. As it turns out, there is no dancing at a polka mass. The church was overcrowded so we had to sit sideways down in front right behind the polka band (accordion, guitars, saxophone, and electric violin). After that we went to the city of Urbank celebration. Just like there is no dancing at a polka mass, there was no walking at the cake walk. We each held a paint stirring stick with a number and watched as they spun the wheel. I won an angelfood cake. My sister won a chocolate zucchini cake. We had plenty of cake for everyone. We walked through the cemetary to visit the graves of my grandparents, aunts, uncles and great grand parents. We visited with family. After lunch we hiked to the top of Inspiration Peak. And after that I did something I've wanted to do ever since I was a kid and heard my cousin did it - I swam across Block Lake. I started out from the road by the cabins across from Stoney Point and swam to the boat landing. I was worried about safety so I had family nearby in a canoe. I didn't want to make them wait too long. I am a slow swimmer. So I started swimming while they proceeded to the landing, launched the canoe, and met me. I think I was about a third of the way across by the time they met me. At first the waves were choppy and were breaking over my head when I tried to take in a breath. By the time the canoe arrived, the water was calmer and I found it easier to swim. Block Lake is green with algae but it wasn't solid green. I wore goggles. Sometimes I thought I could see something dark under the water. I would close my eyes and pretend it wasn't there. I really didn't want to see anything except my arms. I really didn't want to see any fish or turtles. Every 20 strokes or so I would pop up my head to see if I was pointed in the right direction. My goggles fogged up and I could barely see. So I would ask my safety crew, "Is my nose pointed in the right direction?" I just kept swimming. Eventually I could make out the giant boulders that line the shore along the tar road. I knew I was getting close. And then I felt a weed, "Ewww! Weed! Weed!" I swam away from shore to get out of the weeds. I just kept listening for the voices of the canoers and tried to swim toward that. Eventually I had to take off the goggles and dog paddle the rest of the way to avoid most of the weeds. By the end, when I got out, I wasn't even tired. Swimming across the lake wasn't really that hard. My hours of swimming laps in the pool paid off. My swim across the lake was probably a half mile - less than what I usually swim in an hour. I could do it again. The worst part was taking a shower afterwards. All those spots of algae were filtered by the top of my swim suit and, oh my, that was disgusting. I don't even want to think about that again. My epic day wasn't over yet. After the swim I had the opportunity to shoot a rifle at a paper target. The target had a large bullseye and four little bullseyes in the corner. I fired 8 to 10 times. Not only did I hit the paper, I got a bullseye. It wasn't the bullseye I was aiming for but a bullseye nonetheless. Most of my shots were right down the middle but above and below the center bullseye. Who could ask for a better day? I will add pictures later.
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