Sea Caves

This is a sample of the over three hundred pictures that I took on our sea cave exploration day. Come back for more later!

Northern Wisconsin

Northern Wisconsin is a land of its own. There is nothing like the great waters of Lake Superior to invoke respect for the depth and force of water. The largest of the great lakes, it is also the coldest and deepest. However, the power it holds is of a totally different nature in the winter months. This hardly slows down the northern at heart, for winter brings ice fishing, dog sledding, snow mobiling, skiing, hiking, snowshoeing, running, you name it! http://www.wisconsinstories.org/2001season/cold/cotherman_essay.html

A bit of Bayfield, population 611, above.

In fact, this area is anything but dead and quiet, though the sail boats are hibernating and the town appears smothered with snow!Below is the first ice fisherman we saw on the lake.Necessary traits of an ice fisherman: patience, patience, patience. This fellow is on his third day and...

...his first fish. What person would be better to explain fishing than a retired Bayfield school teacher? His hands looked numb, but he gladly explained the technique to us. Using an auger, he drills a small hole through the 18" of ice. With his wire line, he lowers the bait to the bottom of the lake, which was 130 feet in that place. That's where he is most likely to find the lake trout. Other Lake Superior catches include salmon and whitefish. The flashlight looking instrument actually tells the lake depth and the presence and depth of a fish.
We figured it was worth the risk to drive the 2.5 miles from Bayfield to Madeline Island on the well established ice road that was opened about a month ago.
On Saturday the Bayfield Chamber of Commerce hosted the Apostle Islands Run on Water http://www.bayfield.org/pdf/2008ROW_RegistrationForm.pdf, a five mile run to and from Madeline Island.Below is Ice Angel IV, a windsled used for transportation to and from Madeline Island and Bayfield when the ferry can no longer run but the ice is not thick enough to drive. http://www.windsled.com/lpw.htm

For Madeline Island 8th-12th graders, this is the form of transporation for a while to school in Bayfield. The Husky is the handy rescue sled.

More...

Here are a couple of pictures from the Apostle Islands Sled Dog Race and the sea caves. If the ice holds out, some friends and I are going this weekend to walk on Lake Superior into the caves!

New Job

I just have to share that I am so excited about my new job!!! A couple of weeks ago I started work on the intensive care (ICU) float staff. That means that I am being trained to work in all of the ICU's except the neonatal one and the pediatric one. I'm starting my 5-6 months of training by working with a few resource nurses and float nurses. I'm rediscovering the big world of medicine that is out there! I learned so much neat stuff in nursing school that I have not used during the last couple of years on trauma/general surgery. It's exciting to once again be learning the things I learned in nursing school plus some. However, the job I had for the last couple of years was excellent preparation for this kind of work. At the beginning of March, I will start classes for ICU work as well. So, I come home from work excited every day, but I am realizing just how MUCH I have to learn over the next few months!

A Few More Pictures

I may just have to post bit by bit, because there is still so much to say. Sarah took the photo below. It shows a bit of what the traffic is like. Rules are almost nonexistant. In fact, the people don't follow the stoplights, so policemen direct traffic in the important intersections. Sleeping on a rickshaw.

Angie and I in a rickshaw.

Below is Sarah eating Kulfi, an Indian ice cream served in a clay pot. It is flavored with cardamom, almonds, and pistachios. Yum!

Practically anything can be carried on a bicycle or rickshaw!

Village Visits

Muslim school teaching the faith in an all Muslim village.
The making of a dupatta, the scarf sort of thing that women wear over their shoulders with the salwar kameez suits.

Keep warm, kid!

Angie can read!

The best place to dry laundry.

Notice the eye liner on the boy on the right. This is to prevent evil eye.

Bright faces!

Water buffalo, the "beef" of India since most people there don't eat cows. Most of the milk is from water buffalo as well. It has a different flavor, but it's delicious.

The other use of the water buffalo and cows! The manure burns well. That is the brown stuff stacked on the roof.

More rooftop laundry.

Some Muslim women wear colorful clothes, while others wear this. It depends on the family.

Outdoor clinic.

Blowing the gloves up into baloons.

Fires such as this are the source of the smoky haze that is enough to delay flights.

Pumping water.

A Bit about the Trip

When people ask how my trip was, I say, "Interesting." It was. Nothing went wrong. None of us got sick. I got to see some amazing sites, experience a culture that is a world different from my own, eat delicious food, and spend time with wonderful people. Somehow, though, it's been hard to talk about it immediately, because I'm still processing it myself. I have to admit that going to India was more of a shock than I anticipated. I thought nothing could shock me too much. I was prepared for even more poverty and suffering than I saw, but I wasn't prepared for the culture. I only barely began to learn how to interact with people and how to interpret various gestures and responses. All of that said, I'm sure I'll be posting pictures and thoughts along the way. I took so many, but there were s thousand left untaken that I just couldn't get because we were driving or I thought I would be to conspicuous. Right now, though, I'm sitting in a hospital room listening to someone snore. I only have access to a few pictures and I don't feel like turning this into a comprehensive post on life in India:) I do, however, want to let you know that I am back safe and sound.

I haven't gotten over jet lag yet, though. Including flights and layovers, it took me 48 hours to get from the town in India to Rochester. I came here completely exhausted expecting to sleep soundly. I did get a lot of sleep that first night, but my brain was so confused, and it wasn't a good sleep. I refrained from napping, but last night I was so awake after midnight that it wasn't even funny! I didn't go to bed until 2:30am. So tonight, I'm trying to make it all better by working a double shift, from 3pm-7am. That should help, right? Or not.

India

Sarah and I are planning to leave for India on Monday the 14th! We are getting excited and making last minute plans. One of my friends who is adopted from India came over yesterday to loan me some of her clothes, including this sari. It took much time and effort to get me wrapped up like this!

I should get back on the 26th. While there, I plan to take lots of pictures! I could tell you what we are planning to do, but these plans will probably change, so instead, I'll just ask you to remember us and pray for us as we prepare for and go on this next adventure!