Tag Archives: lake okabena

My Minnesota fashion statement

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I’ve never really been one to follow the fashion trends.

I prefer turtlenecks to those colorful silky scarves in winter, I’d rather wear jeans to work every day than have to dress up for the job and, if I knew I wouldn’t be razzed terribly at the office, I wouldn’t mind buying a pair of leg warmers again.

Yes, those knitted leg warmers were trendy when I was in about the fifth grade, but they’re making a comeback – and they really did keep my legs warm!

Knowing that I’ll be spending much of the afternoon outside on Saturday covering Winterfest activities and the Deep Freeze Dip in Worthington, I’ve been gathering up the warmest of my winter attire, and I can tell you right now, I won’t be making any fashion statements down by the lakeshore.

Right now, my plan is to wear two pairs of my favorite alpaca fiber socks (of different colors of course!) underneath my pair of clodhopper boots. The long underwear will be under the blue jeans and, if I dig out a pair of jeans I fit into a couple of years ago, I have enough extra room to put a third layer (maybe sweat pants) on as well (under the jeans, of course!)

The tops (plural) will be pretty easy – a long-sleeved turtleneck under a sweatshirt, under a sweater, under my winter parka. (It is only supposed to be about 7 degrees, after all!)

I bought new gloves tonight that had better keep my fingers warm. I liked them because they had grippers on the underside – perfect for holding a pencil to take notes. (Did you know pens freeze when the air is that cold? It’s happened to me before!)

Perhaps the most laughable item I will be wearing is my new bomber hat. (It was a birthday present, so no one can make fun of it!) In all honesty, it looks like a bunny rabbit gave up its life for my new hat. Sadly, the fur appears to be nothing more than decoration (although I think it will keep my ears warm). If necessary, I’ll also have a ski-mask along to cover up even more of my face.

Hmm, maybe I should just wear the ski mask anyway – it might serve as a good disguise. If no one recognizes me, I won’t have to endure teasing!

Then again, I’d rather be making a horrible wintertime fashion statement than don a swimsuit and jump in the lake!

If you can come for a little while – or stay for the afternoon – please join me at Chautauqua Park on the shore of Lake Okabena on Saturday afternoon and watch those crazy people take the Deep Freeze Dip. The dip starts at 3 p.m.

I promise I won’t make fun of your Minnesota wintertime fashion statement – if you don’t make fun of mine!

Big dippers and the Deep Freeze Dip

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Watching two self-proclaimed fat guys slip into a wetsuit — their chosen attire for this Saturday’s Deep Freeze Dip in Worthington’s Lake Okabena — can be likened to a gut-busting comedy routine … or at least that’s what I imagined after reading an e-mail from Luverne Area Chamber Director Jane Lanphere Tuesday morning.

Jane’s husband, Larry “Lumpy” Lanphere, is well-known in these parts for his years in the radio business. Come Saturday, he might become well-known for another reason. He and fellow radioman Dan Dobson have agreed (or more aptly been railroaded) to take the plunge into the frigid waters of our local lake.

Larry Lanphere and Dan Dobson

Do you know how cold it is going to be on Saturday?

Well, right now, the forecast is for a high of 5 to 10 degrees. As event organizer Chad Cummings says, it will be “cheek-chillin’ cold outside!”

I called Larry on Tuesday to get his side of the story on the wetsuit fitting, and tried to stop giggling long enough to concentrate on my typing.

“Holy buckets — Jane had to come in and help both of us get the top part on,” Larry described. “How the hell do (women) get girdles on?”

Well, I wasn’t about to answer that question … let’s just say Larry now has a new appreciation for the work some women go through to create a smoother, shapelier appearance!

Then Larry declared, “We can’t even hardly walk in these things — we look like idiots. We thought we looked pretty good until we looked in the mirror. Holy gosh, we have lumps all over the place! We look like beached walruses, I’ll tell ya!”

As I laughed uncontrollably, he explained how he and Dan are going to arrive dressed in their wetsuits (kindly donated for the cause by Donovan’s Hobby & Scuba Center in Sioux Falls, S.D.) for the dip. I don’t know … I think I’d be willing to donate a little more just to watch these guys struggle and squirm to get into their gear!

“For two fat old guys, it’s going to be trouble,” Larry confided.

It’s all worth it — taking pledges to take the dip and helping raise the remaining $50,000 needed to send southwest Minnesota (and northwest Iowa) World War II veterans on Honor Flight.

In a second phone call to Larry’s better half, Jane said Tuesday they now have 84 applications from World War II veterans wanting to take part on the third Honor Flight Southwest Minnesota.

“We really need 150 on the list in order to fly,” said Jane. Only 110 seats are available for veterans, but they like to have a list of back-ups to draw from. The dates for the next flight are April 29-30.

“This is the time to get those veterans from Rock, Nobles, Pipestone, Murray, Cottonwood and Jackson counties — and those applications from Iowa,” she said. Applications are available from Chamber of Commerce and Veterans Service Offices across southwest Minnesota.

A quick perusal of the list shows at least 30 of the 80 applicants are from the six counties of far southwest Minnesota, with the remainder coming from just beyond — Lincoln, Lyon, Martin, Redwood and Kandiyohi counties, to name a few. Many of those veterans live in areas where the Honor Flight Network hasn’t yet, and may never, reach.

As the Daily Globe reporter on the inaugural Honor Flight Southwest Minnesota, I will say without hesitation that whatever we can do to support these heroes is well worth it — regardless of what their address is now. Traveling with them, hearing their stories and getting to know them — those were the greatest experiences I have ever had.

My money for the Deep Freeze Dip on Saturday is going to our Daily Globe dippers — copy editor Joe Froemming and sports reporter Daniel Kerwin.

Word has it that Larry needs a lot of help, though, so if you can spare some bills, he’ll gladly take them.

As of Tuesday afternoon, there were 59 jumpers on the Deep Freeze Dip list — including 10 from JBS who have already been guaranteed $250 a piece by the company. That’s $2,500 for Honor Flight and the jumpers are still out adding to their pledge cards!

Worthington’s District 518 and Adrian School District each have five dippers, with Worthington Christian School sponsoring two. Several local businesses are also sponsoring dippers, including GuidePoint, Hy-Vee and Worthington Taxi, to name a few.

So, come on out and watch the hilarity … it begins at 3 p.m. Saturday on the shores of Chautauqua Park in Worthington (free shuttles provided from Westminster Presbyterian Church parking lot). Cheer on the dippers, dig into your wallet and help us get the next flight of veterans to Washington, D.C., to see their memorials.

Scratch-n-sniff? No thanks!

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It’s not often my boss makes a special request when I go out on assignment, but when I was tasked with writing a story about our weekend algae bloom on Lake Okabena Monday morning, he asked if I could make the photos the scratch-n-sniff kind for Tuesday’s newspaper.

Floating algae mat.

Scratch-n-sniff photos of an algae bloom – now wouldn’t that be something!

Just imagine reading the newspaper over your morning cup of coffee, all the while wondering where that smell is coming from. Is it a skunk? Could it be sulfur, or maybe it’s rotten eggs? Yeah, that doesn’t sound too appetizing to me either!

It kind of reminds me of grade school. Back then, scratch-n-sniff stickers were the rage. I particularly liked the fruity ones that smelled like strawberries and grapes.

Blue-green algae near the fishing pier.

They made disgusting scratch-n-sniff stickers too – like skunk, rubber tires, green grass and vomit. Oh, I never wasted my hard-earned babysitting money on that kind of garbage, but some kids did.

I wonder if they still make scratch-n-sniff stickers.

Anyway, no one would ever want a scratch-n-sniff photo of an algae bloom – trust me on this! I told Dan the Watershed Man that we could do the interview Monday morning down by Sailboard Beach because it was such a beautiful day. Besides, when I have a chance to get out of the office on assignment, I generally take it.

Yuck, yuck, yuck

The smell wasn’t too noticeable for much of the interview, but I think the aroma of decaying algae somehow soaked into my system. By the afternoon, my nose was telling me the rotten scent was nearby. I’m sure it was just my overactive imagination playing tricks on me.

Then again, maybe they were working on a scratch-n-sniff recipe for an algae bloom photo over by the printing press.

Waterlogged

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I’m not sure how much rain we have received in the last 36 hours – the rain gauge I bought at a quaint little shop along the North Shore a few weeks ago couldn’t hold it all. So, I guess it was more than five inches in my yard and, like many people across southwest Minnesota and northwest Iowa, a portion of it has ended up in my basement.

So much for a day away from the office to accomplish a long list of projects I need to get done! Oh well, I finished a few things on my list, in between sweeping water from one basement room into the other basement room where the sump pump was working overtime.

One thing I’ve realized today is that listening to the sump pump kick in every few minutes can be a rather soothing sound.

I considered myself rather fortunate to have just a half-inch or so of water in the basement. Many more in our region had much bigger messes to contend with, and for some it wasn’t just water.

Perhaps the most depressing thing about this rainfall is the timing. Farmers were just getting a good start in the fields to bring in what by all accounts is a bin-bursting crop.

Some of my farming friends had posted photos on Facebook by early this morning to show overflowing waterways, filled ditches and waterlogged fields. It’s rather heartbreaking to see the corn and soybean crops get so close to harvest, only to endure Mother Nature’s unpredictable wrath this late in the season.

I should have taken the time for a drive in the country today to survey the damage. Instead, when I finally got myself out of the house early this evening, I headed down to the lake for a walk.

Wow. I wished I’d had a camera with me. (Oh, I just remembered my phone has a camera – shucks! I keep forgetting about that!) A few of the docks, including a favorite I like to take the nieces and nephews to, were partially, if not completely submerged.

The brisk wind was sending waves crashing up against the rocks, and the spillway underneath the bicycle bridge was filled nearly to the top. I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen the water that high in Lake Okabena. It was rather impressive.

After my walk, I returned home for one last battle with the basement for the evening, thankful that I don’t have carpeting on the floors and hopeful that the sun will shine tomorrow and we can begin to dry out.

The lake adventure

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I was walking around the lake on Saturday, my MP3 player turned up a little louder than it probably should have been, when something managed to break through my thoughts.

Screams. High-pitched, little girl-like screams, coming from a yard on South Shore Drive.

It took just seconds to realize what the commotion was about, and by then it was too late … a lanky dog had burst out from behind a pine tree with a critter in its mouth … a critter with a long and hairless tail.

Chasing the dog … a group of four teenage guys. In front of the dog … me.

Yeah, not exactly the kind of peaceful adventure I had hoped for.

My first thought wasn’t, "What do I do?," but rather, "Is that a possum in his mouth?"

I was looking into the sun, so it was kind of hard to tell. All I could see was the hairless tail dangling as the dog bounded in my direction.

Ordinarily I would have let out a hearty scream, but Kenny Chesney’s country crooning in my earbuds kept me calm, cool and collected.

Besides, the guys looked like they had the situation under control (that’s what I told myself!) The one, I’m assuming the dog’s master, latched onto the dog collar and made the dog drop his catch. By this time, I was about even with the dog … he a good six feet from the curb and me, picking up my pace and continuing on my journey.

I looked long enough to see a terrified and injured muskrat (not quite as disgusting as an opossum, but certainly one of God’s creatures I haven’t learned to appreciate!) I thought about asking the guys if they had a gun to put the rat out of its misery, but I was in a hurry to keep going and round the next bend … I wanted to get as far away from that critter as I could get!

You just never know when an injured muskrat could come up behind you and bite you in the ankle!